Russian FM Lavrov makes first visit to China since Ukraine war

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has arrived in China for talks on Afghanistan, marking his first visit to the Asian country since Moscow launched a military operation in Ukraine last month.

The Russian embassy in Beijing confirmed in a post on its Weibo social media account on Wednesday that Lavrov had landed in the eastern city of Huangshan, posting photos of delegates descending from a plane and being met by health officials in hazmat suits.

Lavrov is due to attend the third edition of a gathering of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries in Tunxi, an ancient town in East China's Anhui province.

Top diplomats or representatives from Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are scheduled to attend the event.

Taliban acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, will also be present at the gathering hosted by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Qatar and Indonesia will attend as guests.

The event’s first and second editions were respectively hosted by Pakistan and the Islamic Republic last year.

According to China’s foreign ministry, the Russian foreign minister will also take part in a separate meeting of the “Extended Troika” with special envoys on Afghanistan from China and the United States

“China, the US, Russia and Pakistan are all countries with significant influence on the Afghan issue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said of the Troika meeting at a regular press conference on Tuesday. 

SS