- Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit China for two days.
- This will be Putin's first foreign trip since his fifth term.
- Russia and China are in dispute with democracies and NATO.
In a statement, the Kremlin confirmed the trip and stated that Putin was going on Xi’s invitation. It noted that this would be Putin’s first foreign trip since he was sworn in as president and began his fifth term in office.
The two continent-sized authoritarian states, increasingly in dispute with democracies and NATO, seek to gain influence in Africa, the Middle East, and South America. China has backed Russia’s claim that President Vladimir Putin launched his assault on Ukraine in 2022 because of Western provocations, without producing any solid evidence.
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