Russia’s Putin to fulfill with China President Xi as Ukraine war drags on

WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he’ll soon meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping because the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine drags on.

“Soon enough we may have some events and there might be a gathering with the Chinese President [Xi Jinping],” Putin said during a conference with students in Russia.

“He [Xi] calls me his friend, and I’m pleased to call him my friend, because it is a man who personally does rather a lot for the event of Russian-Chinese relations and cooperation in numerous areas,” Putin said.

Since Russia’s invasion of its ex-Soviet neighbor, Washington and its allies have imposed rounds of coordinated sanctions vaulting Russia past Iran and North Korea because the world’s most-sanctioned country.

White House officials have previously expressed deep concerns about China’s alignment with Russia and the likelihood that the world’s second-largest economy may aid Moscow because the Kremlin’s war heads into its 600th day.

The last time the 2 leaders met was in March on the Kremlin. A month later, Xi spoke on the phone for the primary time since Russia’s full-scale invasion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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Putin and Xi’s upcoming meeting also comes amid regular gains by Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.

The White House said Ukrainian forces have made “notable progress” in southern Zaporizhzhia within the last 72 hours.

“Now where they go from here and the way they exploit that success, I’ll leave it to them to debate, but we’ve got seen some notable progress,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on a conference call.

Kirby declined to offer additional details, citing operational security risks.