Putin will visit China on May 16-17

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will pay an official visit to China on May 16-17, the Kremlin announced.

Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will hold talks and plan to sign a number of agreements.

Putin plans to have meetings in Beijing and Harbin.

Read also: What Russia and China hope to get out of their alliance – interview with former FM Klimkin

Russian dictator also plans to meet with China's Premier of the State Council, Li Qiang, Russian propagandist agency TASS claims.

Putin's visit could be the first foreign visit of his new presidential term, Reuters reported on March 19.

Read also: What will Putin and Xi Jinping get from their crucial meeting

During his last visit to China in October 2023, Putin held talks with Xi Jinping.

He spoke with Xi Jinping for three hours about the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, the Russian dictator said.

Jinping called the Russian dictator an "old friend" and proposed an initiative to create an "alternative development model for the world."

Putin welcomed the idea and stressed Russia's "deep commitment" to China.

Putin's foreign visits after international arrest warrant

Putin planned to visit Turkey before he visited China, but his trip to Turkey was postponed to a "later date" at the beginning of February.

This visit could be Putin's next foreign visit since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest in March 2023 on charges of war crimes - the illegal deportation of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia.

Read also: Xi Jinping must influence Putin following his latest nuclear threats — Ursula von der Leyen

Putin has managed to visit six countries after the arrest warrant was issued: Kyrgyzstan, China, Kazakhstan, Belarus, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

The Russian dictator can be arrested and transferred to the ICC in any of the 123 countries that have ratified the Rome Statute.

None of the countries he has visited has ratified the treaty - and neither has Turkey.

Putin's July 2023 visit to South Africa, a member country of the Rome Statute, was canceled.

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