Vladimir Putin To Attend Belt And Road Forum In China

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to attend the ‘Belt and Road Forum’ this week in an effort to strengthen the relationship formed between the United States’ two main strategic competitors.

On October 17-18, Putin will attend the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the Hague-based International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in March for the expulsion of children from Ukraine.

In February 2022, China and Russia established a no-limits cooperation when Putin visited Beijing only days before sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, sparking Europe’s bloodiest land conflict since World War II.

The United States sees China as its main competitor and Russia as its main nation-state threat, while US President Joe Biden believes that the 21st century will be marked by an existential struggle between democracies and autocracies.

Vladimir Putin has generally stayed within the former Soviet Union since the Ukraine war, though he did visit Iran last year for discussions with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The US has cautioned China not to supply Putin with weaponry as Russia, with a $2 trillion economy, attacks Ukrainian forces backed by the US and the EU.

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