Russia’s President Putin says will soon meet 'my friend' Chinese President Xi Jinping

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet his 'friend' Chinese President Xi Jinping soon. "Quite soon we will have events, and there will be a meeting with the president of the People’s Republic of China," Putin said, according to Russian news agency Interfax. Russia's President is expected to travel to Beijing in October to hold an in-person meeting with his Chinese counterpart. 

Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov in July had stated that Putin planned to visit China in October at the time of its third "Belt and Road" forum. Russia's President responded to an invitation that was issued by Xi during a high-profile state visit to Russia in March, the 38th time the two leaders met since 2013. "He (Xi) calls me his friend, and I am happy to call him my friend because he is a person who does a lot for the development of Russian-Chinese relations," Ushakov said, quoting Putin. Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, meanwhile, revealed that China had invited the Russian leader as the "main guest" for the B&R forum. 

An era of much closer ties between two countries

Both Putin and Xi, during their meeting in March, had heralded an era of much closer ties between their two countries against the West's efforts to isolate Moscow over the "special military operation" in Ukraine. They signed a "no limits" partnership agreement in Beijing last year, weeks before Russia declared an all-out war in Kyiv. Putin is not known to have travelled abroad since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him in March, just before Xi's visit, for illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. 

The Russian President is not planning a trip to the G20 Summit in India in September, a Kremlin official confirmed. He informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Russia would be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their telephone conversation, the Prime Minister's Office said. 

Last week, Putin participated remotely in the BRICS summit of the emerging economies that includes--Brazil, India, China and the host, South Africa. This week, Putin is hosting the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi. The two will discuss the now-suspended Black Sea Grain Initiative among other bilateral issues.