Putin to visit China in first trip since ICC arrest warrant: Bloomberg

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Bloomberg
29 Aug 2023 21:20

Bloomberg cites three informed sources as saying that the Kremlin is planning Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China for the Belt and Road Forum in October.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (TASS)

Bloomberg cited three informed sources as saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to undertake his first international trip since the International Criminal Court issued in March an arrest warrant against him over alleged war crimes.

According to the three sources, the Kremlin is planning Putin's visit to China for the Belt and Road Forum in October. One of the sources told Bloomberg that the Russian leader has accepted Chinese President Xi Jinping's invitation to attend the Forum.

It is noteworthy that Putin has not left Russia since the ICC warrant was issued. He did not attend last week's BRICS meeting in Johannesburg after the South African government stated that it would have to comply with the arrest warrant as a signatory to the ICC, despite its objections. He instead attended the meeting remotely.

In addition, the Russian President informed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he will skip the Group of 20 (G20) summit next month, despite the fact that India is not a signatory to the court.

Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that he anticipated Putin to visit Turkey in August for talks. Nevertheless, the Turkish leader intends to visit Russia's Sochi next week to meet with Putin.

Since the start of the Ukraine war in February, the Russian President has only visited Iran and former Soviet Union nations neighboring Russia.

Putin's last visit to China was in February 2022, less than three weeks before the start of the war, when he attended the Winter Olympics in Beijing and met with Xi, during which the two sides pledged a "no limits" partnership.

On his part, Xi paid a state visit to Moscow in March, when he expressed hope that his Russian counterpart would visit China before the end of the year.

In late July, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov indicated that Putin is planning to visit China in October.

"It is known that we have received an invitation and that we intend to go to China when the Belt and Road Forum is held in October," Ushakov said in comments carried by Russian news agencies.

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev also revealed in May that Beijing had invited Putin as the "main guest" at the Belt and Road Forum, as per state-run news agency TASS.