Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu is due to arrive in Russia on Sunday for a four-day visit that comes at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday that "Chinese Defense Minister Colonel General Li Shangfu will pay an official visit to Russia from April 16-18, 2023."
"This is his first foreign trip after being appointed head of the Chinese military department in March 2023. Talks between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Chinese counterpart are planned during the visit," the statement read.
The sides will discuss the state of and prospects for bilateral defense cooperation, as well as topical issues of global and regional security, the ministry added.
Commenting on the upcoming visit, Tan, for his part, told reporters that cooperation between the armed forces of Russia and China contributes to the current Russian-Chinese relations: a comprehensive and strategic partnership.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei, for his part, pointed out that the past few years have seen the two countries' armed forces make new progress in “strategic communications, joint exercises and practical cooperation.”
The Chinese defense minister was previously slapped with US sanctions over promoting his country’s military collaboration with Russia.
His forthcoming talks with Shoigu come after Chinese Presindet Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia last month, when he sat down with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss an array of pressing issues, including the Ukraine conflict and Western countries’ sanctions against Russia.
The US and its allies slapped packages of anti-Russian sanctions shortly after Moscow began its ongoing special military operation in Ukraine. According to Putin, the sanctions ultimately backfired on those who imposed them.