Putin met with a Chinese representative following talks with Witkoff
Vladimir Putin met with Li Qiang, Premier of the State Council of China, in St. Petersburg. The talks took place immediately after the Russian president’s meeting with Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff. During the conversation, Putin spoke about the development of relations with Beijing and mentioned his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During his meeting with Li Qiang, Vladimir Putin stated that relations between Russia and China continue to develop. According to him, cooperation between the two countries is not dependent on the external situation and is not directed against other states. Putin described Russian-Chinese relations as successful and dynamic. At the same time, he did not announce any specific new agreements resulting from the conversation.
The Russian president also mentioned a meeting with Xi Jinping scheduled for November. It is set to take place during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Putin asked Li Qiang to convey his best wishes to the Chinese leader. Thus, during the talks, the parties also touched upon future contacts between the leaders of the two countries.
The meeting took place after talks with a representative of Trump
On the same day, Putin held talks with Steve Witkoff, a special envoy of U.S. President Donald Trump. The meeting took place before his conversation with the Chinese premier.
According to reports from the Russian side, the talks with Witkoff focused, in particular, on the possibility of a meeting between Putin and Trump at the summit in China. However, the report does not contain any information about a final decision regarding such a meeting. Following the talks with the U.S. representative, Putin met with Li Qiang, who had arrived in St. Petersburg for talks with Russian leadership.
Li Qiang also met with Mishustin
In addition to his talks with Putin, the Premier of the State Council of China held a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The talks took place as part of contacts between the governments of the two countries.
Thus, in a single day in St. Petersburg, Russian leadership held meetings with both a U.S. representative and a high-ranking Chinese official. Putin stated his intention to continue cooperation with Beijing and mentioned the possibility of a face-to-face meeting with Xi Jinping in November. At the same time, the statement did not mention any specific new agreements resulting from the meeting with Li Qiang.
