Backgrounder: Important meetings between Xi, Putin in last two years

May 2015

Moscow, Russia

Xi paid a two-day visit to Russia where he attended events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War, Russia's term for World War Two (WWII), and met Putin.

President Xi Jinping (L) shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during the signing of a joint statement after their talks in Moscow, May 8, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

Both leaders vowed to defend history of WWII and safeguard world peace and international justice.

Xi and Putin also agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in various fields, especially the docking of the former's Silk Road Economic Belt initiative with the latter's aspiration under the Eurasian Economic Union framework.