(Beijing) The head of Russian diplomacy Sergei Lavrov arrived in Beijing, Moscow announced Monday, ahead of an expected visit to China by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the occasion of the third New Silk Roads forum.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov was in the Chinese capital with a Russian delegation, on X.
Beijing welcomes representatives from some 130 countries from Tuesday to Wednesday for the 10th anniversary of the New Silk Roads, whose official name is “The Belt and Road”.
This is an ambitious project launched under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who came to power in 2012. It aims to improve trade links between Asia, Europe, Africa and even beyond by the construction of ports, railways, airports or industrial parks.
In September, Vladimir Putin told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that he had accepted his counterpart Xi Jinping’s invitation to participate in the summit.
Since the visit of the Chinese number one to the Kremlin last March and faced with Russia’s increased isolation, Moscow and Beijing have advocated a strengthening of their economic and military cooperation within the framework of a friendship officially described as “limitless”.
In recent months, the Russian president has given up attending several international summits outside his country’s borders because of an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the “deportation” of Ukrainian children. .
Beijing has refused to condemn the war in Ukraine in order to position itself as a neutral party, while offering Moscow essential diplomatic and financial support.