Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has invoked the spectre of the Cold War, branding Russia and China’s relationship the “new East.”
In an interview, Lavrov said Russia was turning away from the West in response to sanctions from developed countries.
“We are working with the East,” Lavrov told Russia’s NTV in St. Petersburg. “Like we used to in the past, we are expanding our contacts with it, as before. These contacts are expanding in absolute terms, and Europe is no longer our priority, in relative terms.”
Since the beginning of the year Russia has worked to expand its economic ties with China. On June 20, Reuters reported that Russian crude oil exports to China skyrocketed 55 percent to nearly 8.42 million tonnes, a substantial increase on May 2021 levels, according to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs….