Conflicts & War

Russia, China to deepen interaction in response to US containment: Lavrov

Nusa Dua, Indonesia Jul 7 (EFE).- Russia and China will deepen their interaction in response to the United States’ attempts to contain Moscow and Beijing, foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Thursday.

The foreign ministers met on the Indonesian island of Bali on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting set to focus on the social and economic fallout of the pandemic but that will likely be overshadowed by the war in Ukraine.

“In the context of the US strategic line, consisting in the containment of the development of our countries, we will continue to increase and expand our practical interaction,” Lavrov said during a meeting with Wang, according to Russian TV.

Lavrov added that bilateral relations between Russia and China have “enormous potential” and that the two countries would continue to develop new formats of cooperation “independent of external negative factors.”

Wang agreed that despite external difficulties, Moscow and Beijing would remain united and continue to share a “strategic approach.”

The foreign ministers’ comments come a day after Chinese deputy foreign minister Ma Zhaoxu and Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov agreed to deepen cooperation between Beijing and Moscow within multilateral frameworks including the G20.

The moves follow a Nato summit in Madrid last week that positioned Russia as the greatest threat of our times and warned of the global challenges posed by China.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China has maintained an ambiguous position calling for the territorial integrity of all countries to be respected and has avoided using the word “invasion” to refer to the Russian offensive.

A few weeks before Russia launched an offensive against Ukraine in February, president Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping announced bilateral relations between the countries were “entering a new era.” EFE

pav-mos/mp/ch

Related Articles

Back to top button