Vladimir Putin has come to Beijing to meet with Xi Jinping, who he considers a close friend. This trip is meant to highlight the strong alliance between their countries, which they believe has no boundaries.
Putin and his group traveled to Beijing on Tuesday morning, marking only their second trip abroad since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest.
This year, the Russian president is also going on his first official trip outside of the old Soviet Union. He recently visited Kyrgyzstan, which used to be a part of the Soviet Union.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) accuses Putin of taking children out of Ukraine without permission. The ICC makes the 123 countries, who are members, arrest Putin and send him to The Hague for a trial if he visits their land.
Both Kyrgyzstan and China are not part of the ICC, which was created to handle cases of war crimes.
Xi recently saw the person he is often compared to in Moscow a few days after the legal document was given.
He asked Putin to come to a conference in Beijing called the Belt and Road forum, which is organized by the Chinese leader to promote international cooperation.
Russian media reported that Putin will go to the forum’s reception and have discussions with the leaders of Vietnam, Thailand, Mongolia, and Laos on Tuesday.
Putin is an important guest at the forum. He will speak after Xi on Wednesday and then have a one-on-one meeting with the Chinese president.
Beijing said no to criticism from the West about its partnership with Moscow, even though the war in Ukraine is still going on. They said their partnership is not breaking any international rules and China can work with any country it wants.
Putin went to China for the Winter Olympics in February 2022. At that time, Russia and China said they would work closely together. But a few days later, Putin sent many soldiers to Ukraine.
Putin will be going to the Belt and Road Forum for the third time, and it will last until Wednesday. He went to the last two meetings in 2017 and 2019.
The forum focuses on the Belt and Road initiative, a big plan started by Xi ten years ago. His goal is to create worldwide infrastructure and energy networks that will connect Asia with Africa and Europe, using both land and sea routes.
Putin has said that he likes the idea and thinks it is a good way for countries to work together without forcing anything onto each other.
Since the Ukrainian conflict began, Russia and China have strengthened their energy connections as a sign of their economic collaboration.
Russia sends about two million barrels of oil to China every day, which is more than a third of all the crude oil it exports. Moscow also wants to construct another pipeline that will transport natural gas to China.
The leaders of Russia’s biggest oil and gas companies, Rosneft and Gazprom, will be with Putin when he travels, but we shouldn’t anticipate any new energy deals.
The Kremlin said the trip is not a complete bilateral visit, but rather one that is happening alongside an international conference.