:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/FKMM33XAXMYHOM3DFTBRZVGWBY.jpg "Xi Jinping plans to visit Russia next week - sources 1")
March 13 (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to travel to Russia to meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin as early as next week, sources familiar with the matter say, which would be sooner than expected.
The visit comes as China has offered to broker peace in Ukraine, an effort that has been met with skepticism in the West given China’s diplomatic support for Russia.
Russian news agency Tass reported on January 30 that Putin had invited Xi to visit the country in the spring. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the visit to Moscow could take place in April or early May.
China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Xi might visit Moscow, and the Kremlin declined to comment.
No other details were immediately available.
Sources briefed on the matter declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the issue.
China and Russia established a “boundless” partnership in February 2022, weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, and the two sides have continued to reaffirm the strength of their ties.
(Reporting from the Hong Kong, Beijing and Moscow newsrooms; editing in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)