OAN Roy Francis
10:05 AM PT – Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Wang Yi, the director of China’s Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, flew into Russia for a diplomatic meeting on Tuesday.
The trip made by Yi marked the first meeting between the two countries since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The director met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The trip was described by Wang Wenbin, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson as a chance for the two nations to promote world peace and their roles in how to bring that about.
“China would like to take the opportunity of this visit to work with Russia to promote the steady growth of the bilateral relations in the direction identified by our presidents, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of both sides, and play a positive role for world peace,” he said. “We will release relevant information in a timely manner.”
The trip comes after the United States and Ukraine have both accused China of sending nonlethal aid to Russia. More recently the U.S. has warned the Chinese government against supplying the Kremlin with military and lethal aid. China replied to these accusations saying that the United States has no authority over them to make those warnings.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also recently warned that if China is to aid and align itself with Russia, then that will cause the outbreak of World War III.