Putin to visit China May 19 to 20 after Trump trip

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China on May 19 for a two-day visit, hot on the heels of US President Donald Trump’s trip to Beijing, the Kremlin said on May 16.

During the trip, the Russian leader will discuss with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping how to “further strengthen the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation” between Moscow and Beijing, according to a Kremlin statement.

Mr Putin and Mr Xi will “exchange views on key international and regional issues” and sign a joint declaration at the conclusion of their talks, it added.

As part of the visit, Mr Putin is also scheduled to discuss economic and trade cooperation with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

The announcement of Mr Putin’s trip comes just after Mr Trump wrapped up on May 15 the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade, with the grand reception belying a roster of unresolved trade and geopolitical tensions, including over the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Although Mr Trump and Mr Xi discussed the more than four-year-long conflict – as well as the US leader’s stalemated war with Iran – the Republican president took off from China on May 15 without appearing to secure a breakthrough on either front.

Negotiations to end the fighting in Ukraine, brokered by the United States, have appeared stalled since the beginning of the US-Israeli war with Iran which broke out on Feb 28.

Before Mr Trump arrived in China, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the US leader to raise the matter of how to stop the conflict during the talks with Mr Xi.

Moscow has ruled out a ceasefire or comprehensive negotiations with Ukraine unless Kyiv caves to the Kremlin’s maximalist demands.

While China has regularly called for talks to end the fighting, it has never condemned Russia for sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and presents itself as a neutral party.

Beijing also denies providing Moscow with weapons and military components for its defence industry, blaming Western countries for prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine instead.

As the world’s top buyer of Russian fossil fuels, China has become Moscow’s key economic partner, especially since Western countries imposed economic sanctions on Russia over the conflict.

Mr Trump left China on May 15 claiming he had negotiated “fantastic” trade deals, including a commitment for Beijing to purchase 200 Boeing aeroplanes as well as US oil and soybeans.

But the details were vague or scanty, while China made no formal announcement on any trade deal.

In contrast to Mr Trump – who described Mr Xi as a “great leader” and “friend” – Beijing’s response to the summit as a whole was more muted.

Russia’s top diplomat on May 15 welcomed the China-US summit, but said that Moscow enjoyed warmer ties with Beijing.

“If the agreements reached or to be reached by Beijing and Washington are in the interests of our Chinese friends, we can only be delighted,” Mr Sergey Lavrov told a press conference in New Delhi.

But Mr Lavrov insisted that Russia was “bound to China by ties... that are deeper and stronger than traditional political and military alliances”. AFP