Chinese leader Xi Jinping will travel to Russia next week, where he’ll meet with President Vladimir Putin, both leaders’ governments announced on Friday.
The visit, which Putin has touted for months, will take place from March 20-23, while “the two leaders will discuss current issues concerning the further development of the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between Russia and China,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
US HASN’T SEEN CHINA PROVIDE LETHAL AID TO RUSSIA, PENTAGON SAYS
“Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will also exchange views in the context of deepening Russia-China cooperation on the international arena. A number of important bilateral documents will be signed,” the statement continued, while the Chinese Communist Party said Xi would visit next week at Putin’s invitation without providing additional details.
The United States has warned in recent weeks and months about their growing partnership and the significant consequences it could pose, while the visit represents Xi’s first trip to Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago.
China and Russia released a communique prior to Moscow’s invasion that outlined a wide range of plans for economic and diplomatic cooperation, but the war has been a burden for Beijing, which has attempted to remain neutral in conflict while also using Russian talking points, given the global fallout from Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Last month, Putin welcomed China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, to the Kremlin, where he announced the visit from Xi, though specifics weren’t shared at the time. Putin described the relationship between the two countries as “reaching new frontiers” at the time.
U.S. officials have said for about a month that Beijing was considering providing lethal aid to Russia for use in the war, which they warned would incur significant consequences, though those concerns have not been realized yet.
“As of right now, we’ve not seen any legal assistance transferring from China to Russia for use on the battlefield in Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters on Thursday, adding that it’s something they’re “keeping a very close eye on.”
Earlier this week, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan reiterated the U.S. warning that “it would not be in China’s interests, from our perspective, for them to supply weapons to Russia for use on the battlefield in Ukraine, but that’s a sovereign decision China will have to make for itself,” adding, “And as I personally said before, we think it would be a big mistake for China to do that because Russia is using those weapons to kill civilians and commit war crimes. And China should want nothing to do with that.”
He also said the U.S. has encouraged Xi to reach out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Chinese companies sent Russian entities a thousand assault rifles and other equipment, including drone parts and body armor, that could be used for military purposes from June through December of last year, Politico reported on Thursday, citing data provided by a customs data aggregator, though it’s unclear if any of the rifles have made it to the battlefield.
Ryder described it as “some trade deals” and said, “That in and of itself is not unusual. China and Russia share a trade relationship.”
