Russia's stance at the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting: Strengthening of China-Russia cooperation, but maintaining a neutral attitude toward the Sino-US trade war.

Regarding the China-US trade war, Russia has made its position clear! On April 28th, during the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Brazil, when meeting with our Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov mainly expressed three points. First, in the face of a rapidly changing world, it is necessary for Russia and China to maintain close interaction. Second, as major countries shouldering special international responsibilities, Russia and China will jointly uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. Third, Russia and China will defend fairness and equality, resist unilateral bullying, and contribute positive strength to maintaining multilateralism.

From Russia's statement, there is no doubt that Russia will continue to strengthen cooperation with us. This means that Russia will not cooperate with the US to isolate us economically. However, some of Russia's statements are worth pondering. That is, regarding the US's bullying behavior and the major event of the trade war between China and the US, Russia did not explicitly mention the US. Instead of opposing directly, Russia used the wording "resist unilateral bullying," which indicates a lot.

This shows what? It undoubtedly shows that Russia has its own considerations regarding its relationship with the US. From Russia's perspective, Russia wants to ease US-Russia relations. In terms of ending the Ukraine war, Russia hopes the US will act as a guarantor and requests the US to lead in recognizing Russia's sovereignty over other "new territories" in eastern Ukraine, including Crimea. Therefore, at this critical juncture, Russia does not want to create unnecessary trouble for itself in the US-Russia relationship due to other issues.

From here, we can also see that regarding the trade war, a major event in the great power game between China and the US, Russia's stance will be neutral. Russia's statement might be a signpost, meaning that in future China-US competition, Russia will remain neutral to ensure its position is relatively advantageous. Undoubtedly, Russia's stance is made under the premise of aligning with Russia's interests.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1830697391833226/

Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's personal views.