[ad_1]
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China on Tuesday to meet his “dear friend” Xi Jinping, bolstering their relationship at a summit that will be overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war.
Issued on:
3 min
China this week welcomes representatives of 130 countries for a forum of President Xi’s landmark project, the Belt and Road Initiative, that Beijing is using to extend its global influence.
Putin is at the top of the invitation list, with the Russian leader on his first trip to a major global power since the Ukraine invasion threw his regime into international isolation.
His plane landed in China just before 09:30 am, an AFP journalist on the tarmac saw.
He is due to meet Xi for talks on Wednesday, the Kremlin said.
“During the talks, special attention will be paid to international and regional issues,” it said, without elaborating.
He is on a mission to strengthen the already strong relationship with his communist neighbour, though Moscow is increasingly the junior partner.
Experts expect few big surprises during the Russian leader’s visit to China, seeing the meeting as more a symbolic gesture of support for Moscow.
“Russia is aware that China doesn’t want to sign any high publicity deals,” Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told AFP.
“China holds all of the cards,” he said.
The Kremlin said the two leaders would meet on Wednesday “on the sidelines” of the BRI forum.
And global headlines will be dominated by Israel’s war with Palestinian militant organisation Hamas.
Israel declared war on the Islamist group after waves of Hamas fighters broke through the heavily fortified border with Gaza on October 7, shooting, stabbing, and burning to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.
More than one million people have fled their homes in scenes of chaos and despair under heavy Israeli bombardment of the…
[ad_2]
