China's Xi Jinping to host Russia's Vladimir Putin as tensions grow with West

China's Xi Jinping to host Russia's Vladimir Putin as tensions grow with West
February 4, 2022, 8:08 am

Xi Jinping-Chinese President

The Asharq -Al-Awsat reported, China's President Xi Jinping is poised for his first face-to-face meeting with a world leader in nearly two years on Friday when he hosts Russia's Vladimir Putin, with the pair drawing closer as tensions grow with the West.

AFP said that Xi has not left China since January 2020, when the country was grappling with its initial Covid-19 outbreak and locked down the central city of Wuhan where the virus was first detected.

He is now readying to meet more than 20 leaders as Beijing kicks off a Winter Olympics it hopes will be a soft-power triumph and shift focus away from a build-up blighted by a diplomatic boycott and Covid fears.

Vladimir Putin: Image credit Russian Embassy in India Facebook page

A top Kremlin adviser said at a Wednesday press briefing, Xi and Putin will meet in the Chinese capital before their nations release a joint statement reflecting their "common views" on security and other issues.

The two strongmen will then attend the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday evening.

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Spiraling tensions with the West have bolstered ties between the world's largest nation and its most populous, and Putin was the first foreign leader to confirm his presence at Friday's opening ceremony.

He hailed Russia's "model" relations with Beijing in a December phone call with Xi, calling his Chinese counterpart a "dear friend".

Source: aawsat

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