China Defence Minister Li Shangfu will visit Russia and Belarus to attend the 11th Moscow Conference International Security on Tuesday, August 15. Notably, this will be the second visit of Shangfu to Moscow after the latter started a full-fledged war against its neighbouring nation. Earlier in April, this year, the Chinese minister visited the Kremlin and met top officials of Russia.
According to Senior Col. Wu Qian, spokesman of China’s Defense Ministry, Li will attend the 11th Moscow Conference International Security on Tuesday and is expected to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and other officials.
During his last visit, he met Russian boss Vladimir Putin and hailed their countries’ close military cooperation. However, like earlier, it wasn't clear whether the Chinese minister would meet him again but it was expected that he would present the "Ukraine peace formula" again as described by the ministry during his and President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow.
China-Russia relations boosted significantly after war
It is worth mentioning the relations between the two nations enhanced when Putin visited Beijing in February last year. Since then, top officials of both nations have been engaged in talks with their counterparts and advocated for boosting military, economic and defence ties.
The ties have boosted further after Putin initiated a "special military operation" against Ukraine which brings isolation and economic woes for Russia due to heavy sanctions imposed by the West and Europe in order to penalise Moscow for its actions.
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