There will be no bilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games on February 4.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has clarified there will be no bilateral meetings on President Putin’s schedule, except for full-scale talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The clarification came amid speculations of a bilateral meeting between Imran Khan and Vladimir Putin in Beijing to strengthen Pakistan-Russia ties.
Peskov also said that Putin President Putin does not plan to hold bilateral meetings with other leaders on the sidelines of the Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony.
In response to a question, if Putin’s possible contacts with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky were under consideration as he was also expected to attend the opening ceremony, Peskov said that “there are no plans for such a meeting at the moment”, reported TASS. “We have repeatedly said that the ceremony’s organizers have to impose a number of severe restrictions both on athletes and guests, including officials,” Peskov noted.
“So the Russian president’s schedule for the Beijing trip does not include any bilateral meetings for obvious reasons,” he emphasized. Putin is expected to make a visit to China on February 4.
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At least 32 foreign heads of state, heads of government, members of the royal family and heads of international organizations will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 amid the diplomatic boycott by a number of countries including the US.
The invited heads of state, heads of government and members of the royal family include six from Europe, five from Central Asia, three from the Middle East, two from South America, and others from Asia, the Pacific and Africa, reported Global Times citing the list released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The US and a number of countries have announced the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region. Meanwhile, human rights groups and activists across the world have also urged countries and leaders to boycott Winter Olympics over Beijing’s human rights abuses.