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Chinese President Xi Jinping urged deeper cooperation with Russia during talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Beijing on Tuesday, as diplomats from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) gathered for high-level meetings.
Xi told Lavrov that China and Russia should "strengthen mutual support on multilateral forums" and work together to "unite countries of the global South and promote the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction," according to state news agency Xinhua.
The meeting came as foreign ministers from the 10-member SCO convened in Beijing for their regular Council of Foreign Ministers session. Top diplomats attending include Russia's Lavrov, India's Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Iran's Abbas Araghchi.
Russia's foreign ministry said the bilateral discussions covered "a number of issues of bilateral political contacts at the highest and high levels," including preparations for President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to China for the SCO summit and World War II anniversary celebrations.
Lavrov met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Sunday to discuss Ukraine and relations with the United States before the broader SCO sessions began. The Russian foreign minister arrived in China following a visit to North Korea, where he received assurances of support for Russia's conflict with Ukraine.
China maintains it is neutral in the three-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine, though it has never condemned Russia's military campaign or called for troop withdrawals. Many Ukrainian allies believe Beijing has provided support to Moscow, while China regularly calls for an end to fighting and accuses Western nations of prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine.
Beijing has positioned the SCO as a counterweight to Western-led organizations like NATO, seeking to strengthen collaboration among member states in politics, security, trade and science. Xi noted Tuesday that "political mutual trust among member states has deepened," according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The SCO "has successfully explored a path of regional cooperation that aligns with the trends of the times and meets the needs of all parties, setting a model for a new type of international relations," Xi said.
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