Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced a “just” world order with China during his first visit to the country since Russia’s occupation of Ukraine on Wednesday.
“We live at a very critical juncture in the history of international relations.”The head of the Kremlin embassy said at the beginning of the bilateral meeting with his Chinese envoy Wang Yi.
At the end of this phase, I firmly believe that the international situation will become clearer and that we, along with you and our supporters, will move towards a strong, just and democratic world order, ”Lavrov said.
Beijing Refused to condemn the Russian invasion of UkraineUnleashed on February 24, it seeks to condemn Western sanctions against Russia.
In early March, Wang Yi praised the “solid” friendship between Beijing and Moscow and defended Russia’s “legitimate” security concerns.
A few weeks before the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin was warmly welcomed by his Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The two countries later celebrated “unlimited” friendship and condemned NATO’s “expansion”.
Sergei Lavrov is in China for a two-day meeting, dedicated not to Ukraine but to Afghanistan.
The Russian diplomat must be side by side with an American aide.
The meeting, organized in Tunsi, eastern China, unites the seven neighbors of Afghanistan. In addition to Russia and China, there will be representatives from Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Chinese state media have reported that Taliban diplomatic leader Amir Khan Muthaki is also expected.
At the same time, Beijing announced that a meeting of the “consultation mechanism” on Afghanistan should be held with the participation of ambassadors from China, Russia, Pakistan and the United States.
US State Department spokesman Tom West, Washington’s special envoy to Afghanistan, is expected to attend.
The meetings come a week after the Chinese foreign minister visited Kabul for the first time since Islamic fundamentalists came to power last August.
China shares a 76-kilometer small border with Afghanistan.
Beijing fears that neighboring country separatists and Islamic extremists could become a base of support for the Chinese minority of Muslim descent.