Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Chinese President Xi Jinping from May 19 to 20, just days after US President Donald Trump concluded his state visit to Beijing, the Kremlin has announced.
In a Telegram statement, Russia's Foreign Ministry unveiled that Putin would travel to China "at the invitation" of Xi Jinping, marking the 25th anniversary of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between Russia and China.
The readout indicates the two leaders will discuss expanding their countries' "comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation" and exchange views on "key international and regional issues."
"Following the talks, they are expected to sign a Joint Statement at the highest level, as well as a number of bilateral intergovernmental, interdepartmental and other documents," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Putin is also scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang to discuss economic and trade cooperation. While all of this was likely in the planning stages long ago, the timing and symbolism sends a resounding message, at a moment when ironically Trump's China trip ended notably without any major breakthroughs on trade, or without resolving any aspect of the Iran war or Hormuz Strait crisis.
South China Morning Post notes additionally of the timing:
It will be the first time that China has hosted the leaders of the two powers in the same month outside a multilateral setting, a reflection of Beijing’s efforts to manage ties with both countries and position itself as a pivotal power amid an increasingly fractured world order.
Putin’s visit will also make China the first country to host all four leaders of the other permanent members of the UN Security Council within months of each other. France’s Emmanuel Macron visited Beijing in December followed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in January.
However, Putin is a more frequent visitor to Beijing in recent years, and per SCMP: "Sources said Putin’s visit would not likely feature that scale of pomp, as Chinese officials had been busy with the Trump trip."
But it will be a meeting among allies, and not rivals, after President Xi's "no limits" alliance pledged with Putin just before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
"Following the talks, they are expected to sign a Joint Statement at the highest level, as well as a number of bilateral intergovernmental, interdepartmental and other documents," the ministry's statement said.