Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to Russia on a state visit next week, his first trip to Russia since it invaded Ukraine.
(Bloomberg) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to Russia on a state visit next week, his first trip to Russia since it invaded Ukraine.
Xi will be in Russia from March 20 to 22, according to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday. It will be his first overseas trip since he won a third term as president earlier this month.
During the trip, Xi is expected to discuss China’s recently released 12-point blueprint for ending the war in Ukraine, a document dismissed by most Western governments. The criticism of the plan was more muted from Ukraine, which has tried to avoid alienating Beijing since the start of the war.
The Kremlin confirmed the state visit, which it said was at Putin’s invitation. The two leaders will discuss “developing the no-limits partnership and strategic cooperation between Russia and China,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Xi and Putin will “exchange views in the context of deepening Russo-Chinese cooperation in the international arena,” it said, adding that several bilateral documents will be signed, without providing details.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index extended its loss after the news of the visit, falling as much as 0.5%. Risk-sensitive currencies such as the Australian dollar rose.
Xi will be the most prominent international leader to visit Putin since his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
This visit comes as Xi is rebooting his image as a global statesman. He’s already got a significant win under his belt in the signing of a landmark deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore diplomatic ties.
Xi Reboots Statesman Image in Bid to Counter US on World Stage
Soon after he returns from Russia he will host Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Chinese foreign ministry said Friday. Xi and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy also plan to speak by video link soon in what would be their first conversation since Russia’s invasion, a Ukrainian official familiar with the preparations said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang spoke Thursday with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba about bilateral ties and the invasion. A possible call between Xi and US President Joe Biden is also on the cards.
But the Chinese leader needs to strike a careful balance — on the one hand seeking to project an image as a potential neutral mediator, whilst also managing his close ties to Putin.
“Russia’s economic isolation has already benefited the Chinese economy in certain ways,” said Joseph Torigian, an assistant professor at American University who researches Chinese and Russian politics, “But we don’t know whether Xi will push for even more beneficial deals or whether he will try to avoid a sense in Moscow that he is exploiting their position.”
Xi last visited Russia in mid-2019, while Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing in early 2022 to attend the opening of the Winter Olympics. At that meeting the two leaders agreed a “no limits” friendship and signed a series of long-term energy supply deals.
The two then met in September at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Forum, where Putin said he understands Beijing’s “questions and concerns” about his invasion of Ukraine, a rare admission of tensions between the diplomatic allies.
–With assistance from Gregory L. White and Rebecca Choong Wilkins.
(Updates with Kremlin response, analysis.)
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