Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Beijing on February 4, where he will hold a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This was announced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. According to him, the talks between the two leaders will cover the entire spectrum of relations.
“We are preparing an official Russian-Chinese summit. President Putin, at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, will visit Beijing on February 4, the opening day of the Olympic Games,” Mr. Lavrov said at the annual press conference.
The minister stressed that the summit provides for an extensive bilateral agenda.
“A rich bilateral agenda, a unique architecture of bilateral relations – we don’t have anything like that with almost anyone else. I mean annual summits, annual meetings of heads of government and annual meetings of five commissions at the level of deputy prime ministers that prepare meetings of heads of government,” Mr. Lavrov added.
The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry also confirmed that he had agreed on a personal meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang, which would take place on the eve of the summit. At the meeting, the diplomats will discuss in detail the entire international agenda.
The Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing from 4 to 20 February 2022.
Recall that in June, US congressmen submitted a resolution calling for the International Olympic Committee to move the XXIV Winter Olympics from Beijing “if the Chinese government does not stop its crimes against the Uyghur people.” The United States also announced a political boycott of the Games. In September 2021, Vladimir Putin announced his intention to attend the Winter Olympics.
Read more about what the PRC thinks about the prospect of a boycott of the Games in the Kommersant article “Cold. Winter. Not them.”
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