Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday held his first telephone conversation with his new Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, who took over diplomatic leadership from Beijing on December 31, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

“The Russian minister congratulated his Chinese colleague on his recent appointment and wished him success in his new position,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, EFE and Agerpres reported.

Lavrov and former Chinese ambassador to the US Qin condemned the policy of Washington and its allies to impose “hegemony” in the world and provoke “confrontation” with Russia and China.

They also condemned the interference in the internal affairs of these two countries and the West’s attempts to restrain their development through sanctions and other “illegitimate methods.”

“Moscow and Beijing have found an identity of positions on world problems,” the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasizes, adding that Lavrov invited his Chinese counterpart to visit Russia.

At the end of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a video conference with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, after which the Kremlin announced that the Chinese president would visit Russia in the spring.

Relations between Moscow and Beijing are “the best in history and a model of cooperation between great powers of the 21st century,” Putin assessed during the conversation.

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