Photo: AFP/Handout/Russian Foreign Ministry
Eurasia
09/04/2024 22:14
Russian-Chinese relations are as good as ever, Yana Leksyutina, senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of China and Modern Asia, told Russian newspaper Vedomosti, according to a summary the TASS news agency. Over the past year, the parties have been able to fine-tune the way they do business amid sanctions on Moscow, she added.
Meanwhile, the two countries are trying to navigate a difficult political landscape as they try to boost economic ties, Sergey Lukonin, head of the Chinese economy and politics sector at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, said. Payment difficulties created by the threat of secondary sanctions from the US against China’s financial industry remain the main problem. China does not want to further complicate relations with the European Union and the United States.
Leksyutina believes that although the US element has an effect on Russia-China relations, it’s not a decisive factor. The two countries are working to build closer ties based primarily on the high level of mutual trust achieved in past years. It’s about mutual respect for each other’s core interests, Leksyutina emphasized.
The expert did not rule out that preparations for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China were among the goals of Lavrov’s trip. Putin may visit China in the second half of May, a source close to the Russian government and a source familiar with the paperwork for the visit told Vedomosti.
