The president of Russia agreed to the first foreign visit after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest.
This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to its own anonymous knowledgeable sources.
Three knowledgeable sources told Bloomberg that the Kremlin is preparing for Putinʼs visit to China for the Belt and Road Forum in October. One of the sources said that Putin had accepted Xi Jinpingʼs invitation to attend the event.
Putin last visited China in 2022 for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, on the eve of February 24.
- Putin did not leave Russia after the court in The Hague announced a warrant for his arrest (but allegedly"visited" occupied Mariupol ).
- On August 22-25, he missed the BRICS summit in South Africa, because the government there was supposed to arrest him. Instead, Sergey Lavrov attended the summit, and Putin spoke online.
- Putin also told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he will not attend the G20 summit next month, even though India is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, on the basis of which the International Criminal Court operates. That is, India may not arrest Putin on a warrant.