Culminating his European tour, Wang Yi, Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, on Feb. 21-22 held high-level discussions in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev, addressing the need for deepening bilateral strategic cooperation in a number of fields and analyzing what all agree is a “complex” and “volatile” international situation. The Ukrainian situation was at the top of the agenda in all discussions.
In today’s meeting with President Putin, Wang Yi was accompanied by Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui and Vice Foreign Minister Deng Li. Putin greeted Wang warmly and extended his best wishes to “our friend” President Xi Jinping. Wang Yi similarly communicated Xi Jinping’s greetings to Putin who also said that he is expecting a personal visit from Xi Jinping sometime soon, as previously discussed, as soon as Xi can finish attending to his domestic political agenda. Xi’s visit, he said, would give “additional impetus to our relations.” Putin emphasized that the political steps that Xi is taking domestically will strengthen the country and lay the basis for continued development.
As for China-Russia relations, Putin said they are progressing steadily and “reaching new milestones.” While he said progress in bilateral trade was important, he emphasized that the two nations also cooperate in international affairs. Noting Wang Yi’s long career in the Foreign Ministry, Putin expressed “the warmest words of gratitude for the joint work.” He underscored the importance of the bilateral relation in “stabilizing the international situation,” which he said is “very complicated.”
The Russian President pointed out that both cooperate in many other areas, humanitarian projects and international organizations such as the UN, the UN Security Council, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, among others. “We have a lot of joint work to do,” he said. (http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/70573)
The situation in Ukraine was a central part of their discussion. According to Global Times, Wang Yi expressed his appreciation for Russia’s reaffirmation of its willingness to resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiation. China will, as always, uphold an objective and fair stance and play a constructive role in the political settlement of the crisis, he said.
According to the Kremlin transcript, Wang also underscored that while the current international situation is complicated, the China-Russia relationship has withstood the test of the international situation and is mature, tenacious and as stable as Mount Tai. Although crises and chaos often appear before us, he said, challenges and opportunities coexist. This is the dialectic of history. “We are here to emphasize that our relations are never directed against third countries, and of course are not subject to pressure from third parties, since we have a very strong economic, political and cultural foundation,” Wang Yi said.
“We have gained quite an extensive experience precisely because we are supportive of multipolarity and democratization of international relations, which is fully in line with the spirit of the times and history and meets the interests of most countries as well. China is willing to work with Russia to maintain strategic focus, deepen political mutual trust, strengthen strategic coordination, expand practical cooperation, safeguard the legitimate interests of the two countries, and play a constructive role in promoting world peace and development.”
