China, Russia agree on cooperation over global food, energy security

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov agreed Thursday that their countries will jointly tackle challenges in ensuring global food and energy security as they met in Uzbekistan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

In the meeting in Tashkent on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperative Organization foreign ministerial talks, Wang noted the two major countries have strengthened strategic communications to promote “the development of the international order in a just and reasonable direction,” the ministry said Friday.

The SCO groups together China, Russia, India, Pakistan and Central Asian countries. Global food and energy prices have been rising due partly to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a major grain exporter.

Wang and Lavrov shared the view that the SCO brings together major countries in food and energy production and consumption, and it is necessary to strengthen coordination and jointly play a constructive role in addressing global food and energy security challenges, the ministry said.

With the war in Ukraine intensifying, China has shied away from condemning Russia’s aggression, while opposing economic sanctions levied by Western nations including the United States and Japan.

China and the Soviet Union, Russia’s predecessor state, were competitors during the Cold War. They were at odds over interpretations and practical applications of Marxism-Leninism, the ideology of 20th-century communism.

But the two nations have been reinforcing cooperation in recent years as their relations with the United States have deteriorated. They have challenged the post-Cold War international order.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES