Chinese leader Xi Jinping will fly to Moscow next week to meet with President Vladimir Putin in his first visit to Russia since Putin launched his devastating invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago, writes CNN.

The visit will be seen as a powerful show of Beijing’s support for Moscow in Western capitals, where leaders have grown increasingly wary of the two nations’ deepening partnership as war rages in Europe.

It will also be Xi’s first foreign trip since securing an unprecedented third term as president at the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp legislature last week.

The face to face was revealed on Friday by statements from both Beijing and the Kremlin.

China’s Foreign Ministry said the visit will take place from Monday to Wednesday at the invitation of Putin and confirmed that the war in Ukraine would be a core part of the talks.

“China’s proposition boils down to one sentence, which is to urge peace and promote talks”, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

The Kremlin said the two leaders will discuss “topical issues of further development of comprehensive partnership relations and strategic cooperation between Russia and China”.

“An exchange of views is also planned in the context of deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation in the international arena”, the Kremlin added. “A number of important bilateral documents will be signed”.