Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China on 19-20 May, the Kremlin said on 16 May.
Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will discuss bilateral relations and exchange views on “key international and regional issues,” according to the report.
The Kremlin announced the exact date of the trip after Donald Trump concluded the first visit by a US president to China in nearly a decade on 15 May.
Trump and Xi discussed the US-Israel war on Iran and Russia’s war against Ukraine, among other issues.
Wrapping up the visit, the US president suggested in a conversation with reporters that the Russian strike, which partially destroyed a nine-storey apartment building in Kiev, killing 24 people, could hurt peace efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Washington and Beijing would like to see a resolution to Russia’s war against Ukraine, he said. “It looked good until last night, but they [Ukrainians] suffered a lot last night. So it’s going to happen [the end of the war]. But it’s hurtful,” Trump said, referring to the Russian strike.
The Kremlin had expressed hope the previous day that Putin, during his visit to China, would be able to discuss the US president’s recent visit with Xi.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, China has publicly declared a neutral stance and urged the sides to negotiate. Despite this, there are regular allegations from Western countries that Beijing supports the Russian military-industrial complex. In particular, the Estonian intelligence agency claimed that China is helping Russia in the production of military drones by supplying critical Western components. According to its report, Russia receives about 80 per cent of such components from China.