China will seek to strengthen ties with Russia as US and NATO allies call on Beijing to put more pressure and impose sanctions on Moscow amid an invasion of Ukraine. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday. Both ministers condemned the “illegal” and “counterproductive” sanctions imposed by the West in response to the invasion. RUSSIA INVASES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES “Both sides are more determined to develop bilateral ties and are more confident in promoting cooperation in various areas,” Wang said. “China is ready to work with Russia to bring Sino-Russian relations to a new level in a new era under the auspices of the Heads of State.” Lavrov briefed Wang on Russia’s progress in military operations in Ukraine and on the current progress in negotiations with Kyiv, Reuters reported. Wang praised the relationship as “enduring the ordeal of international unrest”. UKRAINE PRESSURE RUSSIA SHOULD WITHDRAW FULLY BEFORE SIGNING PEACE AGREEMENT Russian Foreign Ministry describes NATO allies as US “satellites” China-Russia relations under heavy scrutiny: Some experts say China is likely to act as a backdoor for Russia in the event of Western sanctions with Trump’s Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Preparedness Robert L. Wilkie told Fox News Digital that China was “Russia’s banker.” BIDEN PROMISES ZELENSKI $ 500 MILLION FINANCING IN HOUR COMMUNICATIONS, RAISING US AID TO UKRAINE TO $ 2.5 China did just that with a few contracts that locked coal and wheat deals with Russia before the invasion: The two countries concluded an agreement that would see China buy 100 million tonnes of Russian coal just the day before Putin ordered his troops. to Ukraine. The government-owned Russian news agency TASS reported on the deal, adding that Russia’s share of the Asia-Pacific market has grown by 8% since 2010, with Russia now controlling about 12% of the market. – another sign of an increasingly close relationship. CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION However, former Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev told Fox News Digital that China “will never see” Putin as an “equal partner.” “China is somehow inciting him to go to war with the West because it is in their interest,” Kozyrev said. “If it loses Western markets – even Japan and many other countries have joined the sanctions – it will drag itself into China, asking them to buy some of its mineral resources.”
