Photo: TASS
BEIJING, April 9 /TASS/. Russia and China have agreed that any negotiations on Ukraine ignoring Moscow's interests are useless, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
"We discussed the current situation around the Ukrainian crisis," Lavrov said. "My Chinese colleagues and I supported the conclusion that any international negotiations that ignore Russia's position while promoting the so-called peace formula of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and are thus detached from reality are futile," he added.
Moscow is grateful to Beijing for its unbiased and balanced position on Ukraine and for its willingness to play a positive role in resolving the crisis through political and diplomatic means, Lavrov said.
Commenting on the 12-point peace initiative on Ukraine that China proposed last year, Russia's top diplomat praised the plan for addressing the root causes of the Ukrainian conflict, "especially in the context of ensuring indivisible security, including in Europe and the world."
Russia and China have agreed to engage with their allies in Eurasian security and pursue a policy of "dual opposition" to the West's "double deterrence", Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing.
According to the two top diplomats, Moscow and Beijing will join forces to counter attempts to slow down the natural course of history, while seeking to resolve the Ukrainian crisis with Russia's interests in mind. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping plan to hold at least two bilateral meetings this year, Lavrov said.
Russia-China relations
Putin and Xi Jinping are due to meet on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in June and the BRICS summit in October, Lavrov announced, adding that the two leaders may hold further meetings to "maintain regular political dialogue".
According to Lavrov, relations between Moscow and Beijing are as good as ever thanks to the diplomacy of the two leaders.
Putin's re-election as Russian president "provided further guarantees to continue on the path to further strengthening them", the Russian foreign minister said. He also thanked China for sending observers to the Russian presidential election.
"The current good relations between China and Russia have been hard-won, and both countries should cherish and nurture them," Wang said. He assured that China would "resolutely support Russia's stable development and revival under President Putin's leadership."
Eurasian security
Moscow and Beijing have agreed to address Eurasian security "with the participation of allies", Lavrov said.
Both diplomats condemned the West's attempts to "destroy the existing security architecture" in the Asia-Pacific region. Wang warned NATO against "reaching out to our common home". "Any statements or actions that cause division or contribute to confrontation are not welcome in the Asia-Pacific and have no future," the Chinese foreign minister stressed.
"Double opposition"
According to Lavrov, China's top diplomat "came up yesterday with this policy of 'double opposition' to the 'double deterrence' of the West." Moscow and Beijing will jointly "confront attempts to slow down efforts to build a multipolar world order or long-delayed processes of establishing democratisation and justice", Lavrov explained.
Russia and China will "oppose hegemony and power politics", promote "universally accessible economic globalisation" and rally against unilateral sanctions that "undermine the global world order and run counter to the trend of global development", Wang said.
Resolving the Ukrainian crisis
Russia and China have agreed that any negotiations on Ukraine that ignore Moscow's position "while promoting the so-called peace formula of [Ukrainian leader Vladimir] Zelensky, and are thus divorced from reality, are futile," Lavrov recalled.
He thanked Beijing for its even-handed and balanced stance on Ukraine. Commenting on the 12-point peace initiative on Ukraine that China proposed last year, Russia's top diplomat praised the plan for addressing the root causes of the Ukrainian conflict, "especially in the context of ensuring indivisible security, including in Europe and the world."
Beijing is calling for an international conference "to which both Russia and Ukraine would agree, with equal participation of all parties and a fair discussion of all peace plans", Wang said.
Attacks on Zaporozhye nuclear power plant
The Kiev regime will not escape responsibility for the recent attacks on the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), as Moscow will press the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN to "honestly acknowledge what is going on," including around Ukraine, Lavrov concluded.
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