Russian update: Following his reelection, Russian President Vladimir Putin will make his first trip to China.

This week, the two nations confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China for the first time as part of his new six-year term, emphasizing the strengthening bilateral relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Days before he dispatched tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, Putin visited Beijing in February 2022, coinciding with the announcement of a “no limits” relationship between China and Russia.

“Vladimir Putin will make his first overseas trip since assuming office on May 16–17, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping,” the Kremlin announced on Tuesday.

The two will talk about “bilateral ties, cooperation in various fields, and international and regional issues of common interest,” according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying.

Putin will be making his second trip to China in less than six months. China has been Russia’s economic guarantor since Western countries sanctioned it for its military campaign in Ukraine.

China has dismissed Western criticism of its relations with Russia; nonetheless, Western observers are paying more attention to their military and economic collaboration.

In an attempt to cripple Russia’s industrial and military capabilities, the United States last month unveiled new punitive measures that targeted over 280 companies, including 20 Chinese and Hong Kong-based businesses.

US President Joe Biden contends that an existential struggle between democracies and autocracies will define this century, while the US portrays Russia as its greatest nation-state threat and China as its main rival.

Putin and Xi both hold a broad worldview in which China threatens US dominance in everything from espionage and physical military strength to quantum computing and synthetic biology, while the West is seen as decadent and in decline.

Putin will speak with Chinese Premier Li Qiang about economic cooperation while he is in the country. Putin is scheduled to attend an exposition on commerce and investment in Harbin, a city in northeastern China with close ties to Russia.