Putin Announces Plans To Visit China In May

Russian President Vladimir Putin announces plans to visit China in May, as his first foreign visit after he won this year’s elections.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced plans to visit China in May, which could be his first foreign trip since extending his rule for another six years in an election that provided voters with little real choice.

President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he plans to visit China in May, which could be his first foreign trip since extending his rule by six years in an election that provided voters with little real choice.

Putin announced the visit at a congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow. He did not specify when it would take place and provided no other information.

Putin’s inauguration is scheduled for May 7, Russian lawmakers announced earlier this week. Last month, the 71-year-old Russian president won his fifth term in office with no real opposition, extending his 24-year rule.

Russia’s growing economic and diplomatic isolation as a result of its war with Ukraine has increased its reliance on China, its former Cold War rival for Communist bloc leadership.

According to a recent US assessment, China has increased sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics, and other technology, which Moscow is then using to manufacture missiles, tanks, aircraft, and other weapons for use in the conflict.

China has repeatedly stated that it is not providing Russia with arms or military assistance, despite maintaining strong economic ties with Moscow.

Beijing has not provided direct, lethal military support to Russia and has attempted to portray itself as neutral in the Ukraine conflict. It has refused to condemn Moscow’s actions, and in 2022, it declared a “no-limits” friendship with Russia. The country has condemned Western sanctions against Moscow, accusing NATO and the US of inciting Putin’s invasion.

China has also proposed a peace plan, which has been widely rejected by Ukraine’s allies, who insist that Moscow withdraw its forces from the neighboring country as a precondition for peace.

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