The coming week will mark the 50th anniversary of then U.S. President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China. The Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, will convene its 33rd session ahead of the annual NPC session.
The Ukraine crisis is expected to continue to make headlines, and the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna appear to have entered the final stage.
Milestone in China-U.S. relations
Nixon, the first sitting U.S. president to visit the People's Republic of China, arrived in Beijing on February 21, 1972. He met with Chinese leaders and toured the Great Wall and the Forbidden City in Beijing, before heading to Hangzhou and Shanghai in eastern China.
At the end of the week-long visit, the two countries issued the Joint Communique of the People's Republic of China and the United States of America, also known as the Shanghai Communique.
The communique "established the principles to be followed in the development of bilateral relations, especially the one-China principle," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said last week.
"It has become the political foundation for the normalization of China-U.S. relations and the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries," Zhao said.
China and the United States will hold a series of commemorative activities for the anniversary, he revealed.
NPC Standing Committee session, Ukraine, Iran
The 13th NPC Standing Committee will convene its 33rd session on February 27 and 28 in Beijing. An important task of the standing committee session is to make preparations for the upcoming fifth annual session of the 13th NPC, which will open on March 5.
With an escalation of tensions in eastern Ukraine and conflicting claims from various sides, the Ukraine crisis and security issues in Europe are set to remain a key focus of world politics next week. The United Nations General Assembly will hold a debate on Ukraine at a plenary meeting on Wednesday, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit Brussels and the U.S. from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Progress in the Vienna talks to revive a 2015 Iran nuclear deal is also highly anticipated in the coming days. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Friday that the talks, now in its eighth round, are "very close to a good and accessible agreement."
Day by day
Monday: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban makes an official visit to Slovenia; Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad pays a visit to Moscow; a meeting of the EU-UK Joint Committee is held in Brussels; a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council is held in Brussels.
Tuesday: Russian President Vladimir Putin meets his Azerbaijan counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Moscow; Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson meets with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Stockholm; the UN Security Council meets on Central African Republic; a meeting of the EU General Affairs Council is held in Brussels.
Wednesday: The UN General Assembly holds an annual meeting on Ukraine; the UN Security Council meets on the situation in the Middle East.
Thursday: A quiet day in politics.
Friday: A quiet day in politics.
Saturday: A quiet day in politics.
Sunday: The 13th NPC Standing Committee convenes its 33rd session (to February 28); Belarus holds a constitutional referendum; Mali holds presidential and National Assembly elections.