After the meeting with Xi Jinping’s emissary, Putin spoke in Luzhniki

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on Wednesday at a large rally-concert at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. The event was timed to the “Defender of the Fatherland Day”, which is celebrated on February 23.

The rally was held the day after Putin’s message to the Federal Assembly, in which, among other things, he announced the suspension of Russia’s participation in the treaty with the United States on the limitation of nuclear weapons.

Putin’s speech was rather short. He stated that now, during the “special military operation” (as the Russian authorities call the war in Ukraine), all Russians, even children, are recognized as defenders of the Fatherland, and expressed the opinion that the Russian military is protecting “family and family” at the front. “There is a battle going on right now on our historical borders,” Putin said, but he did not specify which borders he had in mind. Those gathered in the stands waved Russian flags and chanted “Russia” and “Putin”. On the podium together with the president were several soldiers who were awarded for their participation in the battles in Ukraine.

Putin came on stage after the performance of the singer Shaman. Singer Hryhory Leps changed his ego on stage. “Lyube” and Oleg Gazmanov also performed. Earlier it was reported that, as usual in similar cases, the authorities organized the participation in the rally-concert of employees of budget organizations.

February 24 is the anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. The last time Putin spoke in Luzhniki was on March 18 of last year, shortly after the beginning of the invasion.

Before his speech, when the concert in Luzhniki was already underway, Putin met in the Kremlin with a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Communist Party of China, Wang Yi.

The President of Russia said that the President of the People’s Republic of China and the head of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping, whom he called his friend, are waiting for a visit in Moscow. Wang Yi did not talk about the visit and its possible terms. The Chinese representative noted that Russian-Chinese relations are developing “stable” and “do not succumb to the pressure of third countries.”

Earlier, Wang Yi visited the Munich Security Conference, where he met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. The State Secretary expressed fears that Beijing might start supplying Russia with weapons and military materials, but the Chinese representative rejected such plans. He said that China will soon present some peace initiatives.

• Commentators noted that Putin hosted Wang Yi at the same “long table” at which he met last year with the French president and then the German chancellor. This time, however, Putin sat at a shorter distance from his guest.