Wang Yi Meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

On February 3, 2022, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Wang Yi said, today is the third day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar. It is a day to visit relatives and celebrate the Spring Festival. Welcome old friends to visit us at this time. Tomorrow, President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin will hold their first in-person meeting in more than two years, to fulfill the Winter Olympics rendezvous and Spring Festival gathering, and make overall plans for China-Russia relations in the post-pandemic era. This demonstrates the high level of strategic cooperation between the two countries and the high-level mutual trust and friendship between the two heads of state. The priority of our meeting is to make the final political preparations for the meeting between the two heads of state.

Wang Yi pointed out, since last year, under the leadership and guidance of the two heads of state, China and Russia have celebrated the 20th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. Our "back-to-back" strategic coordination has been further deepened and substantiated, and our economic and trade cooperation has yielded the "best annual results". The two sides have greater confidence in safeguarding common interests, more fruitful outcomes of mutually beneficial cooperation and more effective measures to address risks and challenges. Currently, China-Russia relations are embracing new opportunities for development. China is ready to work with Russia to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, unswervingly deepen the long-standing friendship and comprehensive strategic coordination, and stay committed to upholding international fairness and justice to better benefit the two peoples and people of the whole world.

Wang Yi said, it is an important consensus reached by the two heads of state to synergize the Belt and Road Initiative with the Eurasian Economic Union, which is being actively promoted and has already yielded early harvest. China is willing to further strengthen connectivity with Russia and actively promote cooperation across the whole energy industrial chain. At present, all the bottlenecks in bilateral practical cooperation caused by the pandemic have been solved in general. The two sides should build consensus on the fight against the pandemic, enhance understanding and mutual trust, strengthen the alignment of measures, stem the cross-border spread of the pandemic, ensure regular personnel exchanges and trade exchanges between the two countries, and promote steady and long-term bilateral practical cooperation.

Lavrov said, it is a great pleasure to visit old friends in China during the Spring Festival. The two heads of state will hold an offline meeting tomorrow, which is of great significance to further deepen Russia-China relations, promote the building of a modern international relations system and advance global sustainable development. High-level strategic coordination and close collaboration between Russia and China is the consensus of both sides, which is independent of the international political situation and conducive to enhancing the stability and predictability of international relations. The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 will open tomorrow. Beijing will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The world will see China's extraordinary ability to present a spectacular international sporting event despite the pandemic. The Russian side appreciates the efforts made by China to deepen cooperation between the two countries, and stands ready to work with China to seek greater synergy between the Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road Initiative and expand the common interests of both sides.

Both sides agreed to promote the Olympic spirit, jointly oppose the politicization of sports, and support the successful holding of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

Both sides stand for safeguarding peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and opposing any attempt to provoke camp opposition and bloc confrontation.

Both sides agreed to carry out coordination and cooperation between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization to jointly promote peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Both sides agreed to deepen communication and cooperation within the SCO, BRICS, China-Russia-India, the United Nations and other frameworks to jointly uphold norms governing international relations and regional and international security.

The Russian side briefed the Chinese side on the latest developments in the relations between Russia and the United States and between Russia and NATO, and stressed the principled position of indivisible security, for which the Chinese side expressed its understanding and support.

The two sides also had in-depth discussions and compared notes as well as coordinated positions on BRICS cooperation, as well as international and regional issues of common concern such as Ukraine, Afghanistan, and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

After the talks, the two sides signed the cooperation documents between the two foreign ministries.