Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday in Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, with Moscow's top diplomat visiting China to prepare for a trip to the Asian country by Russian President Vladimir Putin later this year.
Xi welcomed Lavrov's trip to Beijing "as an important stage of comprehensive preparations for the upcoming state visit" by Putin to China later this year, Russia's Tass news agency said, quoting the country's Foreign Ministry.
Putin, who will begin his fifth presidential term in May following his reelection last month, met in-person with Xi twice last year, with their countries strengthening ties in a move to jointly oppose the U.S.-led international order.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it is premature to indicate the exact dates of Putin's upcoming China visit, according to Tass.
Beijing and Moscow, which mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations this year, have been strengthening their cooperation, with China opposed to U.S.-led sanctions on Russia over its war against Ukraine.
In his opening remarks, Xi told Lavrov that Beijing and Moscow have embraced peaceful co-existence and mutually advantageous cooperation, which "played a constructive role in ensuring international justice," Tass said.
Xi also said China is willing to work with Russia to unite the "Global South" developing and emerging countries in the spirit of equality, openness, transparency and inclusiveness, the Chinese ministry said.
Lavrov also expressed Russia's willingness to strengthen unity and cooperation with Global South countries and contribute to the formation of a more fair and just international order, the Chinese ministry said.
Prior to his meeting with Xi, Lavrov held talks with China's top diplomat Wang Yi.
Wang told Lavrov that the two countries "resolutely oppose all unilateralism and hegemonic acts," according to the Chinese ministry, in a veiled reference to the U.S.-led international order.
At a joint press conference, the Russian minister said they are both against U.S. efforts to create "exclusive political and military alliances" in the Asia-Pacific region and attempts to undermine regional security, Tass said.
He also said Putin and Xi plan to meet on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in in June in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, and a BRICS summit in October in Kazan, a central Russian city, it said, as part of ongoing exchanges "to maintain regular political dialogue."
BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- welcomed five new members, including Egypt and Iran, in January.
On Russia's war against Ukraine, which started in February 2022, the top Chinese diplomat told the press conference that Beijing hopes to see a ceasefire as soon as possible and called for an international conference involving Moscow and Kyiv to discuss all peace options, the Chinese ministry said.
