RUSSIA’S LAVROV MAKES FIRST CHINA VISIT SINCE UKRAINE WAR

Wed 30 March 2022:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in China in his first visit to the key ally since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine last month.

In a post on its Weibo social media account, the Russian embassy in Beijing confirmed Lavrov had landed in the eastern city of Huangshan, posting photos of delegates descending from a plane and being met by health officials in hazmat suits.

Lavrov will attend a series of meetings hosted by China to discuss ways to help Afghanistan. Diplomats from the US and the Taliban-led country’s neighbours are also expected to attend.

🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov arrives in Tunxi, China.#RussiaChina pic.twitter.com/KxhnAWAf4y

— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) March 30, 2022

But Russia’s bloody assault on Ukraine is likely to loom large over proceedings.

Beijing has said Foreign Minister Wang Yi will collectively meet with representatives at the meeting, but it is not clear whether he will meet one-on-one with Lavrov.

Russia interested in solid, consistent development of relations with China

Russia is interested in building relations with China in a stable and consistent manner, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

“We are interested in our relations with China developing steadily and consistently, our leaders – President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin and President [of China] Xi Jinping agreed upon this. Today, as you have said, we will consider concrete steps to ensure that all those agreements are consistently implemented,” the top diplomat stated.

“I am very pleased to talk to you, dear friend, especially in another beautiful province. I have already visited many provinces of China, and all of them are truly exquisite,” Lavrov added.

Lavrov arrived in the Chinese city of Tunxi, where he will take part in the third ministerial conference of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries on March 31. On March 30, the minister will hold a series of talks with his foreign colleagues.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent