Russian foreign minister arrives in China amid tensions with US
Beijing, Mar 22 (efe-epa).- Russia’s foreign minister began a two-day official visit to China on Monday, during which he will hold a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, diplomatic officials confirmed to Efe.
Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to meet with Wang Yi in the city of Guilin on Tuesday.
His visit comes as bilateral relations between Russia and the United States are deteriorating and after delegations from the US and China met in tense high-level talks in Alaska last week.
In a joint interview given to several official Chinese media outlets before his arrival in Guilin, the Russian foreign minister said that the world was undergoing profound changes on account of the growing influence of new economic, financial and political centers.
“However, these objective developments, which are leading to the formation of a truly multipolar and democratic world, are unfortunately being hindered by Western countries, particularly the United States,” that want to preserve their dominance in the global economy and politics at all costs, he said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
In response, Lavrov stressed that Beijing and Moscow are promoting a constructive and unifying agenda and seek a fair and democratic international governance system based on extensive interaction between countries and their integration initiatives.
“Cooperation between Russia and China in the international arena has a generally stabilizing effect on the global and regional situation,” he said, adding that the “mutually trusting and respectful dialog should serve as an example to other countries.”
“The model of interaction between Russia and China is absolutely free from any ideological constraints. It is of an intrinsic nature, not subject to any opportunistic factors nor against any third country,” he added.
Lavrov and Wang will discuss bilateral cooperation, exchange views on regional and international issues and address cooperation within multilateral formats, including the United Nations and BRICS emerging economies, the state news outlet China Daily reported.
During the visit, the two countries will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation signed between the two countries in 2001.
“Current Russia-China relations are assessed both by our national leaders and citizens as the best in their entire history. This is a well-deserved and fair assessment,” Lavrov said, according to Xinhua, adding that the two nations “have set an example to all countries on how to build relations with each other.” EFE-EPA
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