Putin visits China to reaffirm Russia ties

BEIJING, May 19, (AP): Russian President Vladimir Putin is traveling to China to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping less than a week after US President Donald Trump wrapped up his own trip to Beijing. Putin is scheduled to be in China on Tuesday and Wednesday in a visit likely to be closely watched as Beijing seeks to maintain stable relations with the United States while also preserving strong ties with Russia.

The Kremlin has said Putin and Xi plan to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries, but also "key international and regional issues.” The visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship signed in 2001. Putin said in a video address released before his visit that bilateral ties are at "a truly unprecedented level” and the relationship plays an important role globally, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday.

There is "no connection” between Trump’s visit to China and Putin’s, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters Monday, noting the trip by the Russian leader was agreed in advance, several days after Putin and Xi spoke via videoconference on Feb. 4.

"The Trump visit was about stabilizing the world’s most important bilateral relationship; the Putin visit is about reassuring a long-standing strategic partner,” said Wang Zichen, deputy secretary-general for the Beijing-based think tank Center for China & Globalization.

"For China, these two tracks are not mutually exclusive.” Putin last visited China in September 2025 to attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tianjin, watch a military parade honoring the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and hold talks with Xi. At the time, Xi called his counterpart an "old friend ” while Putin addressed Xi as "dear friend.”

In China, "old friend” is a very rare diplomatic term used by the government and party to describe favored foreign people. In April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Beijing and met Xi, who described the bilateral relationship as "precious” in the current international context. Xi said China and Russia needed to use a stronger strategic collaboration to defend their legitimate, shared interests and safeguard the unity of Global South countries.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said over the weekend that Putin’s trip also would allow Russia to receive direct updates and exchange views with China concerning its talks with the US.

During Trump's visit, Xi described the bilateral relationship between the US and China as the world's most important and said they should see each other as partners rather than rivals. By the end of the two-day summit, the countries said they would work on a new framework to manage "a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability.”