Chinese President Xi Jinping will make a state visit to Russia next week, Beijing and Moscow said on Friday.
The Kremlin said the three-day trip will take place "at the invitation" of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The announcement came on the same day that the International Criminal Court at The Hague issued a rare arrest warrant for Putin for alleged war crimes over the Ukraine conflict.
The West is suspicious of China's close relations with Russia and Beijing's vow to stay neutral in the nearly 13-month-old conflict.
China's new foreign minister, who took office in December, has made his first telephone call to his Ukrainian counterpart.
Chinese state media said Bejing urged Kyiv to pursue talks with Moscow, saying Beijing was concerned about the war spinning out of control.
Later Ukraine's foreign minister tweeted that the talks touched on the importance of the principle of territorial integrity.
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