Kremlin says it has ‘serious expectations’ for Putin’s trip to China

MOSCOW, May 18 (Reuters) – Russia has high expectations for President Vladimir Putin’s trip to China this week, and the two sides will use it to develop their “privileged partnership”, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Putin is to visit China on Tuesday and Wednesday, less than a week after U.S. President Donald Trump went there for talks with President Xi Jinping.

“We have very serious expectations for this visit,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The so-called “no limits” partnership between China and Russia, the world’s biggest producer of natural resources, has strengthened since the West imposed sanctions to punish Russia for the war in Ukraine.

“We and our Chinese friends refer to it as a particularly privileged and strategic partnership,” Peskov said.

The Russian delegation will include relevant deputy prime ministers, government ministers and company heads, he said.

Peskov was asked if plans would be discussed for the proposed Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, which could one day deliver an additional 50 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year from Russia’s Arctic gas fields via Mongolia to China.

“All issues that are on the economic agenda of our bilateral relations will naturally be addressed,” he replied.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan/Guy Faulconbridge)