Russian parliamentary speaker to discuss countering sanctions in Beijing

(Reuters) -Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said in remarks published on Monday that he will discuss countering sanctions pressure and external interference when he meets with his Chinese counterparts in Beijing this week.

Volodin arrived in China on Monday heading a Russian parliamentary delegation for an official visit.

"On the agenda: countering sanctions pressure and external interference; expanding trade and economic ties; defending historical truth; youth exchanges to strengthen humanitarian cooperation," TASS state news agency cited Volodin as posting on social media.

Sanctions pressure includes the U.S. effort to get China to stop importing Russian oil.

The parliamentary visit comes ahead of President Vladimir Putin's planned trip to China in late August for celebrations marking the end of World War Two in China and a summit with more than 20 heads of government.

The events, including a massive military parade on September 3, which Western leaders are expected to shun, are aimed at projecting a major show of diplomatic solidarity between China, Russia and the Global South.

Ahead of the parade, Beijing has mounted a campaign on World War Two history aiming to highlight that China and Soviet Russia played a pivotal role in fighting fascist forces in the Asian and European theatres.

In talks at the Kremlin in May, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Putin that their two countries should be "friends of steel", as they pledged to raise cooperation to a new level and "decisively" counter the influence of the United States.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Sonali Paul)