On March 18, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming and Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui. They were in Moscow as observers in the election for the President of the Russian Federation.
Mr Lavrov thanked the heads of the SCO and China’s monitoring missions for their visit to the Russian capital. In turn, Zhang Ming and Li Hui thanked Lavrov for the warm reception and all-round assistance in their work. They expressed satisfaction with the success of the election and the excellent organising and noted that the election was open and unbiased throughout the nation.
In the context of the tentative election results announced by the Central Election Commission, Zhang Ming and Li Hui asked Mr Lavrov to convey to Vladimir Putin their congratulations on the victory in the election. They noted his instrumental contribution to the founding and development of the SCO and to the dynamic and comprehensive strengthening of the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership.
During the meeting, Mr Lavrov exchanged views with Zhang Ming on a broad range of issues pertaining to the SCO’s activities. He emphasised the practical aspects of the SCO’s comprehensive changes to the current geopolitical reality amidst mounting challenges and threats to the security of the SCO member states.
The officials also discussed in detail the crisis in Ukraine and ways of overcoming it. Li Hui spoke about his recent European tour that he conducted to compare positions and assess opportunities for a political and diplomatic settlement to the crisis. Mr Lavrov confirmed that Russia is open to a negotiated solution. However, he emphasised that Moscow finds any event promoting the Zelensky formula, regardless of its wrapping, unacceptable. Mr Lavrov also noted that responsible proposals on a negotiating process need to be preceded by the elimination of Kiev’s self-ban on talks with Moscow, the cessation of arms supplies and a clear signal on a willingness to consider current realities and Russia’s lawful interests, as President Vladimir Putin has emphasised more than once.
By tradition, the conversation took place in a friendly and trust-based atmosphere.
BY: TTU
