Foreign Minister Lavrov Calls the West Trying to Play Against Russia and China, Ready to Respond to Hostile Actions Hardly

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov while attending the G20 Summit in Bali. (Twitter/@mfa_russia)

JAKARTA - The West is trying to split relations between Russia and China by talking about their unequal relationship and Moscow's dependence on Beijing, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published Tuesday.

In an interview with the Argumenty i Fakty news website, Foreign Minister Lavrov also said that the European Union's hostile attitude towards Moscow meant that they had "lost" Russia.

Foreign Minister Lavrov said last month's 10-hour talks between Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping had fostered a "strategic partnership" between Moscow and Beijing, beyond the "exclusive bilateral context".

President Putin and Chairman Xi expressed friendship and promised closer ties, including in the military field, during a summit meeting last March 20-21.

"Naturally we have a sense of friendship and readiness to work together to defend each other's fundamental interests," he told Argumenty i Fakty, as quoted by Reuters on March 4.

Previously, China and Russia signed an "unlimited" partnership agreement in early 2022, just weeks before President Putin sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Lavrov further said that allegations of unequal relations between Moscow and Beijing "have been inflated in general by hostile countries" for a long time.

"We see this as an attempt to overshadow our success, to drive a wedge in the friendship between Moscow and Beijing," Foreign Minister Lavrov told the website.

He added that the EU's poor relations with Moscow were a result of EU support for Ukraine, supplying Kyiv with weapons and instructors.

"The European Union has lost Russia. However, it is its own fault. It was the EU member states and EU leaders who publicly stated that it was necessary to deliver, as they call it, a strategic defeat to Russia," said Foreign Minister Lavrov.

"In retaliation for hostile measures, we will act in a harsh manner if necessary, based on Russia's national interests and the principles of reciprocity accepted in diplomatic practice," he stressed.