BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, begins on Monday a four-day trip to Russia during which both nations are expected to pledge deeper mutual political trust, readying for a possible landmark visit by President Vladimir Putin to Beijing in October.
Wang, who heads the foreign ministry as well as the ruling Communist Party's foreign affairs office, will meet Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev for annual security talks, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.
On Sept. 1, Putin said he expected to meet Xi soon, but did not explicitly confirm that he would travel to China again.
However, China is not a party to the Rome Statute that led to the establishment of the ICC in 2002.
Ahead of this week's visit, Wang travelled to Malta for hours of "constructive" talks with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Persons:
Wang Yi, Vladimir Putin, Wang, Nikolai Patrushev, Xi Jinping, Putin, Xi, Hague, Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden, Ryan Woo, Clarence Fernandez
Organizations:
Security, China's, Criminal Court, ICC, White House
Locations:
BEIJING, Russia, Beijing, Communist, Moscow, Ukraine, China, Rome, United States, Malta, U.S