Putin lambasts Western trade sanctions on Moscow

On the eve of a visit to China, Russian leader Vladimir Putin blasted Western sanctions as his country's economy teetered on the brink of recession, wounded by trade curbs and the cost of his war in Ukraine.

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Russia and China jointly opposed "discriminatory" sanctions in global trade, Putin said in a written interview with China's official Xinhua news agency published on Saturday.

Putin will be in China, Russia's biggest trading partner, from Sunday to Wednesday in a four-day visit that the Kremlin has called "unprecedented."

The Russian leader will first attend the two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin. The security-focused SCO, founded by a group of Eurasian nations in 2001, has expanded to 10 permanent members that now include Iran and India.

Putin will then travel to Beijing to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and attend a massive military parade in the Chinese capital commemorating the end of World War Two after Japan's formal surrender.

Earlier in May, Xi attended a military parade on Moscow's Red Square marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany. It was Xi's 11th visit to China's giant neighbour since he became president more than a decade ago.