President Xi Jinping Denies President Vladimir Putin's Invitation To Russia, Kremlin: The Problem Anti-COVID Restrictions

President Xi Jinping with President Vladimir Putin. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

JAKARTA - Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping allegedly rejected President Vladimir Putin's invitation to visit Russia.

earlier reports that Chinese leader Xi Jinping allegedly turned down President Vladimir Putin's invitation to visit Russia.

"This is absolutely not true," Peskov said of the news, as reported by TASS July 6.

he said adding that all joint presidential visits would be paid for once the Chinese side began to gradually lift the anti-COVID restrictions.

"The problem is that certain anti-COVID restrictions remain in place in China, which is completely normal and understandable. There is a legitimate invitation for Putin to visit China and Xi Jinping to visit Russia. All visits will be paid for taking into account the ease of these restrictions," he said.

Previously, media reported that President Xi had rejected President Putin's invitation due to the pandemic. According to reports, the invitation was delivered during a phone call between the two leaders on June 15.

Meanwhile, relations between China and Russia warmed after last month's joint aerial drills, in which Beijing accused Moscow of being "too blatant" in wanting to push the drills beyond agreed limits, risking confrontation with Japan in the process.

However, recent naval drills saw ships from China and Russia close to entering Japanese waters near the island of Senkuku.

China's relations with Russia have also been called into question over the ongoing war in Ukraine. To date, Beijing has not publicly supported Moscow in the war, urging Russia to end the conflict peacefully.

However, China has also condemned the economic sanctions imposed on Russia by its Western allies, refusing to comply with the rules, and continuing to trade with its northern neighbour.