Putin to visit Beijing on April 26-27 for One Belt, One Road summit

BEIJING, Feb 14, 2019, TASS. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit the Chinese capital, Beijing, on April 26-27 to take part in a One Belt, One Road forum, Russia’s Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov told journalists on Thursday, adding that the Russian leader would be the main guest of the event, reported the TASS News Agency.

“As for the [Russian-Chinese] contacts at the high and summit level, of what know as of today this will be the April summit of the One Belt, One Road initiative, where Vladimir Vladimirovich has been invited as the main guest. The dates have already been confirmed, we are waiting for our president in China on April 26, 27,” the ambassador said in reply to a query.

He also stressed that diplomatic cooperation of Moscow and Beijing last year was “rather impressive”. “Four meetings took place last year, for summits of our leaders, six meetings of the foreign ministers and four meetings of the defense ministers,” he said. “A regular meeting of the heads of government also took place” last year, the ambassador added.

He said that last year the prime ministers of Russia and China also met separately with the presidents. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev met for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping while Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They met in a bilateral format as well as on the sidelines of international events.