Russia invites China’s Xi Jinping to make state visit in spring

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, via a video conference at the Kremlin. Pic/AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was expecting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit to Russia in spring 2023, in what would be a public show of solidarity from Beijing amid Russia's flailing military campaign in Ukraine.

In introductory remarks from a video conference between the two leaders broadcast on state television, Putin said, "We are expecting you, dear Mr Chairman, dear friend, we are expecting you next spring on a state visit to Moscow." He said the visit would "demonstrate to the world the closeness of Russian-Chinese relations".

Also Read: Vladimir Putin tells Xi Jinping that he wants to ramp up military cooperation

Speaking for around eight minutes, Putin said Russia-China relations were growing in importance as a stabilising factor, and that he aimed to deepen military cooperation between the two countries. In a response that lasted around a quarter as long, Xi said China was ready to increase strategic cooperation with Russia against the backdrop of what he called a "difficult" situation in the world at large. The relationship between Russia and China, which the two sides have hailed as a "no limits" partnership, has taken on great significance since Moscow sent its armed forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever