Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has arrived in China for his first visit to the country since Moscow began its invasion of Ukraine last month. Lavrov will take part in two multinational meetings on Afghanistan with representatives from Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Foreign Minister Wang Yi will represent China and Taliban-appointed Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will represent Afghanistan at the regional meeting. Qatar and Indonesia will attend as guests. The Russian Foreign Minister will also attend a separate meeting of the “Broad Troika” with special envoys for Afghanistan from China and the United States, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. “China, the United States, Russia and Pakistan are all countries that have a significant influence on the Afghan issue,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a Troika meeting in a daily news release on Tuesday. China has not acknowledged the Taliban government in Afghanistan, but has avoided harsh criticism from the United States and others. It kept its embassy in Kabul open and also did not comment on the Taliban’s move to restrict girls’ education and other human rights abuses. The meetings take place in Tunxi, an ancient city in Anhui Province – probably because of the relative ease of keeping a “bubble” separate from the general population. This will allow diplomats to avoid the 21-day quarantine for coronavirus required by international travelers to the capital, Beijing, and other major Chinese cities. In a post on its Weibo social media account, the Russian embassy in Beijing on Wednesday confirmed that Lavrov had landed in the eastern city of Huangshan, posting photos of delegates boarding a plane and meeting with health officials. Russia’s attack on Ukraine is also likely to be large due to the processes. Unlike many Western nations, China has refused to condemn the invasion and has lagged behind many other countries in providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine. It is unclear whether Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will meet outside of talks on Afghanistan. Successive Afghan governments have seen the country’s estimated $ 1 trillion in mineral wealth as the key to a prosperous future, but none have been able to develop it amid ongoing conflict and violence. Now many countries, including Iran, Russia and Turkey, are looking to invest, bridging the gap left by the chaotic withdrawal of US aid last year that led to the withdrawal of international aid agencies, the freezing of Afghan assets and virtual assets. economy. At this week’s rallies, China will seek to position itself as the top champion for humanitarian aid and economic development projects in Afghanistan and will openly call on the United States to unfreeze the Afghan government’s assets and accounts, said University political scientist , Alexander Cooley, specialist. in Central Asia. “China is quietly confirming itself as the leading external power in the region,” Culley told the Associated Press. “In this way, he will be positioned both as a critic of US regional policy and as an alternative leader of a humanitarian coalition made up of Afghanistan’s neighbors.”
