China-Russia ties: Vladimir Putin confirms he will meet Xi Jinping in Beijing for Belt and Road Forum next month

In St Petersburg, Russian president tells Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi he will attend forum, saying the strategy ‘fully meets and coincides’ with Russia’s interests

Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Security Council of Russia, warns China and Mongolia of potential attempts to start colour revolutions in the region

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Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands before a meeting at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday, September 20. Photo: AP

Published: 1:01pm, 21 Sep 2023Updated: 1:28pm, 21 Sep 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next month for the latest high-level engagement between the two neighbours amid tensions with the West.

In his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday, Putin said he would attend the Belt and Road Forum in the Chinese capital, a highlight of Xi’s diplomatic agenda for the year.

A mega project proposed by Xi 10 years ago, the Belt and Road Initiative is aimed at expanding China’s economic cooperation and connectivity with countries in Eurasia and beyond.

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Putin told Wang the belt and road strategy “fully meets and coincides” with Russia’s interests, according to the Kremlin.

“We believe in merging our vision of creating a Greater Eurasian space with the idea of our Chinese friends as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, and we have been quite good at synchronising our efforts,” he said, according to a statement released by the Kremlin.

In an effort to offset trade pressure from the US, Beijing and Moscow have sought to forge close economic ties in recent years with pledges to deepen cooperation under both the Beijing-led Belt and Road Initiative and the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union, an economic union of several post-Soviet states in Eurasia.

However, progress has been slow.

During the meeting in St Petersburg on Wednesday, Putin called for stronger ties with China in the face of global challenges.