MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will give their assessments to relations between Moscow and Beijing in articles that will be published in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta and the People’s Daily on March 20, Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov told reporters on Friday.
"The two leaders agreed that they will publish articles in the People’s Daily and the Rossiyskaya Gazeta. These articles will be published on March 20, a Monday. The leaders will use these articles to review various issues that pertain to the relations between our countries and will give their assessments of these relations," the Kremlin aide said. "These articles will be important. It’s an important signal right before the talks, literally a few hours before the official meetings."
Ushakov said he was unaware what the Chinese president will write in his article, but said that Putin in his article will talk not only about Russian-Chinese relations, but also about "the approaches of Russia and China toward the Ukrainian issue." Putin’s article will come out in the People’s Daily, while Xi Jinping’s article will be published by the Rossiyskaya Gazeta. According to Ushakov, "Putin’s article is now being translated into Chinese." The Kremlin website will publish it in Russian.
"The articles are very important indeed, because they are symbols of sorts. But more important are the talks themselves, which will take place on March 20 and 21, because the articles will lay out the official approach that everyone knows about. You won’t discover America in the articles. But the talks could bring out some new nuances in the relations of the two countries," the Kremlin official said.