Russia and China discuss Ukraine war and US ties
MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia's and China's foreign ministers on Sunday discussed their relations with the United States and the prospects for ending the war in Ukraine, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
President Vladimir Putin's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in Beijing on Sunday. Lavrov is due to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's foreign ministers in China.
"The parties also discussed relations with the United States and prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis," the Foreign Ministry said.
"The importance of strengthening close coordination between the two countries in the international arena, including in the United Nations and its Security Council, the SCO, BRICS, the G20 and APEC, was emphasized," the ministry said.
China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing, days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. Putin has sometimes described China as an "ally."
The U.S. casts China as its biggest competitor and Russia as its biggest nation-state threat.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Nikkei Asia
2 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Trump set to visit Pakistan in September, reports say
Two Pakistani TV news channels report that U.S. President Donald Trump would visit Islamabad in September and India afterward. © Reuters ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -- U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to visit Pakistan in September, two local television news channels reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter. If confirmed, the visit would be the first by a U.S. president since nearly two decades ago, when President George W. Bush visited Pakistan in 2006. Pakistan's foreign office spokesperson said he was not aware of Trump's expected visit. The two TV news channels said that Trump would also visit India after arriving in Islamabad in September. U.S.-Pakistan relations saw a major boost when Trump hosted Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House last month in an unprecedented meeting. A U.S. embassy spokesperson in Islamabad told Reuters, "We have nothing to announce," and said that the White House could not provide confirmation on the president's schedule. Pakistan's information ministry didn't respond to a Reuters request for a comment. India is due to host the summit of the so-called Quad countries this year but dates for the meeting have not been announced yet. The Quad grouping includes the U.S., India, Australia and Japan and is focused on countering China's rise in the Indo-Pacific region.


The Diplomat
3 hours ago
- The Diplomat
Former Thai PM Thaksin Gives Testimony in Lese-majeste Case
The case is just one of a handful of legal complaints that threaten to end the influence of the Shinawatra family in Thai politics. Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday took the stand in a Bangkok court to defend himself against royal defamation charges that threaten to curtail his influence in Thai politics. The former leader has been charged with lese-majeste and computer crimes stemming from a 2015 interview that he gave with a South Korean newspaper, and has been barred from leaving Thailand without permission until the case is resolved. Thaksin faces up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted under Thailand's harsh lese-majeste law, which criminalizes criticisms of the king and the royal family. Speaking to reporters after yesterday's hearing, Thaksin's lawyer Winyat Chatmontree said that the court would hand down its verdict on August 22 – two years to the day that Thaksin returned to Thailand from more than 15 years in self-exile. 'We are confident that we will receive justice,' Winyat said, as per Reuters. The case is just one of a series of legal challenges facing Thaksin and his daughter, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, whose government hangs by a thread after the leak in mid-June of an embarrassing phone call with Cambodia's equally influential former leader, Hun Sen. During the call, which discussed the ongoing border dispute between the two nations, the Thai leader appeared to side with Hun Sen and accused a Thai general of being 'completely aligned' with her political opponents. On July 1, the same day that Thaksin's trial opened in Bangkok, Paetongtarn was suspended by the Constitutional Court, pending an ethics probe into her conduct during the call with Hun Sen. The national anti-corruption body has also announced a similar investigation, and the Bhumjaithai party, which withdrew from Paetongtarn's coalition after the call was leaked, has pledged to seek a vote of no-confidence in her government. In addition to the current lese-majeste case, Thaksin also faces legal scrutiny for the circumstances surrounding his return to the country – in particular, that he faked an illness in order to avoid serving a single night of a lengthy corruption sentence in prison. This flurry of legal cases marks an abrupt end to the truce between Thaksin and Thailand's conservative political establishment, and a resumption of the political struggle between the two camps. For years, the establishment had sought to extirpate his influence, and pro-Thaksin governments were removed both via military coups (against Thaksin in 2006 and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra in 2014) and rulings by politically pliant courts. However, after the May 2023 general election, which saw the opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) win a plurality of seats on a threateningly progressive platform, Thaksin's Pheu Thai party agreed to form a coalition with conservative and military-backed parties in order to block the MFP from power. In exchange, Thaksin was allowed to return to Thailand, which he did on the same day in August 2023 that the new government was sworn in. An eight-year prison sentence was conveniently watered down, and Thaksin was granted parole in February of last year. Despite the truce, many royalist opponents of Thaksin did not let go of their strong mistrust of the former leader, and many perceived that he overstepped the political boundaries of the deal by inserting himself so actively into the affairs of government. While he does not occupy any official position in government, Thaksin has been very active in government-adjacent roles, leading critics on both sides of Thai politics to accuse Paetongtarn (with some justice) of acting as his proxy. They have since seized on the border dispute with Cambodia, which has worsened since an armed clash between Thai and Cambodian soldiers on May 28, to attack the legitimacy of Paetongtarn's government. While the current cases will likely bring Paetongtarn's term to an end, sooner or later, they also raise questions about the future prospects of the Shinawatra clan as a force in Thai politics, as Joshua Kurlantzick and Pavin Chachavalpongpun argued in an article in late June. 'Although the family has weathered numerous challenges in the past, changing party names at times, the convergence of internal fractures among its backers and sustained external pressures from powerful Thai actors now suggests the dynasty is done for,' they wrote.


