Kremlin says preparations for Putin's visit to China entered 'final stage'

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that preparations for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China have entered their "final stage."

Asked if the visit would take place in May, Peskov said Moscow and Beijing will simultaneously announce the dates once they are finalized.

"Any contacts between the heads of Russia and China in our time is an event that attracts the attention of the whole world. Russia and China are sovereign countries that value their sovereignty, are under pressure from the West and are confident enough to stand on their feet in order to withstand this pressure," he told a press briefing in Moscow.

The spokesman said the agenda of the meeting includes "a lot of issues of mutual interest with an emphasis on the further development of very, very multifaceted bilateral cooperation."

Speaking at the annual congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on Wednesday, Putin said he plans to visit China next month and will present his favorite book, What Is to Be Done?, an 1863 novel by Russian philosopher Nikolay Chernyshevsky, to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing, just days before launching a "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Xi visited Russia in March last year, and the two most recently met in October in Beijing.

Commenting on job announcements in the Western countries, hunting for cameramen with experience of taking part in combat activities for work in Russia and statements by Western politicians about Moscow's alleged plans to attack Europe, Peskov said Russia poses no threat to anyone in Europe and expects that no one in Europe poses a threat to Russia.

The official noted that Russia and Europe are geographical neighbors, which means that sooner or later they will have to seek new forms of relations.

"It will not be possible to build relationships as before. And no one wants that. First of all, we don't. We had a lot of experience with the attitude of Europeans towards us. And we will always take this experience into account when building relationships," he emphasized.

Peskov said Moscow ignores the European parliament's appeal not to recognize the results of the 2024 Russian presidential election, noting that "contrary to the main vocation of parliamentarians -- to build a dialogue, to look for ways to build a dialogue," the EU parliament "turned into a machine of outrageous statements, internal contradictions."