China Will Host Putin, Days After Trump's Visit [View all]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/16/world/europe/putin-china-visit-trump.html

China Will Host Putin, Days After Trump’s Visit
The Russian leader will go to Beijing on Tuesday for talks with President Xi Jinping. The Kremlin said he had watched President Trump’s visit closely.
By Ivan Nechepurenko
May 16, 2026, 7:23 a.m. ET

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will go to China next week for talks with its leader, Xi Jinping, just days after President Trump’s visit to Beijing, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

Mr. Putin watched Mr. Trump’s visit closely and is looking forward to discussing major issues with Mr. Xi during a two-day visit, which will begin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said. Russian officials had said for days that Mr. Putin would visit China, but the dates were not announced until Saturday. China confirmed that the trip would take place.

Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, told reporters on Friday that the trip would give Moscow “a good opportunity to share opinions on the contacts that the Chinese had with the Americans.”

The Kremlin said on Saturday that the two leaders would discuss bilateral issues, share thoughts on “the main international and regional problems” and sign several bilateral documents.

Russia has a lopsided economic relationship with China. China supplies more than a third of its imports and buys more than a quarter of its exports, but Russia accounts for only about 4 percent of China’s international trade — a smaller share than Vietnam’s.

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