BEIJING
\nRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized efforts he said were aimed at \u201ccontaining\u201d Russia and China, Moscow\u2019s state media said on Tuesday during his visit to Beijing. Lavrov was given a red-carpet welcome after he arrived in the Chinese capital, photographs released by the Russian foreign ministry showed.
\nHe later met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, who he was seen shaking hands with in a picture posted on social media by Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Beijing and Moscow are close economic and political partners, and the relationship has deepened further since Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
\nLavrov warned of \u201csome very, very dangerous games going on\u201d in East Asian geopolitical hotspots that included Taiwan, the disputed South China Sea and the nuclear-armed Korean peninsula, according to quotes from the meeting with Wang published by state-run RIA Novosti. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and is sharply critical of US military assistance the self-ruled island receives.
\nIn comments apparently referring to the United States and its allies, Lavrov said \u201cthey are trying to dismantle (regional cooperation) by creating small-format, bloc-based structures aimed at containing both the People\u2019s Republic of China and the Russian Federation.\u201d \u201cOur vast continent as a whole demands constant attention,\u201d he said.
\nLavrov also said he and Wang would discuss plans for future \u201ccontacts\u201d between leaders Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. China is hosting this week a string of leaders of countries that have been affected by the US-Israeli war on Iran and its economic fallout, including Vietnam\u2019s To Lam and Abu Dhabi\u2019s Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
\nChina\u2019s foreign ministry said this week that Lavrov and Wang would \u201cexchange views and coordinate positions on the development of bilateral relations, cooperation in various fields, and international and regional issues of common concern.\u201d The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement ahead of the talks that the pair would discuss the war in Ukraine and the Middle East conflict.
\nWang and Lavrov agreed during a call on April 5 that Beijing and Moscow would work together to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East. China\u2019s Premier Li Qiang told the United Arab Emirates leader that Beijing is \u201cready to further play a constructive role and contribute to the restoration of peace and tranquility in the Gulf region.\u201d \u2014 DNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized efforts he said were aimed at \u201ccontaining\u201d Russia and China, Moscow\u2019s state media said on Tuesday during his visit to Beijing. Lavrov was given a red-carpet welcome after he arrived in the Chinese capital, photographs released by the Russian foreign ministry showed. He later met his Chinese counterpart […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-541860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n