Russia and China have discussed ways to strengthen their cooperation in Europe and Asia in order to counter the U.S. hegemony, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on April 9 in Beijing.
The chief of Russia's diplomacy arrived in China on April 8 for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, to discuss Moscow's ongoing war against Ukraine and other topics of common interest.
Beijing has maintained close ties with Moscow during the war, increasing economic cooperation and disrupting Western attempts at isolating Russia.
The West has remained suspicious of China's partnership with Russia while at the same time appealing to Beijing to use its influence and sway Moscow toward ending the war against Ukraine.
"For a long time, NATO represented a security structure in the Euro-Atlantic region, as well as the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe), but it struck itself out from the list of relevant structures," Lavrov said during a joint press conference with Wang.
Wang commented that Moscow and Beijing should work to counter "hegemonism" and "any 'small circle' that engages in bloc confrontation."
Lavrov also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his two-day trip, the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
The Chinese leader relayed his greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin and said that "Putin and I have agreed to continue to maintain close exchanges to ensure the smooth and steady development of China-Russia relations."
Reuters reported that, according to its sources, Putin is expected to visit China in May to meet Xi.
Kateryna Denisova
(Updated: )
