Starting Monday, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will go to Russia four days ahead of a potential historic visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing in October.
According to a statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang, who oversees both the foreign ministry and the ruling Communist Party’s foreign affairs office, will meet Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev for annual security talks.
In addition, President Xi Jinping will likely use his high-profile travel to Moscow in March to prepare the framework for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing for the third Belt and Road Forum, which Putin was invited to attend by Chinese President Xi.
Putin has visited the 2017 and 2019 Belt and Road Forums in China.
Since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest order for him on charges of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine, he has not been seen leaving the country.
Putin implied he would meet Xi soon on September 1 but did not confirm any plans to visit China.
The warrant, issued days before Xi visited Russia, compels any of the 123 member states of the court to apprehend Putin upon his entry into their territory and bring him to The Hague to face charges.
However, China is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court in 2002.
The United States was alarmed by Wang’s recent visit to Russia in February, right before the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, because it suggested that the two countries shared a worldview in which “borders could be redrawn by force.”
Before arriving in the United States this week, Wang met with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Malta for several “constructive” discussions.
The talks over the weekend were the most recent in a string of high-level encounters between U.S. and Chinese officials, and they may have laid the groundwork for a meeting between Xi and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden this year.
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