On April 9th, Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Beijing and, with mutual praise, they reaffirmed their joint opposition to Western democracies at the time of Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine.
“We want to express our greatest appreciation and admiration for the successes you have achieved over the years and, above all, during the last decade under your leadership,” Lavrov told Xi, according to Russian media.
“We are sincerely satisfied with these successes, because they are the successes of friends, although not everyone in the world shares this attitude and they are trying in every possible way to hinder the development of China — in fact, as well as the development of Russia,” Lavrov said.
Russia’s growing economic and diplomatic isolation has made Russia increasingly reliant on China, its former rival for leadership of the Communist bloc during the Cold War. In past decades, the two have closely coordinated their foreign policies, held joint military exercises and sought to bring non-aligned states together in groups such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Earlier on Tuesday, Lavrov held a press conference with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, who said that Beijing will strengthen strategic cooperation with Moscow and that the two countries must stand on the side of “fairness and justice.”
“I thank the Chinese side for its condolences regarding the terrorist attack in the Moscow region on March 22nd and for supporting Russia’s fight against terrorism. All those involved in that attack will certainly be punished,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov arrived on Monday for a two-day official visit to China. Both countries want to strengthen diplomatic ties as Russia continues its war in Ukraine.
China and Russia are each other’s most important diplomatic partners, both have permanent seats on the United Nations (UN)Security Council and work together to block initiatives by the United States (U.S.) and its allies to spread democratic values and human rights from Venezuela to Syria.
While China has not provided direct military support to Russia, it has backed it diplomatically, accusing the West of provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch the war and refraining from calling it an invasion out of deference to the Kremlin.
China has also said it does not provide arms or military aid to Russia, although it has maintained strong economic ties with Moscow, along with India and other countries amid sanctions from Washington and its allies, Slobodna Evropa reports.
E.Dz.
