BEIJING, China
China's top diplomat Wang Yi will begin a four-day trip to Russia for security talks on Monday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, the latest in a series of high-level visits and phone calls between the two sides.
Wang will hold security
consultations at the invitation of Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia's
security council, with China's Foreign Ministry adding that the visit would be
a "routine event."
It said further that the aim
of the trip is to "promote the development of bilateral relations, and
conduct in-depth communication on important issues involving the strategic
security interests of the two countries."
China and Russia are strategic
allies, with both countries frequently touting their "no limits"
partnership and economic and military cooperation.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said
in an earlier briefing that Wang would meet his counterpart Sergei Lavrov and
the two planned to "focus on efforts to strengthen collaboration on the
international scene."
"There will be a detailed
exchange of views on issues related to a settlement in Ukraine, as well as ways
of ensuring stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region," a
spokesperson said.
China has sought to position
itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine war, while offering Moscow a vital
diplomatic and financial lifeline as its isolation from the West deepens.
But it has stopped short
of getting involved in the conflict itself or sending lethal arms to Russia.
Chinese Defence Minister Li
Shangfu visited Russia and Belarus last month and called for closer military
cooperation.
Beijing and Moscow have
carried out joint sea and air patrols in recent months, the latter causing
South Korea to deploy fighter jets as a precaution.
Their high-level contacts look
set to increase, with an aide to Vladimir Putin saying in July that the Russian
president was planning to visit China in October.
President Xi Jinping made a
state visit to Moscow in March and declared that relations between the two
countries were entering a new era.
At a meeting at the annual
Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok last week, Russian President Vladimir
Putin told Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing that ties between Russia and
China "have reached an absolutely unprecedented, historical level."
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