China’s number three leader to meet Russia’s Putin in most senior face-to-face since Ukraine invasion: state media
Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China and the country’s top lawmaker, will meet Putin during the Eastern Economic Forum, Russian state news agency Tass reported.
Their meeting will pave the way for top Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s face-to-face meeting with Putin in Uzbekistan next week.
Xi will meet Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit scheduled for September 15 and 16, Russia’s special envoy to Beijing Andrey Denisov told reporters on Thursday. Fourth, according to Tass.
This will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders, who have established a close relationship, since Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year. It is also Xi’s first overseas trip since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Li arrived in Vladivostok on Wednesday for the forum, becoming the highest-ranking Chinese official to leave China since the start of the pandemic, which has closed its borders and restricted face-to-face diplomacy. The stopover is part of a 10-day overseas tour where Li will visit Russia, South Korea, Mongolia and Nepal from Wednesday, Chinese state media reported this week.
The scheduled meeting with Putin underscores the importance of Russia’s relationship with China, even in the face of an international blow to Moscow following its gratuitous invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. .
It also comes weeks before a key five-year political meeting in Beijing, where Xi Jinping is expected to break with tradition and take power for a third term, cementing his role as the rightful leader. China’s strongest force for decades.
The two countries have signaled that their partnership remains strong, with China’s Foreign Ministry last month saying the two sides had agreed to “deepen practical cooperation” during a meeting between foreign ministers China’s Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of an area. concentrated in Phnom Penh.
Ahead of his scheduled visit to Russia, Mr. Li made similar remarks during a meeting last week with Russia’s Ambassador to China Andrey Ivanovich Denisov in Beijing. There, Li, who is also Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, emphasized that the two countries were “moving in the right direction under the strategic direction of the two leaders, with the support of the two leaders.” Solid mutual support and constant political trust,” according to Chinese state media.
It is not clear what Putin and Li will discuss during the meeting scheduled at the forum, which focuses on building investment relationships between Russia’s eastern region and global investors, and where Putin speaks. on Wednesday.
Other forum attendees scheduled to meet with Mr Putin include the Chairman of the State Administration of Myanmar and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ministry of Defense of Myanmar, Senior Lieutenant General Min Aung Hlaing, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Mongolian Prime Minister. Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene, according to Tass.
