The Russian foreign minister is in China – a key ally in Moscow’s war in Ukraine – for talks on Afghanistan.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has arrived in China on his first visit since Moscow began invading Ukraine last month.
Lavrov will attend two multinational meetings on Afghanistan along with representatives from Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi will represent China and Taliban-appointed Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will represent Afghanistan at the regional meeting. Qatar and Indonesia will participate as guests.
The Russian foreign minister will also attend a separate “enlarged troika” meeting with special envoys for Afghanistan from China and the United States, China’s foreign ministry said.
“China, the US, Russia and Pakistan are all countries with significant influence on the Afghanistan issue,” ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said of the troika meeting at a daily briefing on Tuesday.
China has not recognized the Afghan Taliban government but has refrained from harsh criticism from the US and others. It has opened its embassy in Kabul and has not commented on the Taliban’s actions to restrict girls’ education and other human rights abuses.
The meetings are taking place in Tunxi, an ancient city in Anhui province – possibly because it is relatively easy to maintain a “bubble” separate from the general population. This would allow diplomats to avoid the 21-day coronavirus quarantine required for international travelers to the capital Beijing and other major Chinese cities.
In a post on its Weibo social media account, the Russian embassy in Beijing on Wednesday confirmed Lavrov had landed in the eastern city of Huangshan and released photos of delegates getting off a plane and being met by health officials in hazmat suits.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine is also likely to figure prominently in the case.
Unlike many Western nations, China has refused to condemn the invasion and has lagged behind many other countries in providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
It is unclear whether Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will meet outside of the Afghanistan talks.
Successive Afghan governments have looked to the country’s mineral resources, valued at US$1 trillion, as the key to a prosperous future, but none have been able to unlock them amid constant conflict and violence.
Now several countries, including Iran, Russia and Turkey, are looking to invest and fill the vacuum left after last year’s chaotic US withdrawal, which led to the withdrawal of international aid agencies, a freeze on Afghan assets and the virtual collapse of the economy .
At this week’s meetings, China will seek to position itself as a front-runner for humanitarian aid and economic development projects in Afghanistan, and will openly call on the US to release Afghan government assets and accounts, political scientist Alexander Cooley said from Columbia University, an expert on Central Asia.
“China tacitly asserts itself as the leading external power in the region,” Cooley told the Associated Press news agency. “It positions itself both as a critic of US regional policy and as an alternative leader in a humanitarian coalition composed of Afghanistan’s neighbors.”