Beijing And Moscow To Boost Ties

Beijing and Moscow on Wednesday pledged to strengthen bilateral ties, during a meeting held between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

According to Xinhua news agency, Wang said China-Russia ties have stood the new test of a changing international landscape, adding that the relationship between the two countries has shown strong resilience.

“Both sides have a firmer will to develop bilateral relations, and stronger confidence to advance cooperation in various areas,” he said.

“China is willing to work with Russia to push the relationship to a higher level in the new era, guided by the important consensus between the two heads of state,” Wang added.

Wang and Lavrov spoke in the eastern province of Anhui, where China is hosting two days of multilateral meetings on Afghanistan.

The meeting comes a little over a month after Russia launched a military campaign in Ukraine, triggering unprecedented Western economic sanctions.

Russia's foreign ministry said Lavrov had informed Wang about the progress of military operations in Ukraine and the state of Moscow's negotiations with Kyiv.

"The sides noted the counterproductive nature of the illegal unilateral sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and its satellites," the ministry said in a statement.

The two ministers agreed that Russia and China would continue to strengthen their strategic partnership and to speak on global affairs "with a united voice", it added.

Meanwhile, Wang said China supports continued peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and the positive outcomes achieved by the negotiations so far. (Additional reporting by Reuters)