Fact Check: Putin did not receive both Xi Jinping and PM Modi at Moscow airport; claim is false

Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Russia on July 8-9, 2024, marking his first visit to the country since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. During his visit, PM Modi held talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin. The visit underscored the strong historical ties between India and Russia, which have persisted since the Cold War.

Against this backdrop, disgruntled BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has claimed that Russian president Vladimir Putin did not come to receive PM Modi at the airport. However, he received Chinese president Xi Jinping at the airport during his recent state visit to Russia.

Swamy quote tweeted a Times of India news report showing PM Modi being received by Russian first deputy PM of Russia, Denis Manturov, at the Moscow airport. Swamy wrote, “Putin did not come to the airport to receive Modi? Putin had received Xi.”

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. Just like PM Modi, Xi Jinping, during his last visit to Russia in 2023, was not received by Putin at the airport.

We ran a keyword search and found reports from The Times of India and Firstpost published on July 8. These reports stated that Russia appeared to have given a ‘special welcome’ to prime minister Narendra Modi upon his arrival in Moscow on Monday.

At the Vnukovo-II Airport, PM Modi was received by Russia’s first deputy prime minister Denis Manturov who holds a higher rank than the deputy prime minister who received Chinese president Xi Jinping during his visit to Russia.

News agency ANI reported in an X post that, in a rare gesture, Russia’s first deputy prime minister Denis Manturov accompanied PM Modi from the airport to the hotel in the same car.

Further, we found a report by Chinese media outlet Caixin Global from March 21, 2023, detailing Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Russia. According to the report, Xi paid a three-day state visit and was received by Russia’s deputy prime minister Dmitry Chernyshenko at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, where a welcome ceremony was held. During his visit, Xi met with president Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.

We also found the itinerary of Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia on the official website of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the website, president Xi arrived in Moscow on March 20, 2023, on a special plane for a state visit at the invitation of president Vladimir Putin. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and other senior Russian officials warmly received him at the airport. Later that afternoon, Xi met with president Putin at the Kremlin.

Hence, we conclude that the claim of Chinese president Xi Jinping being received by Russian president Vladimir Putin on his recent state visit to Russia is false.