Vladimir Putin receives Chinese foreign minister and says relations with Beijing are “essential to stabilize international order”

Russian President Vladimir Putin received Chinese diplomatic chief Wang Yi in Moscow on Wednesday and said relations with Beijing “are reaching new heights” and are “essential to stabilize the international order“.

“International relations are complicated today (…) In this context, cooperation (…) between China and Russia is of great importance for the stabilization of the international situation,” said the Russian president, receiving Wang Yes at the Kremlin .

Vladimir Putin rarely receives foreign officials who are not heads of state, which is why this meeting once again underlines the privileged ties between the Kremlin and its Chinese ally.

The visit by China’s top foreign relations official to Russia comes just days before the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine, ahead of an early meeting between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

For his part, Wang Yi expressed Beijing’s willingness to “strengthen the strategic partnership (…) and cooperation in all directions” with Moscow, according to his words translated into Russian.

Russian-Chinese relations “they are not directed against third countries and resist their pressure,” he stressed.

The head of Chinese diplomacy was received in the Kremlin after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“Our relations are developing safely and dynamically. And despite the strong turmoil on the international scene, we demonstrate unity and will to defend the interests of both,” Lavrov said.

Wang Yi’s visit to Russia comes as China tries to mediate the Ukrainian conflict by publicly evoking a peace plan – very vague at the moment – to find a political solution.

China’s initiative for Ukraine

According to the press, the draft of the Chinese peace initiative it would include the defense of territorial integritya call for the cessation of hostilities and the protection of nuclear facilities in Ukraine and opposition to the use of chemical weapons.

The first reactions of some Western diplomats to Beijing’s proposal have been negative because it does not include the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukrainewhich they consider an essential condition for starting a peace process.

So far China has defended the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but has not condemned the Russian military campaign, which it has even justified with NATO enlargement.

Last week Wang had already briefed the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, on the key points of the initiative during a meeting in the German city of Munich.

Kuleba assured this kyiv will study it carefully as soon as you receive the full text.

The United States has warned that Beijing is considering supplying lethal weapons to Russia, which has been rejected by Chinese diplomats.

In this regard, the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, assured this week that he was unaware that China has already supplied these types of weapons to the Russian army.

Source: AP, EFE and AFP