Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will arrive in Russia on Monday for a four-day visit, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced.
The Chinese minister is holding security consultations described as strategic, the latest in a series of high-level meetings and contacts between the two countries, ahead of a possible visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing in October.
Ukraine and the Pacific
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Wang "will travel to Russia to hold the 18th round of China-Russia strategic security consultations between September 18 and 21," at the invitation of the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had previously announced at a press briefing that Wang would meet his counterpart Sergei Lavrov "to strengthen cooperation in the international arena."
"There is a detailed exchange of views on issues related to the settlement in Ukraine, as well as ways to ensure stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region," a ministry spokesman said.
"Strategic Alliance"
Wang is expected to pave the way for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China to attend the Third Belt and Road Forum, following an invitation from President Xi Jinping during his visit to Moscow in March.
Last month, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu visited Russia and Belarus and called for closer military cooperation, and relations between the two neighbors have converged in the military field since the war in Ukraine, and they have organized several exercises between their militaries in recent months aimed at strengthening their coordination.
Yuri Ushakov, Russia's assistant for international affairs, announced in July that President Putin would visit China in October.
On the first of September, Putin said that he expects to meet his Chinese counterpart soon, without confirming whether he will visit China, as there are no known foreign visits to Putin since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him, on charges of "responsibility for the crime of illegal deportation of children from the occupied territories in Ukraine to Russia."
Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Moscow in March and declared that relations between the two countries were entering a new era, saying his country was ready to stand firmly by Russia to protect international law.
Prior to the Chinese president's visit to Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed – in an article published in the Chinese People's Daily – Beijing's readiness to play a "constructive" role in resolving the Ukrainian crisis, stressing that he builds great hopes on the visit of his Chinese counterpart, expecting the volume of trade exchange between the two countries to exceed $ 200 billion this year.