'Friends Forever, Never Enemies', Chinese Foreign Minister Tells Russia

Chinese FM Wang Yi: China and Russia 'Friends Forever'

By Lidia Kelly

(Reuters) -China and Russia are "friends forever, never enemies," Chinese's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in remarks published on Tuesday during a visit to Moscow in which he also welcomed signs of normalising ties between Washington and Moscow.

"The principle of 'friends forever, never enemies' ... serves as a solid legal basis for advancing strategic cooperation at a higher level," Wang told Russia's RIA state news agency in an interview.

Wang is on a three-day visit to Moscow for strategic cooperation talks, a trip overshadowed by uncertainty around talks to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

China and Russia declared a "no limits" strategic partnership days before Russian President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has met Putin over 40 times in the past decade and the two leaders have since agreed to deepen ties and cooperate on issues such as Taiwan, Ukraine and mutual rival the United States.

The Kremlin said on Monday that Putin would receive Wang, who will also hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Wang said current global conditions obliged big powers to act as stabilising factors, so it was encouraging that Russia and the United States had moved to improve relations.

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia and the United States were working on ideas for a possible peace settlement in Ukraine and on building bilateral ties. Since taking office in January, Trump has shifted the U.S. to a more conciliatory stance towards Russia.

"(This) is good for stabilizing the balance of power between major powers and inspires optimism in a disappointing international situation," RIA cited Wang as saying.

Wang also dismissed the notion that Trump is trying to support Russia in order to set it against China, condemning such ideas as a "relapse of obsolete confrontational and bloc thinking".

PEACE IN UKRAINE

Wang said recent Ukraine ceasefire talks had already brought some results and should continue, despite diverging views and the difficult situation on the battlefield.

"The step towards peace, although not that big, is constructive - it's worth building on it," Wang said. "With peace, it is no pain no gain. You need to work hard to achieve it."

He added that a peace deal must be binding and acceptable for all parties and reiterated that Beijing is ready to play a role in settling the conflict in Ukraine.

Xi has been pushing for a greater involvement of China in peace talks since the early days of the war, which marked its third anniversary in February.

Beijing has proposed on its own, and together with Brazil, general principles to end the conflict, but its ideas have received a tepid reception.

"We advocate eradicating the causes of the crisis through dialogue and negotiations, ultimately achieving a fair, long-term, binding peace agreement acceptable to all parties," Wang said.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Ronald Popeski; Writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Chris Reese and Stephen Coates)