Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visits Beijing to highlight ties with key diplomatic partner WHIO TV 7 and WHIO Radio [Video]

BEIJING — (AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Beijing Monday to display the strength of ties with close diplomatic partner China amid Moscow’s grinding war against Ukraine and an ongoing effort to align their foreign policies against the U.S. and its allies.

The two continent-sized authoritarian states, increasingly in dispute with democracies and NATO, seek to gain influence in Africa, the Middle East and South America. China has backed Russia’s claim that President Vladimir Putin launched his assault in 2022 because of Western provocations, without producing any solid evidence.

Russian state news agency Tass said the ministers would “discuss the situation in Ukraine and the Asia-Pacific region, issues of bilateral cooperation and interaction in the international arena,” quoting Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

Zakharova posted a photo on social media site Telegram showing Lavrov meeting with counterpart Wang Yi but gave no information of the content of their discussions. China’s Foreign Ministry and state media had no …