AFP, Beijing :
China vowed Sunday to plough ahead on economic and diplomatic cooperation with Russia despite Western sanctions against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine, stressing their relations are based on “mutual need”.
“The practical cooperation between China and Russia is based on mutual need, it seeks win-win results and has enormous internal impetus and room for expansion,” said Beijing’s foreign minister Wang Yi.
As well as sanctions, Vladimir Putin’s Russia is facing a sharp decline in its ruble currency amid an economic crisis fuelled largely by plunging oil prices.
Both countries are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, where they have in the past jointly used their veto power against Western-backed moves such as in the civil war in Syria.
Wang told reporters on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress, China’s Communist-controlled parliament, that Beijing and Moscow will “continue to carry out strategic coordination and cooperation to maintain international peace and security”.
Wang’s comments signal that Putin, assailed by the West over the annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, can count on continued Chinese economic and diplomatic support.
China vowed Sunday to plough ahead on economic and diplomatic cooperation with Russia despite Western sanctions against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine, stressing their relations are based on “mutual need”.
“The practical cooperation between China and Russia is based on mutual need, it seeks win-win results and has enormous internal impetus and room for expansion,” said Beijing’s foreign minister Wang Yi.
As well as sanctions, Vladimir Putin’s Russia is facing a sharp decline in its ruble currency amid an economic crisis fuelled largely by plunging oil prices.
Both countries are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, where they have in the past jointly used their veto power against Western-backed moves such as in the civil war in Syria.
Wang told reporters on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress, China’s Communist-controlled parliament, that Beijing and Moscow will “continue to carry out strategic coordination and cooperation to maintain international peace and security”.
Wang’s comments signal that Putin, assailed by the West over the annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, can count on continued Chinese economic and diplomatic support.
