Putin and Xi to discuss US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, Kremlin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to discuss the outcome of the recent talks between US and Russian officials, according to the Kremlin.
“One can expect it,” state news agency Tass quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying in Moscow on Friday, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
Peskov had been asked if Putin was planning to brief his Chinese counterpart following the US-Russia talks on Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The pair last met via video link on January 21.
Putin earlier said that he would soon inform his Brics colleagues about the results of the negotiations in Riyadh, according to the Tass report.
Both China and Russia are among the founders of the emerging economies group that has recently expanded to 10 member nations.
The high-level meeting in Riyadh marked a significant shift in US policy on Russia, with the two sides agreeing to start working towards ending the war in Ukraine and improving diplomatic and economic ties.
National security adviser Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff led the American delegation, while the Russian side was led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov.
It was the highest-level and most extensive US-Russia diplomatic talks since Russian troops invaded Ukraine three years ago.
It also came days after a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Putin, when the two leaders agreed to begin negotiations to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine.
The rapprochement has rattled US allies, particularly those in Europe, and also prompted speculation that Trump’s apparent tilt towards Russia might see Moscow pull away from Beijing.
Senior US officials, including Waltz and Rubio, have previously said that the United States, now the biggest source of military aid to Ukraine, should push for a quick end to the war so as to focus its resources on the power competition with China.
But long-time strategic partners China and Russia – with their markedly aligned foreign policies aimed at countering the West, and deep military and economic cooperation – have shown no signs of wanting to back-pedal relations.
Putin was expected to visit China in late August or early September to mark the 80th anniversary of China’s victory against Japanese aggression and the end of World War II, Lavrov told Russian lawmakers on Wednesday.
And last week, Russian ambassador to China, Igor Morgulov, said Xi had accepted an invitation to attend Moscow’s May 9 celebration of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Putin had invited Trump to Moscow for the same event, Tass reported on February 14, raising prospects of a landmark summit that could also include Xi.
On Thursday, two days after the Riyadh talks, Lavrov met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Group of 20 foreign ministers’ summit in South Africa.
According to a readout from the Chinese side, Foreign Minister Wang reaffirmed the “close and effective strategic coordination” between the two countries and said that “no matter how the situation evolves, the foundations of Sino-Russian friendship are unbreakable”.
Lavrov, meanwhile, briefed Wang about “the latest developments and Russia’s consideration regarding” the war in Ukraine, the readout said.
China would “continue to play a constructive role” in peace meditation and push for a political settlement of the war, Wang was quoted as saying.
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