Perhaps feeling more confident and emboldened given the way things are currently going in Ukraine (Moscow has the upper-hand with widespread reports of a 'stalled' and failing Kiev counteroffensive), President Vladimir Putin is about to do some globetrotting.
Russia's TASS is reporting Tuesday that he plans to visit China in October, which will be a significant first since the Ukraine invasion, and as both countries have faced down Washington sanctions as well as punitive efforts to isolate both. There are also emerging reports of a trip to India in the works for Putin, to attend the upcoming G20 summit, set for Sept. 9-10.
No firm date has yet to be agreed upon for the Beijing trip, says TASS. Starting in March of this year Chinese president Xi Jinping had issued a formal invitation for Putin to visit China.
The Guardian and others had called it "a symbolic show of support after the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s president over accusations of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children."
Xi, it must be recalled, has already gone to Moscow during the war, and has been under Western pressure to take a clear stance against Russian military aggression. But while touting an officially neutral stance, Beijing has frequently rebuked NATO's expansion east.
And it didn't help that NATO had contemplated opening up a liaison office in Japan, but which has been shelved amid angry Chinese denunciations and warnings.
Adding to the pressure, and representative of the type of accusatory rhetoric that in recent years has pushed Putin and Xi closer together (resulting in pledges of "no limits" partnership and friendship), the head of MI6 accused China’s government of being "absolutely complicit" in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sir Richard Moore said in a rare speech from Prague last week, "When Putin invaded Ukraine, the Chinese very clearly supported the Russians."
"They have completely supported the Russians diplomatically, they’ve abstained in key votes at the United Nations, they’ve absolutely cynically repeated all the Russian tropes, particularly in places like Africa and Latin America – [by] blaming Nato and all of this stuff," he added.
Meanwhile, Russian officials are gearing up for the major Russia-Africa Summit this week, with it still being an open question on whether Putin might attend in person. He recently canceled plans to attend the BRICS South Africa summit in person, related to the ICC arrest warrant and the fact that South Africa is under immense pressure to enforce it. Top of the agenda for the Russia-Africa summit will be the now collapsed Black Sea grain deal, and potential 'alternative' plans to supply Africa.
