Vladimir Putin will travel to China for an unusually long visit that includes attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, talks with Xi Jinping, and Beijing's Victory Day military parade. A central agenda item is aligning Russian and Chinese positions on the war in Ukraine amid US efforts to end the fighting. China has become an economic lifeline for Russia, with bilateral trade rising above $240bn last year and China now the leading buyer of Russian oil and coal while set to surpass Europe in natural gas purchases. Russia's dependency on China for energy and trade is likely to persist even if fighting stops.
During the trip, which is expected to stretch to close to a week unusually long for the Russian leader he will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, hold talks with Xi Jinping, and take in Beijing's Victory Day military parade marking 80 years since Japan's defeat in the second world war, where Putin is due to be the star guest alongside North Korea's Kim Jong-un and leaders of Iran and Cuba.
Gabuev said Moscow wanted to know whether it could expect any further assistance from China and how Beijing would respond if the US were to ask it to put pressure on Russia to end the fighting. The two leaders need to compare notes and make sure they are on the same page. This is important because the war has become one of the main pillars of their relationship, he said.
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