Putin in China for Belt and Road Initiative summit, meeting with Xi Jinping as well

(Patria) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in China to meet with Xi Jinping.

China is hosting representatives from 130 countries this week for a forum on President Xi's significant project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which Beijing uses to expand its global influence.

Putin is at the top of the invitation list, and the Russian leader is on his first trip to a major global power since the invasion of Ukraine plunged his regime into international isolation, AFP reported.

He is scheduled to meet with Xi on Wednesday, the Kremlin announced. "During the talks, special attention will be paid to international and regional issues," it stated, without further explanation.

The Kremlin said the two leaders would meet on Wednesday "on the sidelines" of the BRI forum.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov thanked China for inviting Putin as the "main guest of the summit," according to a statement from Moscow, which later stated that the top diplomat would head to North Korea after Beijing.

Putin and Xi will discuss the countries' relations "in their entirety" when they meet this week, Lavrov told his counterpart Yi Wang. Wang, in turn, said that China "appreciates" Russia's support for the Belt and Road Initiative.