Kremlin says Putin is expected to visit China in October

(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit China in October for the One Belt, One Road Forum, the Kremlin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said on Tuesday, according to comments reported by the official TASS news agency.

China has become Russia’s main ally since the two countries signed an “unfettered” partnership before the war in Ukraine broke out last year, which was strengthened with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow in March.

Vladimir Putin last visited Beijing for what Russia described as a “special military operation” in Ukraine, which Kiev and Westerners condemn as an invasion.

China refuses to blame Russia for the conflict and criticizes the West for sanctions against Moscow in this context.

Beijing introduced a peace plan earlier this year that called for easing tensions in Ukraine, a move criticized by the United States and its Western allies as “blocking” Russia’s territorial gains.

(Reporting by Felix Light; French edition edited by Jean Terzien, Nicolas Delamey)