ALBAWABA - Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in the Chinese capital Beijing, and will be meeting with his counterpart Xi Jinping on Wednesday to hold talks aiming to strengthen the anti-West coalition.
The ties between Beijing and Moscow have deepened over the years as both eastern powers have formed an anti-West coalition to fight the U.S. and European influence in the East.
Putin's journey to China, where he will participate in a meeting commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, marks the Russian president's first trip outside of the former Soviet Union this year.
China is one of the first nations Putin has visited since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him in March, accusing the Russian leader of illegally deporting children from Ukraine.
Alicja Bachulska, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told the AFP news agency: "The Russian delegation’s presence in Beijing is important for Moscow. It will legitimize Russia in the international arena by creating a positive image of Putin not being completely isolated in the context of war".
Putin and Xi met earlier this year in Moscow where talks focused on Moscow's efforts to establish a stronger presence in the East in addition to its fight in the war against Ukraine.
On a visit to Moscow in 2019, Xi told Russian media: "President Putin is the foreign colleague that I have interacted with most extensively. He is my best friend, and I greatly treasure our friendship".
Putin was last in Beijing in February 2022, just days before launching a "special military operation" into Ukraine.
The leaders have signed an agreement promising a "no-limits" connection at the time. They were talking of a "new era" of cooperation by March of this year.
Russia is now China's second-largest economic partner outside of Asia, with commerce between the two nations increasing by 30% in the first half of this year, according to Russian Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, who is visiting China.
