Russian President Vladimir Putin’s scheduled visit to Beijing on May 20 has been confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who stated on May 14 that preparations are complete and the trip will occur very soon. This marks Putin’s first foreign engagement of 2026 and follows immediately after the Trump-Xi summit, underscoring the routine yet high-priority nature of Sino-Russian diplomatic coordination on energy, security, and bilateral trade. Traders assign a 98.3 percent probability to a May 31 deadline because the date is imminent, logistics are finalized, and no procedural or political obstacles have surfaced. The only realistic disruptions remain low-probability events such as an unforeseen health issue, sudden security escalation, or last-minute cancellation by either side, none of which have credible indicators at present.