File photo of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov [Xinhua]Even as the US continues with what it calls “freedom of navigation” exercises in the South China Sea, China has got support from Moscow on the dispute.
Attempts to internationalize the issue must be stopped, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday.
“We believe that all countries involved in the disputes should follow the principles of non-use of force, and continue seeking mutually acceptable political and diplomatic solutions,” Lavrov told Chinese media in Moscow.
Lavrov was speaking ahead of official visits to China, Japan and Mongolia.
He urged external players to stop interfering in the negotiations among those involved.
“I am convinced that they (attempts to internationalize the issue) are completely counterproductive,” said Lavrov. “Only negotiations, which China and the ASEAN are pursuing can bring the desired result, namely, mutually acceptable agreements.”
US naval exercises in the disputed waters have drawn sharps rebukes from China.
More than $5 trillion of world trade travels every year through the South China Sea. China claims most of the area, and Vietnam, Malaysia and Philippines have rival claims.
On Tuesday Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov also praised the BRICS bloc as “a promising mechanism” that brings together countries of different regions.
BRICS countries are “cooperating in solving global issues, based on the value of equality, mutual benefit and balance of interests” Lavrov said.
BRICS allies, Russia-China ties are at an all-time high, Lavrov asserted ahead of his trip to Beijing.
Russia and China are interested in expanding cooperation and aligning the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, according to Lavrov. The EEU has a market of 170 million people, a combined annual GDP of $2.7 trillion and vast energy riches.
“Currently, an agreement on trade and economic cooperation between the EEU and China is being prepared, and a roadmap for priority integration projects is being worked out simultaneously,” he said.
Russia’s membership in BRICS, SCO and the EEU are being held up by Moscow to show Western sanctions imposed over unrest in Ukraine will not isolate Russia.
On Tuesday, the top Russian diplomat also stressed the importance of regional cooperation between the two countries, especially involving Russia’s Far East and China’s northeastern provinces, and the Volga-Yangtze project.
While Russia and China are experiencing “some negative effects” due to a sluggish global economy, Lavrov said he believed that the decrease in Russia’s trade turnover with China and other Far East neighbors was “only temporary”.
Both countries continue to advance talks of a free trade zone between the EEU and the Russia-China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Russia also pitched in with support to Chinese concerns about the possible deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system by the United States on the Korean Peninsula.
“Together with our Chinese friends, we realize that following this course will create a real threat to the security of our countries, and destabilize the strategic stability in Northeast Asia,” he said.
He stressed that Russia and China recognize the right of North Korea to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but do not accept its nuclear ambitions.
Moscow and Beijing are devoted to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the resumption of the six-party talks, which is “the real way to resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue,” he added.
TBP and Agencies
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