Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov in Beijing on Wednesday, according to Chinese state media.
“On the morning of April 15, President Xi Jinping met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing,” state television CCTV reported.
Lavrov is on a two-day visit to China to strengthen bilateral relations, discuss the conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.
Beijing this week welcomed a number of leaders from countries affected by the Middle East war and its economic fallout, including Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi and Vietnamese leader To Lam.
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Lavrov criticized efforts he said were aimed at “containment” of Russia and China on Tuesday during a visit to Beijing, where he also discussed with his Chinese counterpart plans for a meeting “within a year” between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
Lavrov was welcomed on a red carpet upon his arrival in the Chinese capital, photos released by the Russian Foreign Ministry showed.
He later met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, with whom he shook hands in a photo posted on social media by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Beijing and Moscow are close economic and political partners, and since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the relationship has deepened further.
Lavrov warned of “some very, very dangerous games going on” 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 sharply criticizes the US military aid the self-governing island receives.
In comments apparently referring to the United States and its allies, Lavrov said he was “trying to break up (regional cooperation) by creating small-scale bloc-based structures that aim to include both the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation.”
“Our vast continent as a whole requires constant attention,” he said.