Yomiuri Shimbun
3 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Sentencing of Japan ‘Spy' Shows China's Line on National Security; Lack of Transparency May Set Back Japan-China Ties
A Chinese court's sentencing of a Japanese man to 3½ years in prison for allegedly engaging in espionage could deal a setback to the recently improving relationship between Japan and China. The man, an employee of drugmaker Astellas Pharma Inc., had been detained by Chinese authorities since March 2023. Japan's government plans to once again press the Chinese side to quickly release Japanese nationals still being detained there. However, concerns over the lack of transparency from Chinese authorities in cases of law enforcement where 'national security' is used a pretext to detain people will continue to smolder. According to the Japanese Embassy in China, the man appeared to listen calmly to the Japanese interpretation of the ruling read out in Chinese by the presiding judge. Only embassy officials were in attendance at the proceedings; Japanese media outlets were unable to enter the courtroom. Men who appeared to be connected to the Chinese authorities stood around the courthouse and blocked attempts to report on the proceedings. The administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping has fostered attempts to improve ties with Japan as Beijing's relations with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump have grown increasingly adversarial. China has even recently taken steps to resolve issues that had plagued bilateral ties with Japan, such as accelerating procedures for resuming imports of Japanese marine products and beef. The Chinese Foreign Ministry had notified the Japanese side in advance that Wednesday's ruling 'would not be as harsh' as sentences handed down in previous cases, some of which had exceeded 10 years of imprisonment, according to sources familiar with Japan-China ties. Patriotism is expected to be on the rise in China as the nation nears a period that includes Aug. 15, which marks the anniversary of the end of **World War II**, and also Sept. 3, which China celebrates as the anniversary of its victory over Japan. The latest ruling was very likely timed to draw a line under a key contentious problem in Japan-China relations before this period. Amid all this, the Xi administration has continued to ramp up its hegemonistic behavior in the region, such as by having China Coast Guard vessels regularly intrude into Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture and by dispatching two aircraft carriers to conduct exercises simultaneously in the Pacific Ocean. It is unlikely that Xi's administration will offer any concessions on issues that it considers to be non-negotiable, such as national security and the nation's territory. Calls for release unanswered The Japanese government has expressed serious concerns about China's detention of Japanese nationals. Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya even described this issue as 'one of the biggest factors impeding people-to-people exchanges and the improvement of national sentiment' between Japan and China. The government has repeatedly pressed the Chinese side to quickly release Japanese nationals it has detained, but the day of the Astellas employee's sentencing arrived without any progress being made. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba touched on the ruling Wednesday. 'We must ensure the world is orderly,' Ishiba said during a speech in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture. 'We want to create a more transparent, well-structured order.' That comment was apparently made with the lack of transparency in China's judicial process in mind. China is currently detaining five Japanese nationals, including the Astellas employee. They are being held in locations including Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province; Sanya, Hainan Province; and Changsha, Hunan Province. Chinese authorities have not revealed details about the reasons for and circumstances behind these detentions have not been disclosed. The Japanese government believes it is highly likely that the Chinese side will continue to crack down on what it considers to be 'espionage' activities and to strictly apply its anti-spying law. 'The only thing we can do is have the prime minister directly reach out to President Xi and lean on him to resolve the issue,' a government official told The Yomiuri Shimbun. The latest ruling will inevitably have an impact on economic and people-to-people exchanges between Tokyo and Beijing. The Japanese government is poised to bolster efforts to secure the release of Japanese detainees and strengthen messages urging travelers to China to exercise caution.