Xi Jinping to make first foreign visit to Moscow on Saturday . The trip comes as the two countries are locked in a standoff over Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its support for separatists fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine. `` Russia is nowhere near as big as it was before Trade between the two countries reached $ 88.1 billion in 2012 . Officials hope Moscow and Beijing will ink long-stalled pipeline project .
Xi Jinping to make first foreign visit to Moscow on Saturday . The trip comes as the two countries are locked in a standoff over Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its support for separatists fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine. Trade between the two countries reached $ 88.1 billion in 2012 . Officials hope Moscow and Beijing will ink long-stalled pipeline project .