Putin to hold talks with Xi, attend SCO summit and military parade during China trip

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China next week for talks with President Xi Jinping, to attend a regional security summit, and to appear as Xi’s “main guest” at a military parade on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, the Kremlin announced on Friday.

Putin’s visit, which will run from 31 August to 3 September, is a rare four-day trip abroad, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters. He noted that such an extended foreign visit was unusual for the Russian leader.

The first two days of the visit will be devoted to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the city of Tianjin. After that, Putin is expected to travel to Beijing for talks with Xi and to attend a military parade on 3 September marking the end of the Second World War following Japan’s formal surrender.

Ushakov said Putin would be seated beside Xi at the event, to his right, while North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, also expected, would sit on Xi’s left.

Putin will also hold a number of bilateral meetings with world leaders during his stay in China. Confirmed talks include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan. A possible meeting with Kim Jong-Un was still under discussion, Ushakov added.

The Russian delegation will feature several senior officials, among them Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, Kremlin aide Ushakov, as well as the heads of Russia’s largest banks and companies.

Three agreements involving Gazprom are due to be signed in China, though Ushakov declined to give details.

Russia–China trade, which had surged to record levels after Moscow was left increasingly isolated by the conflict in Ukraine, has recently begun to decline – a trend Putin hopes to reverse during his visit, three Russian sources told Reuters ahead of the trip.

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