The German newspaper Bild reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was on a flight headed to Beijing on Thursday before the plane turned around over Siberia and flew back toward Moscow.
Bild did not specify whether Chinese officials refused to meet with a Russian official or if Russian President Vladimir Putin called Lavrov back to Russia.
A Twitter post the same day by Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs appears to contradict the paper's report.
The ministry said Lavrov was holding a joint press conference with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan at around 1 p.m. local time, the same period the Russian foreign minister was reportedly in the air.
A recording of the live meeting from the Russian Foreign Affairs website appears to corroborate the claim.
Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev reported on supposed flight logs that show a Kremlin plane landing in Moscow at around 6 p.m. local time.
''The Russian government plane that turned around over Novosibirsk just landed in Moscow, after spending 8 hours airborne,'' Grozev posted on Twitter, linking to pictures of the alleged logs and route.
The report by Bild comes after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi touted the country's warm relationship with Russia earlier this month, referring to Moscow as its ''most important strategic partner,'' Fox News reported.
Striking a different tone, China's ambassador to Ukraine praised the nation earlier this week in Lviv, TOPNews reported.
''We will always respect your state. We will develop relations on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. We will respect the path chosen by Ukrainians because this is the sovereign right of every nation,'' Fan Xiangong told the city's officials on Monday.
''In this situation, which you have now, we will act responsibly. We have seen how great the unity of the Ukrainian people is, and that means its strength,'' he added.
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