Putin agrees to visit China in first trip since arrest warrant
President Vladimir Putin, who hasn’t left Russia since the ICC war crimes warrant in March, reportedly will attend the Belt and Road Forum in China in October this year
Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to make his first foreign trip since a warrant for his arrest on alleged war crimes was issued by the International Criminal Court.
The Kremlin is preparing Putin's visit to China for the Belt and Road Forum in October, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the issue is sensitive.
Putin has accepted the invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend the event, one of the people said.
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China has become Russia's most significant ally since early last year, when the West's already strained ties with Moscow were chilling further as Putin was preparing to send his armed forces into Ukraine.
Putin last visited Beijing just before the invasion, which Russia calls a "special military operation", and together with Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a "no limits" partnership that has extended into economic, trade, political and military areas.
China has declined to blame Moscow for the war and condemned Western sanctions on Russia, even as it has profited by securing discounts for oil and gas that Russia no longer sells to Europe, and watched Russia increasingly use its yuan as a reserve currency, in preference to the US dollar.
Xi in turn came to Moscow in March, sealing a series of economic and other agreements with his "dear friend" Putin.
China presented a paper in Moscow calling for a de-escalation and eventual ceasefire in Ukraine, but Kyiv and its Western allies rejected the plan, saying it would lock in Russian territorial gains.
