Russia, China set eyes on new ‘world order’ free of hegemony

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Wednesday to discuss bilateral ties and suggested that Moscow and Beijing were jointly working to establish a new “world order” free of hegemony.

Indeed, ahead of his meeting with Wang Yi, Lavrov clearly stated the same. According to an AFP translation of a video posted by the Russian foreign ministry, Lavrov said, “We, together with you, and with our sympathizers will move towards a multipolar, just, democratic world order.”

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Lavrov’s comments were echoed by Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, who, during a press conference on Wednesday, said, “There is no limit to China-Russia cooperation in the pursuit of peace … no limit to our efforts to safeguard security, and no limit to our opposition to hegemony. China-Russia relations feature non-alliance, non-confrontation, and non-targeting of any third party.”

The comments come at a time when China’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has sparked international criticism: while the West has moved swiftly to impose sanctions on Russia over the invasion, China, till date, has refused to even term it an ‘invasion’.

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Lavrov’s comments are also notable insofar as they come after China refuted US claims that Beijing was looking to provide military assistance to Russia in the war in Ukraine.

However, despite the pre-meeting comments by ministers of both countries, nothing major was announced after the meeting.

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According to Reuters, the Chinese foreign minister, after the meeting, said that Beijing and Moscow were “more determined to develop bilateral ties, and are more confident in promoting cooperation in various fields.”

“China is willing to work with Russia to take China-Russian ties to a higher level in a new era under the guidance of the consensus reached by the heads of state,” Wang Yi further said after the meeting.