Russia and China have agreed to discuss ways to deepen security cooperation in Europe and Asia to counter US attempts to impose its will on the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks in Beijing on Tuesday, the 9th of April, reports Reuters.
Lavrov also said that Russia and China would continue to cooperate in the fight against terrorism.
Lavrov has said after talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that Putin had proposed strengthening Eurasian security and that China and Russia had agreed to
“start a dialogue on this issue involving other like-minded people”.
Lavrov criticised the Euro-Atlantic security structure, stressing that NATO and the OSCE were becoming increasingly meaningless for meaningful negotiations and agreements based on mutual interests.
Russian news agencies has quoted Wang as saying that the US-led NATO alliance should neither expand its activities in the Asia-Pacific region nor encourage confrontation.
In a statement issued by the Chinese foreign ministry Wang, at a press conference after the meeting, did not directly mention the US, NATO, or the war in Ukraine. He did, however, outline what he called the “five always” in China-Russia relations, stressing the need to resist hegemonism, power politics and the monopoly of some countries in international affairs.
Russia and China should “stand together against unilateralism and protectionism”
and “work together to maintain the stability of international industry and supply chains”, Wang was quoted as saying.
Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping share a common vision of a world in which Western countries are seen as degenerating and in decline, while China challenges US dominance in areas such as quantum computing, synthetic biology, espionage, and military power.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that during her visit to China she had difficult discussions about China’s cooperation with Moscow. Yellen warned that there would be “serious consequences” for any Chinese company supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.
China-Russia trade hit a record high of 240.1 billion US dollars in 2023,
up 26.3% on the previous year, with Chinese exports to Russia up 46.9% and imports from Russia up 13%, according to Chinese customs data.
In 2023, China published a 12-point position document on resolving the Ukraine crisis, with Russia saying it was reasonable. Now Russian news agencies have quoted Wang as saying that China wants Russia and Ukraine to come to the negotiating table at an international meeting to discuss a way to end the war in Ukraine.
Lavrov also said that Russia wants the UN Security Council to give an assessment on Ukraine’s drone strikes on the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, with Ukraine denying any involvement in the strikes.
Also read: IAEA calls for restraint after attack on Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant