❗️Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Moscow. Below is an agenda from the Kremlin of the forthcoming talks between the leaders of Russia and China:

▪️Presidents Xi and Putin will hold a face-to-face conversation over an informal lunch on 20 March, followed by negotiations on 21 March;

▪️This is Xi's first foreign trip since being re-elected;

▪️Moscow and Beijing are satisfied with the state of bilateral relations, this is a strategic interaction of partners;

▪️Personal contacts between Putin and Xi are of trusting nature – in total, the leaders have met about 40 times;

▪️Both parties will discuss the conflict in Ukraine, as well as will issues of military and technical cooperation.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Sputnik correspondent reports from the airport as Xi's plane has just landed

🇷🇺🇨🇳 President Xi descends from his plane at the Vnukovo airport, Sputnik correspondent reports

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 A military band orchestra greets Chinese President Xi Jinping, Sputnik correspondent reports

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#USInvasionofIraq20🇮🇶 The National Museum of Iraq is the main attraction in Baghdad, and Iraq as a whole. It is the largest and oldest museum in the country.

In 2003, during the US invasion of Iraq, the National Museum, one of the largest museums in the world, was looted. In April 2003, unknown bandits plundered the museum.

About 15,000 items were stolen, including 5,000 valuable cylinder seals.

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❗️Statements by Chinese President Xi Jinping after his arrival in Moscow on state visit:

▪️Relations between Russia and China will receive a new impetus after the visit;

▪️China is ready to stand with Russia to protect the UN-centric international system and the world order based on international law;

▪️China and Russia are reliable partners, and the development of bilateral relations contributes significantly to world progress.

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❗️Russia initiates criminal case against ICC prosecutor and judges, Investigative Committee of Russia says

On Friday, the ICC issued "warrants of arrest" against two senior Russian officials, including President Putin, over the purported "unlawful transfer" of Ukrainian children from the conflict zone over the past year.

The arrest warrants issued by the The Hague against Russia's president and children's rights commissioner are null and void and carry no legal weight, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

💬 "We do not recognize this court, we do not recognize the jurisdiction of this court. This is how we treat this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier this week when asked by reporters about the ICC's imminent criminal cases.

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Russia and African countries are equal allies, relations have always been built on a disinterested basis, the head of Russia's State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said at the Russia-Africa parliamentary conference.

The West, he added, continues the colonial policy. And the Russian lower house speaker stressed that it is certainly not for Washington to "teach" Moscow how to build partnerships and be friends with other countries

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🎬 Putin Addresses Second Russia-Africa International Parliamentary Conference

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes the podium at the Second Russia-Africa International Parliamentary Conference addressing the plenary session: 'Russia-Africa in a Multipolar World'.

Sputnik comes to you live as Moscow hosts the event, which is part of the groundwork for the second Russia-Africa Summit scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg on July 26-29, 2023.

👉 WATCH LIVE on website, or in Telegram!

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Depending on the full execution of the Black Sea "grain deal," the issue of whether to prolong it will be decided, Putin says

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❗️EU agrees €2 billion ammunition plan for Ukraine

❗️Latest statements by Vladimir Putin at the plenary session of the Russian-African parliamentary conference:

▪️ Cooperation between Russia and Africa has reached new levels;

▪️ Africa will be among the frontrunners who shape the world order;

▪️ Russia champions a strategic partnership with African countries and shaping the global agenda;

▪️ Russia has written off over $20 billion of African countries’ debt;

▪️ Russia will continue helping Africa with electricity and expanding energy systems there;

▪️ Moscow will bolster military-technical cooperation with African countries;

▪️ Medical cooperation with Africa will also be stepped up;

▪️ Russia insists that the grain deal be fully implemented; as of now, only 3% of goods go to Africa while the rest goes to developed countries;

▪️ Russia is ready to deliver the agreed upon amount of grain to Africa for free if the grain deal is not extended

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❗️ Putin, Xi begin informal meeting in Kremlin