(Reuters) – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko met with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday, Russia’s RIA agency reported from Beijing.
It was not immediately clear why Rudenko, a life-long 62-year-old diplomat who speaks English and Chinese according to Russia’s TASS agency, was in Beijing and what was the topic of his discussion with Chinese officials.
The visit takes place as Russia’s war in Ukraine appeared to take a dangerous new turn, with NATO and South Korea expressing alarm that North Korean troops could soon be joining Moscow’s side.
Rudenko has been involved in developing Russian ties with North Korea after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022. He was also a member of the Russian delegations at peace negotiations with Ukraine early in the war.
Two months before President Vladimir Putin sent his troops to Ukraine, Rudenko said that countries of the post-Soviet space will always be among Russia’s geopolitical priorities.
“Wherever these countries go, no matter how they develop, they will always be a priority, among our geopolitical priorities, regardless of the geopolitical context,” RIA cited Rudenko as saying in December 2021.
“This is part of our former common Soviet past.”
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Michael Perry)
