Moscow’s ambassador to Beijing said early Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Russia in 2025, according to Russia’s state-run RIA news agency.
Ambassador Igor Morgulov informed RIA, “We are actively developing the necessary plans for specific bilateral events.”
Priority-wise, the chairman of the People’s Republic of China is expected in Russia next year.”
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation from Reuters.
Days before deploying tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, Putin declared a “no limits” partnership during his February 2022 visit to China. He welcomed a “new era” of relations centered on opposition to US policy in Beijing last May, following his resounding reelection.
In 2023, the Kremlin welcomed Xi as a “dear friend” after he won an unprecedented third term in office.
Additionally, Morgulov told RIA that China, which has not denounced Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has been going on for 34 months, understood the rationale behind the conflict “because they are facing many of the same challenges—the United States and its allies are increasing pressure on China in the Asia-Pacific region.”
“Developing plans to move its military infrastructure” into the area is what NATO is doing, he claimed.
He said China and Russia needed to work together to respond to US policy.
“In the international arena, it is up to our countries to respond further with a ‘dual counteraction’ to the ‘dual deterrence’ that the West is trying to pursue with regard to Russia and China,” RIA reported that he had said.
China and Brazil have proposed a peace plan for the conflict in Ukraine that calls for the freezing of battle lines and considers both sides’ security interests.
The proposals have received support from Russia.
Ukraine rejects the China-Brazil initiative as beneficial to Moscow and has proposed its own strategies to end the conflict, including joining NATO.
About 20% of Ukraine is currently occupied by Russian forces, who have recently been moving forward at their quickest rate since the beginning of the conflict.
