Guest of the program: Putin expects Xi Jinping in May

Chinese President Xi Jinping will be Russia's main guest at the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory in May. Vladimir Putin said this on April 1 at a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is in Moscow. The program of the visit of the leader of the republic will be intense: it will affect not only the celebration of the Victory anniversary, but also the discussion of the bilateral agenda, as well as the work of states on international platforms. According to the Chinese Foreign Minister, preparations for the Chinese president's visit are "going quite well," and mutual trips by the leaders will be able to give a new impetus to the development of relations between Moscow and Beijing. Experts admit that Wang Yi came to Russia in general to discuss the international agenda, including the Ukrainian crisis and the Russian-American dialogue.

Putin and Xi to make mutual visits

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on a visit to Moscow. He arrived in Russia on March 31 and will stay in the capital until April 2. The main work program of the high—ranking guest from China took place on April 1. In the morning, he laid a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin Wall, and after that held a series of negotiations. In the morning, Wang Yi met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The Ministers noted that the relations between the two countries are steadily developing thanks to their leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, and personal meetings of the heads of state always give a special impetus to the bilateral partnership. Following the talks, Sergey Lavrov and Wang Yi signed a plan for consultations between the diplomatic missions for 2025.

The central point of the program was the reception of Wang and Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier recalled that the leaders of Russia and China "always mutually receive high-ranking delegations," while "Putin has known Wang Yi for a long time." The Russian President asked the Chinese Foreign Minister to convey "friendly greetings" to Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Russian leader also received "the warmest greetings from a long—time friend," President Xi Jinping. The President recalled that the Chinese leader is very much expected in Russia on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

— We will celebrate this anniversary together — both the victory over Nazi Germany and the victory over militaristic Japan (Putin accepted his colleague's invitation to come to China for the celebrations in early September. — Ed.). We would like to express our satisfaction with the way our relations are developing, including with the direct support of our Ministries of Foreign Affairs. I know that you have a long and eventful program of your visit. First of all, it is connected with the preparations for the Chinese president's visit to Russia. We will prepare a good, rich program. I hope that it will be connected not only with participation in the celebrations, but it will also be a separate visit. The Chinese president will be our main guest," Vladimir Putin said.

— I am sure that the upcoming trip of President (of China Xi Jinping. — Ren.) to Russia, as well as your trip to China, will certainly give a new impetus to the development of bilateral relations, — said Wang Yi.

The minister confirmed that preparations for President Xi's visit and his participation in the celebrations to be held in May are "proceeding quite successfully." Vladimir Putin drew attention to the fact that Xi Jinping is expecting a rather eventful visit. The leaders will have the opportunity to talk about the state of bilateral relations and discuss cooperation on international platforms, including, first of all, the UN, SCO and BRICS, the president said.

China's reaction to attempts at rapprochement between Russia and the United States

However, experts are convinced that in the closed part of Wang Yi's talks with Vladimir Putin, it was not only about the preparation of bilateral visits and the development of relations between China and the Russian Federation.

— Now it is important for Russia and China to constantly maintain a clock reconciliation mechanism, as events in Russian-American relations are developing intensively. A very important issue is not to miss the agenda, not to miss the Russian Federation and not to allow the rapprochement between Russia and the United States to harm the Chinese side," Yulia Melnikova, head of the program department of the Russian International Affairs Council, told Izvestia.

After the new administration of Donald Trump came to power in the United States, Moscow and Washington resumed dialogue on a wide range of issues. On February 12, the presidents of the two countries had their first telephone conversation since 2022. After that, the parties held a series of consultations: on February 18, they agreed to restore the staffing levels of diplomatic staff at the embassies of both countries. At the end of February, during the next round of negotiations in Istanbul, the delegations discussed the restoration of normal embassy operations. On March 18, the second call between Putin and Trump took place. Now Russia and the United States are preparing a new meeting to eliminate irritants in bilateral relations and normalize contacts, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. "There was a meeting in Istanbul, a second meeting is being prepared, meanwhile contacts are underway by phone, via videoconference," the Russian minister told reporters.

Beijing has a difficult relationship with the new US administration, in particular, because of the trade wars. Even during his first term as president, Trump pursued a tough policy towards China. Against this background, China is closely monitoring the progress of the Russian-American dialogue. At a meeting with the Russian president, the Chinese minister stated that the countries should join forces to promote a multipolar world and democratize international relations.

— Cooperation between China and Russia is never directed against third parties and is not susceptible to interference from the outside. We will not stand still on the development of bilateral relations, we have the broadest prospect ahead of us. Our friendship is not opportunistic, but long—term," said Wang Yi.

In general, Wang Yi's visit to Moscow is an important reminder to the West that Russia has considerable diplomatic support from outside in the person of China, says Kirill Kotkov, an orientalist and head of the Center for the Study of the Far East at MAIS SPb.

— The official Wang Yi speech is friendly towards Russia. It shows that everything is fine between our countries now, trade and economic relations are at a very high level. Both sides are friendly towards each other. This visit shows that Russia is not alone. Moreover, the West has failed in these three years, and this must be recognized as a success of Russian diplomacy, to isolate Russia," he told Izvestia.

In 2024, the trade turnover between China and Russia grew to a record $245 billion. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko clarified that the countries intend to reach $300 billion by 2030.

The Russian and Chinese delegations probably also touched upon the Ukrainian settlement, especially in the context of the agreements between the Russian Federation and the United States, according to which Moscow and Kiev should stop attacks on energy facilities. The Russian side has been implementing the agreement since March 18. At the same time, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov reported to Vladimir Putin on April 1 about Ukraine's non-compliance with the moratorium. He provided a list of Russian facilities attacked by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This document has already been sent to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Donald Trump's National Security aide Mike Waltz and Russian representatives to the UN.