Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in China. Putin, whose plane landed at Beijing airport at around 9:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. in Italy), is on his first mission to a world power since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Ukraine: He will be his counterpart See Xi Jinping, whom he has met more than 40 times in the last decade.
The Russian leader will attend the third forum on the Belt and Road Initiative in Beijing today and tomorrow as a guest of honor, English-language broadcaster CGTN, part of Chinese public broadcaster CCTV, reported. which has broadcast a long interview with the Kremlin chief in recent days. In Moscow’s announcement on Monday, Putin will hold bilateral talks with Xi tomorrow to strengthen bilateral ties and a “boundless” personal friendship, despite the invasion of Ukraine that has plunged Russia into international isolation. The talks will “pay particular attention to international and regional issues,” it said in a statement. Observers expect few surprises from the Russian leader’s visit to China, as the meeting with Xi is more of a symbolic gesture of Beijing’s support for Moscow. What may be interesting, however, are the signs of Russia’s close economic and diplomatic dependence on the dragon. In addition to the war against Ukraine, the dossiers on the agenda of the two leaders also include the conflict between Israel and Hamas, in which Putin, given his vaunted relations with Hamas, wants to break international isolation by proposing himself as a mediator for the leader of the Islamic world . China, like Russia, has close ties with Iran, where the clerical leadership supports both Hamas and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that could open a second front against Israel.
This year, Beijing brokered an agreement between former regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia, which have returned to normal relations after a decade of bitter tensions.
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