Russia says Putin will travel to China in August

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China at the end of August and beginning of September

MOSCOW -- The Kremlin announced on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China at the end of August and beginning of September, reciprocating Chinese leader Xi Jinping's visit to Russia this week to attend festivities marking Victory Day in World War II.

Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov told reporters that the visit will be part of a “good tradition,” in which Xi visits Moscow to attend celebrations of Russia's defeat over Nazi Germany in May 1945, and Putin travels to China to attend events marking the Allied defeat of Japan.

“This was the case 10 years ago, in 2015, and this will be the case this year,” Ushakov said.

On Sept. 3, Beijing is set to host an event marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, which China refers to as “the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.”

In 2015, China marked the 70th anniversary of its role in the defeat of Japan with a massive military parade involving more than 12,000 troops, 500 pieces of military equipment and 200 military aircraft.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry earlier this year announced that China and Russia would jointly mark this year’s anniversary.

Putin last visited China a year ago, in his first foreign trip after being sworn in for his fifth term in office. He also went in October 2023 and in February 2022, weeks before the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Xi’s visit to Russia will be his third since then. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for weapons production.

After launching what the Kremlin insists on calling a “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russia has become increasingly dependent economically on China because of Western sanctions. China’s increased trade with Russia has helped the country mitigate some of the worst blows from the sanctions.

Moscow has diverted the bulk of its energy exports to China and relied on Chinese companies to import high-tech components for Russian military industries to circumvent Western sanctions.

Xi last visited Russia in September 2024 for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies. He paid a state visit to Russia in March 2023. The two leaders also met in Kazakhstan in July 2024.

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Associated Press writer Simina Mistreaunu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.

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