Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to start a four -day visit to Russia on Wednesday, offering his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin important diplomatic support in a period when Moscow is eager to demonstrate that he is not isolated on the international scene.
Xi Jinping should sign a certain number of agreements intended to further strengthen the strategic partnership, presented as “limitless”, signed by China and Russia in 2022, a few days before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Beijing has established itself as Moscow’s main trading partner, even before the trade war launched by US President Donald Trump since his return to power in January.
China is the first buyer of Russian oil and gas, exports which brought to Russia an economic buoy against the vast sanctions decided by Westerners for its offensive in Ukraine.
Despite the rapprochement made by Donald Trump with Moscow, it is expected that Vladimir Putin presents alongside Xi Jinping a United front against the United States, the Russian and Chinese governments having ceased to challenge American domination and call to a more multipolar world.
-Describing Xi Jinping’s visit as one of the “central” events in Sino-Russian relations this year, the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, told journalists on Tuesday that the summit between the two leaders “will send an important signal to the international community about the common approach of Russia and China to defend the World War.
While the American special emissary Keith Kellogg said in February that Washington intended to disturb close ties between Moscow and Beijing, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their strategic partnership a few days later.
Chinese and Russian presidents must meet Thursday, before attending the Red Square on Friday on Friday in a military parade celebrating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies against Nazi Germany. Chinese soldiers will also participate in this parade.
The Ukrainian government exhorted foreign countries on Tuesday to abandon the May 9 parade, believing that participating in it would be to inform the position of neutrality of certain countries about the war between Kyiv and Moscow.
(Written by Andrew Osborn; French version Jean Terzian)
