China and Russia agree to respond to Western sanctions

According to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on April 10, Russian state media emphasized the joint efforts of Russia and China to counter Western sanctions against Beijing and Moscow during the meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.

Specifically, TASS news agency reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China and Russia need to engage in a "dual response" in response to Western efforts at "dual containment" targeting Russia and China.

For his part, Foreign Minister Lavrov confirmed that China's top diplomat has put forward a policy of "dual response" to counter the West's "dual deterrence." Lavrov explained that Moscow and Beijing will jointly counter attempts to block steps towards building a multipolar world order or to eliminate outdated processes of establishing democracy and justice.

Also in Beijing, Lavrov said that the Russia-China comprehensive partnership and strategic partnership have reached an unprecedented level, and that the two countries have common international interests and will coordinate to resolve internal and external issues. The Russian foreign minister said that Russia-China relations go beyond the Cold War-era military-political alliance and that both countries are working to create a multipolar world order through multilateral organizations including BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

In addition, Russia and China will continue cooperation on counterterrorism, and have signed another plan for inter-ministerial consultations in 2024. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russia and China exchanged views on possible ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, considering international meetings to discuss ending the conflict in Ukraine without Moscow useless.