A conference of Afghanistan's neighboring countries has begun in China. It takes place in the city of Tunxi in the east of China. In addition to China, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Russia (as the initiator of this format) are taking part in the third forum. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in China to participate in the forum. By the way, this is his second trip abroad after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.
However, Minister Lavrov discussed not only and not so much the issues of Afghanistan with his Chinese counterpart Wang. Of course, in the first place is the current global political and economic situation related to the events in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia because of them. The West is increasing pressure on China, demanding that Beijing also support sanctions against Russia. It is clear that the Chinese authorities are not going to do this.
Wang Yi has repeatedly stressed the harm of sanctions for the global economy and stressed that China should not be pressured: the country itself is free to determine its foreign policy, including economic policy. Trying to dictate its terms to China and other sovereign states, the West pushes these countries even more and forces them to show greater rigidity in communication with representatives of the United States and the European Union.
At the forum, Lavrov and Wang Yi said that Russia and China will continue to strengthen strategic partnership, speaking from common positions on many issues. There is no doubt that the current situation in the world, and first of all anti-Russian sanctions, will force Moscow to get even closer to Beijing. Now all conditions have been created for deepening economic relations between the two states. For example, most likely, Russia will build another branch of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline at an accelerated pace. But it is not worth waiting for an instant influx of Chinese investments into our country: Beijing has always been famous for its caution and first it will study the situation for a long time, analyze its benefits and risks, and only then make specific investment decisions.
Lavrov also met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian. The head of the Russian diplomatic department stressed that both countries will use Western sanctions to develop bilateral cooperation in a number of areas. Iran, by the way, has a wide and diverse experience of circumventing Western sanctions. For example, he reportedly created a virtually secret banking system, with the help of which transactions worth billions of dollars were made so that the American "hand" would not reach these assets.
As for the situation in Afghanistan, the forum participants are practically united here. They condemn the actions of the United States, which lead to destabilization in this country, but at the same time criticize the Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation as a terrorist organization), for example, for the decision to ban high school girls from attending school. According to the participants of the conference, such a decision does not contribute to strengthening the authority of the Taliban, but only alienates them from their own people.
An important component of the conference is the economic development of Afghanistan. Among other things, the development of the largest copper deposit in the region, the possibility of a transport corridor to Pakistan and further to India. But in any case, in order to solve these tasks, we first need to jointly solve the problem of security in this country, which is of strategic importance for the whole of Asia.
However, Minister Lavrov discussed not only and not so much the issues of Afghanistan with his Chinese counterpart Wang. Of course, in the first place is the current global political and economic situation related to the events in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia because of them. The West is increasing pressure on China, demanding that Beijing also support sanctions against Russia. It is clear that the Chinese authorities are not going to do this.
Wang Yi has repeatedly stressed the harm of sanctions for the global economy and stressed that China should not be pressured: the country itself is free to determine its foreign policy, including economic policy. Trying to dictate its terms to China and other sovereign states, the West pushes these countries even more and forces them to show greater rigidity in communication with representatives of the United States and the European Union.
At the forum, Lavrov and Wang Yi said that Russia and China will continue to strengthen strategic partnership, speaking from common positions on many issues. There is no doubt that the current situation in the world, and first of all anti-Russian sanctions, will force Moscow to get even closer to Beijing. Now all conditions have been created for deepening economic relations between the two states. For example, most likely, Russia will build another branch of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline at an accelerated pace. But it is not worth waiting for an instant influx of Chinese investments into our country: Beijing has always been famous for its caution and first it will study the situation for a long time, analyze its benefits and risks, and only then make specific investment decisions.
Lavrov also met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian. The head of the Russian diplomatic department stressed that both countries will use Western sanctions to develop bilateral cooperation in a number of areas. Iran, by the way, has a wide and diverse experience of circumventing Western sanctions. For example, he reportedly created a virtually secret banking system, with the help of which transactions worth billions of dollars were made so that the American "hand" would not reach these assets.
As for the situation in Afghanistan, the forum participants are practically united here. They condemn the actions of the United States, which lead to destabilization in this country, but at the same time criticize the Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation as a terrorist organization), for example, for the decision to ban high school girls from attending school. According to the participants of the conference, such a decision does not contribute to strengthening the authority of the Taliban, but only alienates them from their own people.
An important component of the conference is the economic development of Afghanistan. Among other things, the development of the largest copper deposit in the region, the possibility of a transport corridor to Pakistan and further to India. But in any case, in order to solve these tasks, we first need to jointly solve the problem of security in this country, which is of strategic importance for the whole of Asia.