President Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, in Beijing on Sunday. Lavrov is due to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) foreign ministers in China.

“The parties also discussed relations with the US and prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.

“The importance of strengthening close coordination between the two countries in the international arena, including in the United Nations and its Security Council, the SCO, BRICS, the G20 and APEC, was emphasised,” the ministry said.

The close contact between the two countries was to “promote the development and revitalisation of each other, and jointly respond to the challenges brought about by a turbulent and changing world,” China’s foreign ministry said.

Both sides also exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula and the Iranian nuclear issue, China’s foreign ministry said.

China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing, days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. Putin has sometimes described China as an “ally”.

The US casts China as its biggest competitor and Russia as its biggest nation-state threat.