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UN chief may meet with Putin on sidelines of Beijing Olympics, spokesman says

The Russian president is scheduled to visit China on February 4

UNITED NATIONS, February 3. /TASS/. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres expects to meet with some world leaders on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, his spokesman Farhan Haq said on Wednesday, when asked about the possibility of the UN chief’s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The focus of the trip [to Beijing], again, is the Olympics. But he does expect to meet with some of the other leaders while he is there," Haq said. "I don't have any meetings to confirm just yet on this. But as the visit proceeds, we will try to provide some details of the meetings he can manage to get on the margins of this event," he added.

The Russian president is scheduled to visit China on February 4. According to the Kremlin, Putin will hold full-scale talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The West and Kiev have recently been echoing allegations about Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded", serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such claims and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.

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Vladimir Putin China

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