Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Chinese state media that he expects economic sanctions to be gradually lifted and Russia's relationship with Western countries to normalise.
Putin said in an interview with the China Media Group that current sanctions against Russia "neither surprise nor scare us."
Such restrictions "will gradually be dissolved," he said.
"And we will normalise relations with all our partners, including the United States, as well as those who are obedient to the United States and impose sanctions on us."
As the US and its traditional allies spar over import tariffs, Putin said other countries "have also begun to suffer the losses that the United States has started to cause them," which will "sooner or later damage everyone, including the initiator."
Putin is set to arrive in China on Friday for a three-day visit, during which he will attend the annual meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, a military and economic bloc focused on Eurasia.
China-Russia trade has grown to $US87 billion ($A113 billion) in the past year, Putin said. The two countries aim to boost co-operation in areas such as infrastructure, energy, scientific research and high tech.
Regarding recent international negotiations with North Korea, Putin said he supported China's efforts to ease regional tensions and create a "roadmap" for the North's denuclearisation.
Putin calls on EU to end sanctions
Putin said Tuesday the European Union should end damaging sanctions against Moscow imposed over the Ukraine crisis and its annexation of Crimea.
"The sanctions and all the restrictions imposed for political reasons... are no way to resolve political issues," Putin said after talks in Vienna with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Van der Bellen.
"They are harmful for everyone, those who put them in place and those who are targeted," he said.
The Ukraine crisis plunged relations between the EU and Russia into the deep freeze and Brussels responded with a series of asset blocks, travel bans and then more damaging economic sanctions from 2014.
Moscow retaliated in kind but Putin has repeatedly said the sanctions were ineffective and counter-productive.
His welcome in Austria with a full military reception comes after the new populist government in Italy also said it wanted to restore traditionally close relations between Rome and Moscow, with sanctions to be reviewed.
"Everybody has an interest in getting the sanctions lifted, us too," Putin said.
The Russian president also met Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz who spoke of the need for dialogue with Russia.
"We have continued our cooperation even during difficult times," Kurz said after talks with Putin.
"To go forward together one with the other is better than one against the other."
Kurz noted at the same time that Vienna will "obviously maintain the decisions of the EU, including the sanctions" when it takes over the six-month EU rotating presidency on July 1.
Prior to his visit, Putin had stressed the importance of improving ties with Austria and the EU.
Significantly, the right-wing FPOe party -- the junior partner of Kurz's People's Party - supports Russia's claim of sovereignty over Crimea and advocates the easing of economic sanctions against Moscow.
