Moscow, September 15 — Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, announced today that Russia and China would begin working on establishing an indefinite visa-free regime between the two countries.
“We will work on this,” Zakharova stated during a briefing, referring to President Vladimir Putin’s recent assertion that the arrangement could be made permanent. She noted that the specific timeline for finalizing agreements and the parameters of the future regime remain undetermined.
The announcement follows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks on August 31, in which he indicated Russia is prepared to transition its current visa-free travel arrangement with China to a permanent basis should Beijing deem it advantageous. Putin also highlighted statistics showing a 43% increase in tourist traffic from Russia to China during the first half of 2026, attributing this growth directly to the introduction of visa-free travel between the nations.
