(Beijing) Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin will meet next week in Uzbekistan on the sidelines of a regional summit, Russian diplomacy assured Wednesday, a first trip abroad for the Chinese president since the beginning of 2020.
Posted at 7:41 a.m.
“In less than 10 days, a new meeting of our leaders will take place at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization” (SCO), said Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov, according to comments sent to AFP by his embassy.
He added that the two presidents “have a lot to say to each other, both on bilateral issues and on international issues”.
The SCO summit will take place on September 15 and 16 in the city of Samarkand (south-eastern Uzbekistan), rich in historical monuments and located on the ancient Silk Road.
This organization, built as a counterweight to Western influence, brings together China, Russia, four Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) as well as India and Pakistan.
“This summit promises to be interesting, because it will be the first real (face-to-face, editor’s note) summit since the pandemic”, noted Andreï Denissov, experienced diplomat and specialist in China.
Asked about the statements of the Russian ambassador, Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Wednesday during a regular press briefing that she had “no information to provide”.
“The Chinese and Russian heads of state maintain close relations by various means,” the ministry then limited itself to indicating in a press release sent to AFP.
Beijing generally only confirms the movements of its leaders at the last minute.
” Impossible ”
Xi Jinping has not left his country since a state visit to Burma in January 2020, at the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, the country has maintained a strict health policy, with mandatory quarantine for all arrivals from abroad and confinement of neighborhoods or cities sometimes as soon as a few cases appear.
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin had seen each other in early February in Beijing, on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, three weeks before the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine on February 24.
Moscow and Beijing then signed a joint declaration calling for a “new era” in international relations.
The text also pleaded for the end of American hegemony and denounced the impact of Western military alliances, NATO and Aukus (Australia, United Kingdom and United States).
Since the Russian assault on Ukraine, China has shown its support for Russia, hit by Western sanctions. In search of support, outlets and suppliers, Moscow says it is turning to Asia.
Vladimir Putin thus hailed on Wednesday the “increasing role” of the Asia-Pacific region in world affairs in the face of a declining West. The Russian president has deemed it “impossible” to isolate Russia.
Vladivostok
He was speaking at an economic forum in Vladivostok (Russian Far East), attended by several senior Asian officials including the third highest Chinese leader, Li Zhanshu.
He is the most senior Chinese official to visit Russia since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
After Russia, Li Zhanshu, 72, will travel to Mongolia, Nepal and South Korea, according to the official New China agency.
Beijing and Moscow have grown closer in recent years, intensifying their relationship to counterbalance the United States. China, for example, refuses to condemn Russian military action in Ukraine and has criticized Western sanctions.
This alleged trip by Xi Jinping is announced a few weeks before the 20e Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress, a major political event held every five years in Beijing.
This meeting will open on October 16th. It should allow the Chinese president to obtain an unprecedented third term as secretary general of the political organization that governs China.
Xi Jinping had made his first visit outside mainland China in more than two years at the end of June, to go for a few hours to Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous territory in the south of the country.
He then attended the 25e anniversary of the return to China of the former British colony.