Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Russia

A military band waited on the tarmac to welcome Mr Xi.

According to The New York Times , Russian state media gave Xi Jinping's arrival a big boost. Russian media broadcast live footage of the Chinese president's plane taxiing at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, along with news of growing economic cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.

Departing for Russia on March 20, this is Mr. Tap's first foreign trip since he assumed the role ofPresident of China for the third term.

Chủ tịch Trung Quốc Tập Cận Bình đã đến Nga - Ảnh 1.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Uzbekistan in September 2022. Photo: Reuters

Details about President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow, his first in nearly four years, are scant.

Mr. Putin is expected to meet with Mr. Xi at around 4:30 p.m. (local time). According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov, the meeting will be "informal but very important."

The two leaders will hold face-to-face talks and have dinner together on March 20. They will then hold further “negotiations” and issue a joint statement on March 21 before Xi leaves the following day, according to a brief schedule released by the Kremlin.

Both sides said the purpose of the trip was to further strengthen bilateral ties and deepen Russia-China economic ties. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on March 17 that it was a "trip of friendship, cooperation and peace." He did not mention the Ukraine issue.

China has been a major source of revenue for Russia as its largest oil customer, with bilateral trade soaring in recent months, according to Reuters .

For Mr Xi, the visit will be an opportunity to strengthen diplomatic ties between the two countries, with China putting forward a 12-point proposal to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

“The proposal serves as a constructive factor in neutralizing the consequences of the crisis and promoting a political solution. Complex problems have no simple solutions,” Xi wrote in an article published on March 20 in Rossiiskaya Gazeta, the Russian government’s daily newspaper.

According to Reuters , China's proposal only includes general statements and does not contain any specific proposals on how to end the conflict that has lasted more than a year.

Source