President Putin will visit China in May

Reuters: Tổng thống Putin sẽ thăm Trung Quốc vào tháng 5- Ảnh 1. — Mr. Putin met Mr. Tap (right) in Beijing on October 18, 2023

Reuters on March 19 quoted informed sources as saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China in May and meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, possibly his first foreign trip of his new term.

"Putin will visit China," according to an anonymous source. Details of the visit were confirmed by four other anonymous sources.

Accordingly, Mr. Putin's visit to China could take place in the second half of May, before Mr. Tap's scheduled trip to Europe.

The Kremlin declined to comment on the reports. China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China has stepped up trade and military ties with Russia in recent years, as the United States and its allies have imposed sanctions on both countries.

Russia and China declared an “unlimited” partnership in February 2022 when Mr Putin visited Beijing just days before Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine.

Diplomats and foreign observers predict that Mr. Putin will choose China as his first destination after his re-election. Mr. Putin's official inauguration ceremony is expected to take place around May 7.

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Speaking to reporters on March 17, Mr. Putin said that Russia and China share a common global perspective, have a strong relationship partly thanks to the good personal relationship between the two leaders, and that Moscow and Beijing will develop their relationship further in the coming years.

In March 2023, Mr. Tap visited Russia on his first foreign trip after the Covid-19 pandemic, shortly after starting his third term as president.

According to data from China Customs, China-Russia trade reached 218.2 billion USD in the period from January to November 2023, exceeding the target of increasing bilateral trade to more than 200 billion USD by 2024 set by the two countries.

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