INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Beijing and Moscow advanced a vision of a new world order Wednesday as Russia's foreign minister made his first visit to key ally China
since the invasion of Ukraine.Sergei Lavrov landed in the eastern city of Huangshan early Wednesday for a series of meetings about the
future of Afghanistan.But Russia's bloody assault on Ukraine is likely to loom large over proceedings.Beijing has refused to condemn the
invasion and has provided a level of diplomatic cover for an increasingly isolated Russia.United States officials have accused China of
signaling "willingness" to provide military and economic aid to Russia, while President Joe Biden has compared the invasion of Ukraine to
China's crushing of protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.But on Wednesday, Lavrov painted a picture of a new world order, saying the world
was "living through a very serious stage in the history of international relations.""We, together with you, and with our sympathizers will
move towards a multipolar, just, democratic world order," Lavrov said in a video released by the Russian Foreign Ministry ahead of a meeting
reporters that Moscow and Beijing will continue efforts in "advancing global multipolarity and the democratisation of international
relations."Wang added that "China-Russia cooperation has no limits," repeating a line used by President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese
counterpart Xi Jinping to characterise ties."Our striving for peace has no limits, our upholding of security has no limits, our opposition
towards hegemony has no limits," Wang said.Lavrov will attend a series of meetings hosted by China to discuss ways to help Afghanistan, with
with Afghanistan, but Beijing has long feared its neighbor could become a staging point for Muslim Uyghur separatists from Xinjiang.The
meetings follow a visit by Wang last week to Kabul, his first trip to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power.China and Russia have
become closer in recent years, with Putin notably attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics last month only days before
the invasion of Ukraine.The strongman leader and China's Xi signed energy deals worth billions of dollars during Putin's trip.
