Russian foreign minister to travel to China on Monday

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is planning to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing next week to discuss several key issues, including the war in Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said on Sunday.

Lavrov is set to visit China on Monday and Tuesday, with the talks also expected to cover the situation in the Asia-Pacific region and bilateral cooperation in the framework of international organizations like the UN, the BRICS group of important emerging economies - meaning Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - and the G20 group of leading industrialized and emerging economies.

Lavrov and Wang last met in October in Beijing, and held talks in Moscow in September.

While Western countries are trying to isolate Moscow in light of Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine, Beijing, outwardly neutral but backing Russia, remains the Kremlin's most important ally. Chinese President Xi Jinping called Putin an "old friend" at a meeting last autumn.

Trade between Russia, which is affected by Western sanctions, and the world's second-largest economy is also flourishing.

China has proposed a peace plan to the war in Ukraine, launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, though on terms Kiev finds itself unable to accept.

Last month, top Ukrainian politicians and officials in Kiev once again appealed for support for a solution to the war at a meeting with Chinese special envoy Li Hui.

Ukraine insists that only President Volodymyr Zelensky's peace plan, which foresees the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from all occupied Ukrainian territories, should be implemented.

Russia denies Zelensky's plan as "unrealistic."