Putin says Xi will visit Russia and relations reach ‘new heights’

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping would visit Russia, saying relations had reached a “new frontier” amid US concerns that Beijing could provide material support for an invasion of Ukraine.

Chinese arms supplies to Russia threaten a possible escalation of the war into a confrontation between Russia and China on the one hand and Ukraine and the US-led military NATO on the other.

Putin welcomed China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to the Kremlin, telling him that bilateral trade is better than expected and could soon reach $200 billion annually, up from $185 billion in 2022.

“We are waiting for the President of the People’s Republic of China to visit Russia, we agreed on that,” Putin told Wang.

“Everything is advancing and developing. We are reaching new heights,” Putin said.

“China will firmly adhere to an objective and impartial stance and play a constructive role in the political settlement of the crisis,” Yi, who held a separate meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, was quoted by Tass news agency.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it welcomed China’s more active role in efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, and said it appreciated China’s “balanced approach”. But in a separate statement, the ministry said Lavrov and Yi did not discuss an announced Chinese peace plan.

For Putin, the great powers’ support for China amid the biggest confrontation with the West since the height of the Cold War allows him to cast a light on Russia’s isolation in the West as a tilt towards Asia.

Wang told Putin that the relations between the two countries have withstood the pressure of the volatile international situation and that the crises have brought certain opportunities.

The China-Russia relationship, through an interpreter, was not directed against any third party, Wang said, but similarly “will not be subject to pressure from third parties” — a clear blow to the United States.

“Together we uphold multipolarity and democracy in international relations,” Wang told Putin.

When Xi met Putin face-to-face before Russia sent troops into Ukraine, they forged a “borderless” partnership that sparked alarm in the West.

China is Russia’s largest oil buyer, and one of the main sources of revenue for Moscow’s state coffers.

XI and Putin

For Xi, Russia is now more dependent on Beijing than ever, and is a junior partner to a rising China, which already drives many 21st-century technologies.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday warned Wang of the consequences if China provides material support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Beijing denied providing military support to Russia.

After Blinken’s warnings, for which he did not present evidence, China said the United States was not in a position to make demands.

“No matter how the international situation changes, China has been and remains committed, together with Russia, to making efforts to maintain the positive trend in the development of major-power relations,” Wang told Lavrov.

Xi has stood by Putin during the conflict in Ukraine, resisting Western pressure to isolate Moscow. Sino-Russian trade has soared since the invasion of Ukraine, and Russia has boosted oil exports to Asian countries, including China.

Reporting by Reuters. Editing by Gareth Jones, Thomas Janowski, and David Ljungren

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