Putin and U.N. Chief to Speak at Belt and Road Forum

Russian President Vladimir Putin and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are among representatives from more than 140 countries and some 30 international organizations set to gather for the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which kicked off in Beijing Tuesday.

More than a dozen global leaders including the heads of state of Argentina, Chile, Kenya, Indonesia and Serbia have arrived in the Chinese capital for the two-day event, amid heightened geopolitical tensions stoked by this month’s Israel-Hamas conflict and a nearly two-year war between Russia and Ukraine.