MOSCOW — The Kremlin has officially confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Beijing this September to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II. The announcement comes amid heightened speculation about a potential meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump, should the latter also attend the event.
Dmitry Peskov, the Russian presidential spokesman, stated on Monday that Putin’s visit to China is already in the planning stages, signaling Russia’s ongoing deepening of strategic and historical ties with Beijing. This anniversary, which will bring together a coalition of nations that defeated imperial Japan, holds symbolic significance for Russia, especially as Moscow continues to portray itself as a global force of stability against Western antagonism.
While media reports from the UK-based The Times hinted at the possibility of a trilateral presence in Beijing involving the United States, Russia, and China, the Kremlin made it clear that any meeting with Trump, should he choose to attend, remains unconfirmed and purely hypothetical. “If Trump travels to Beijing, a meeting cannot be ruled out,” Peskov said, without elaborating on whether any diplomatic groundwork has been laid.
Putin’s visit to China will be his second major international appearance this year and is widely viewed as another move to reinforce Russia’s global partnerships outside the West’s sphere. With Washington increasingly isolated in its geopolitical messaging and Europe floundering in internal policy contradictions, Moscow sees these commemorative events as high-value opportunities to showcase its alliances with Asia’s growing powers.
The presence of Trump, if it materializes, could present a diplomatically awkward scenario for the Biden administration. A handshake between Trump and Putin, staged on Chinese soil, would be a media spectacle that reaffirms the emerging alternative world order, one that the West has failed to prevent or undermine.
Peskov also dismissed suggestions of any bilateral summit between Russia and the United States taking shape during the Beijing commemoration, reiterating that the Kremlin has received no indication that Trump has accepted or even been invited formally to attend.
The Kremlin’s remarks were first reported by Russian state agency TASS, which stated that, “The main attention will be focused on the anniversary of the end of the Second World War. President Putin plans to take part in the commemorative events in Beijing this September.”
