BEIJING, Oct 17 (Portal) – Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a high-profile trip aimed at strengthening trust and “boundless” partnership between to demonstrate to the countries despite the war in Ukraine raged on.
In only his second known foreign trip since the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for him in March, Putin and his entourage flew into the capital Beijing’s international airport on Tuesday morning, according to video footage obtained by Portal.
He was welcomed by Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.
It is also the Kremlin chief’s first official trip outside the former Soviet Union this year, after he visited Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic, earlier this month.
The ICC, which accused Putin of illegally deporting children from Ukraine, requires the court’s 123 member states to arrest Putin and send him to The Hague for trial if he enters their territory. Neither Kyrgyzstan nor China are members of the International Criminal Court, which was set up to prosecute war crimes.
Xi last saw his “dear friend” in Moscow just days after the arrest warrant was issued. At that time, Xi invited Putin to attend the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, an international cooperation forum sponsored by the Chinese leader.
Russian media reported that Putin would attend the forum’s official opening reception hosted by Xi on Tuesday and speak with the leaders of Vietnam, Thailand, Mongolia and Laos.
As the forum’s chief guest, Putin will address Xi on Wednesday and meet with the Chinese president for bilateral talks later in the day.
Beijing has rejected Western criticism of its partnership with Moscow even as the war in Ukraine showed no signs of ending, stressing that the relationship does not violate international norms and China has the right to work with any country it chooses.
[1/3]Russia’s President Vladimir Putin arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport to attend the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China, October 17, 2023. Parker Song/Pool acquire license rights via Portal
Putin last visited China as part of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February 2022, when Russia and China declared a “borderless” partnership days before the Russian president sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine.
It would be Putin’s third participation in the Belt and Road Forum, which runs until Wednesday. He participated in the two previous forums in 2017 and 2019.
Belt and Road
The forum will focus on the Belt and Road Initiative, a grand plan launched by Xi a decade ago that he hopes would build global infrastructure and energy networks connecting Asia via land and sea routes would connect with Africa and Europe.
Putin praised the initiative, saying it was a platform for international cooperation where “no one imposes anything on others.”
Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, Russia has strengthened its energy ties with China as a sign of its economic cooperation.
Russia exports around 2.0 million barrels of oil to China every day, more than a third of its total crude exports. Moscow also wants to build a second natural gas pipeline to China.
While the heads of Russian oil and gas giants Rosneft and Gazprom will be part of Putin’s traveling delegation, no new energy deals are expected.
According to the Kremlin, the trip is not a “full-fledged bilateral” visit, but rather a visit on the sidelines of an international conference.
Reporting by Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Edited by Christopher Cushing and Simon Cameron-Moore
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