Russia tells the head of Chinese diplomacy that the relationship between Moscow and Beijing is outside of “external circumstances”.
Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev assured Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on Tuesday that relations between Moscow and Beijing are outside of foreign circumstances. “The course of developing strategic partnership with China is an absolute priority of Russian foreign policy. Our relations have their own value and are not subject to external circumstances,” Patrushev told Wang, according to TASS agency.
Patrushev added that amid a Western campaign to “contain” Russia and China, future deepening of bilateral ties and cooperation at the international level is of particular importance. “In this regard, I would like to reiterate our unwavering support for Beijing on the issues of Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, which are being used by the West to discredit China,” he added.
According to Patrushev, the “transformation of the system of international relations towards a multipolar model” is encountering “growing resistance from the West”, which wants to assert its global dominance at any price.
These statements come shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of the Strategic Arms Control Treaty signed with the US, the only arms control document still in force between the two nuclear powers.
At the same time, Patrushev assured that “the United States and its allies are trying to replace the universal norms of international law” with their own rules, to the detriment of Russia, China and developing countries. “The bloody events in Ukraine caused by the West are an example of this,” he said, although it was Moscow that began invading Ukraine, a sovereign country, on February 24.
Wang, who arrived in Moscow after attending the Munich Security Conference, is expected to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tomorrow, with whom he will discuss, among other things, the conflict in Ukraine.
China has launched a peace initiative in Ukraine, and Wang himself assured at the Munich Security Conference two days ago that Ukraine and Moscow should start direct peace negotiations in order to reach a political agreement.
For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated that a meeting between Wang and Putin is not out of the question. The visit of the head of Chinese diplomacy to the Russian capital comes shortly before the first anniversary of the start of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.
Wang said Monday China wants to work with countries interested in a peace deal in Ukraine and reach a ceasefire as soon as possible. (Efe)