Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday denied media reports suggesting that Chinese President Xi Jinping refused to visit Russia. 

“This is not true. This is completely untrue. The fact is that certain Covid restrictions in China continue, and this is absolutely normal, and this should be treated with understanding,” RT quoted Peskov as saying.

“And as all these relaxations of these restrictions allow, of course, all visits will be carried out,” he said.

Earlier, it was reported that the Chinese President refused to visit Moscow in response to the invitation from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

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The Russian leader had invited Xi during a telephone call on June 15.

The country’s Ministry of Defence has its own plans in connection with the launch of the process of Finland and Sweden joining NATO, Peskov said. 

“Such options are being worked out not in the Kremlin, but in the Ministry. We have already said many times that there are relevant plans there and work is being done to ensure our security,” Peskov said.

The Kremlin was also asked if it is considering the option of placing a NATO base on the border with Russia. Reporters also asked how Moscow can respond in this regard.

Peskov at the time added that Putin had already assessed the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO.

Meanwhile, Nicholas Burns, the top US envoy in Beijing, slammed China’s Foreign Ministry officials on Monday for “telling lies” by repeating the Kremlin’s talking points on events in Ukraine.

The criticism by Burns, which was a rare event, came amid an intense clash with his Russian opposite number, Andrey Denisov, at the World Peace Forum.

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“I would hope that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersons would stop accusing NATO of starting this war. That’s Russian propaganda,” Burns said.

“I hope Foreign Ministry spokespersons would also stop telling lies about American bioweapons labs, which do not exist in Ukraine,” the diplomat said. “These all came from Russia. Unfortunately, this has been picked up by the Chinese.”