Chinese, Russian FMs stress on primacy of UNSC in conflict-resolution
February 24, 2015, 4:39 am

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi(L) meets with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in New York, the United States, on Feb. 23, 2015 [Xinhua]

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the open debate initiated by China at the UNSC headquarters in New York on Monday.

Wang said “frequent contacts of the two countries’ leaders have ensured that China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership keeps developing at a high level” according to Chinese state-run agency Xinhua.

The two diplomats also reaffirmed that Beijing and Moscow will “maintain high-level exchanges, continue to support each other, and strengthen communication and coordination on significant international and regional hotspot issues”.

Lavrov has warned that the UN faces the risk of being irrelevant, if its fails to “overcome accumulated systemic problems and correct them before it is too late”.

“We believe it is necessary to immediately take decisive measures to reject double standards in world politics, to return the Security Council the role of a leading body on coordination of collective approaches relying upon respect for the cultural and civilizational diversity of the modern world, democratization of international relations,” Lavrov said at the UNSC debate on Monday.

He was echoed by his Chinese counterpart Wang, who argued that no country in the world is entitled to impose its own will on others or to topple legitimate governments of other countries.

“We should make sure that justice, not hegemony, will prevail in the world,” Wang said in an apparent jibe at the US.

“In China’s view, any unilateral move that bypass the Security Council is illegal and illegitimate,” the Chinese Foreign Minister added. “The Security Council needs to take more precautionary measures to forestall conflict and act in a timely manner to stop warfare so as to restore peace and promote reconstruction as early as possible.”

Russia and China have earlier criticized the US air strikes in Syria and Iraq without the express approval of Damascus or a mandate from the UN Security Council.

TBP