MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Sunday to discuss the Ukraine war and relations with the United States.
Russia’s top diplomat arrived in China following a visit to North Korea, where he received assurances of support in its conflict with Ukraine.
Lavrov and Wang Yi “discussed relations with the United States and prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The importance of strengthening close coordination between the two countries in the international arena, including in the United Nations and its Security Council, the SCO, BRICS, the G20 and APEC, was emphasised,” the ministry said.
Lavrov is due to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) foreign ministers in China.
China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing.
China, a diplomatic and economic ally of Moscow, claims to be neutral in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Beijing regularly calls for an end to the war, while also accusing Western countries of prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine.
The statement from the Russian foreign ministry said Levrov and Yi also discussed other “burning issues” such as the war in Gaza and the “situation on the Korean peninsula”.
