Putin leaves Russia after the inauguration

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he plans to visit China in May, a trip most likely to take place after his May 7 inauguration ceremony, as the West raises concerns about the partnership since increasingly stronger between the two countries.

“The visit is scheduled for May,” Putin said during a televised meeting with representatives of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Russia.

The spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, declared on Thursday, at his usual press conference, that the details of this visit will be announced in unison with the Chinese side.

Putin, who amended the Constitution in 2020 to remain in the Kremlin, will be inaugurated on May 7 as president for a fifth six-year term.

This will be Putin’s first visit abroad since his re-election in March, while from March 2023 the Russian president is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for the “deportation” of Ukrainian children.

The Russian leader last traveled to China in October 2023, following a visit to Russia by his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in March of the same year.

The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, went to China in early April for an official visit, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to strengthen cooperation with Moscow, much to the displeasure of the West, which has been trying for several months to exert pressure on Beijing.

Beijing and Moscow have intensified their economic, diplomatic and military cooperation in recent years, and their “strategic partnership” has strengthened after the offensive in Ukraine launched by the Kremlin on February 24, 2022.

Putin signed an “unlimited” partnership agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping in February 2022, less than three weeks before sending troops to Ukraine.

During Lavrov’s visit, Xi Jinping called for Beijing and Moscow to “unify the countries of the ‘Global South'”, which includes especially South American and African countries, as well as to “promote a reform of the world governance system”. , China and Russia denouncing Western hegemony.

The US and other Western countries regularly warn China against indirectly aiding Russia’s war effort and urge it to use its influence over Moscow to end the conflict in Ukraine.

During the April 9 meeting with President Xi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov thanked him for Beijing’s “impartial position” towards Ukraine. Moreover, Russia, like the West, emphasized the important role of Beijing in the future settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.

Diplomatic and trade ties with Beijing have become even more important for Moscow as Western countries have imposed successive waves of sanctions against Russia since the start of the Ukraine war.