After Trump’s high-profile Beijing trip, Putin to meet Xi Jinping on May 19-20 - What to expect?

Putin to visit China: Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to China on May 19 for a two-day visit, shortly after the US President Donald Trump concluded his trip to Beijing.

Talks on strategic cooperation among the agenda?

During the trip, the Russian leader will discuss with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping how to "further strengthen the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation" between Moscow and Beijing, AFP reported, citing Kremlin’s statement.

Putin and Xi will "exchange views on key international and regional issues" and sign a joint declaration at the conclusion of their talks, it added.

Putin may also discuss economic, trade cooperation

As part of the visit, Putin is also scheduled to discuss economic and trade cooperation with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

The announcement of Putin's trip comes just after Trump wrapped up on Friday the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade, with the grand reception belying a roster of unresolved trade and geopolitical tensions, including over the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Although Trump and Xi discussed the more than four-year-long conflict -- as well as the US leader's stalemated war with Iran -- the Republican president took off from China on Friday without appearing to secure a breakthrough on either front.

While China has regularly called for talks to end the fighting, it has never condemned Russia for sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and presents itself as a neutral party.

Beijing also denies providing Moscow with weapons and military components for its defence industry, blaming Western countries for prolonging Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II by arming Ukraine instead.

As the world's top buyer of Russian fossil fuels, China has become Moscow's key economic partner, especially since Western countries imposed economic sanctions on Russian oil and gas over the conflict.

Negotiations to end the fighting in Ukraine, brokered by the United States, have appeared stalled since the beginning of the US-Israeli war with Iran which broke out on February 28.

Moscow has ruled out a ceasefire or comprehensive negotiations with Ukraine unless Kyiv caves to the Kremlin's maximalist demands.

Trump invited Xi for a visit to Washington in September

The US President said he had invited Xi for a visit to Washington in September.

“Xi has done something Chinese leaders have been working toward for decades — bringing an American president to Beijing as an undisputed peer,” said Julian Gewirtz, who served as China director on the National Security Council under President Joe Biden.

“Xi used the opulent optics of the visit to make clear to the world that China and the United States are the two dominant, equally matched superpowers. There is no going back.”

Trump’s friendly statements toward Xi and the Chinese people were being amplified in China’s state-controlled media, sending the message that “we’re getting along better with the Americans,” John Delury, a senior Fellow at the Asia Society, was quoted as saying by The New York Times.

“Xi did not hesitate to warn Trump over Taiwan. Trump should not hesitate to be frank about our concerns, too,” he said.

Trump and Xi are expected to meet at least three times this year.

Trump may travel to Shenzhen in China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in November. And Xi could come to the G-20 summit in December in Miami.

“This is a summit again that was heavier on symbolism than it was on substance — focus on managing problems, not on solving the problems that exist between the US and China,” said Rush Doshi, former National Security Council deputy senior director for China and Taiwan in the Biden administration.

“The way that both leaders talked about the future indicates that this is going to be part of a process that will play out this year,” said Kurt Campbell, former deputy secretary of State in the Biden administration.