SCO to become platform for conjoining Russian, Chinese development strategies: Russian FM

Russia supports the idea of using the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as the platform for conjoining Russian and Chinese development strategies, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday here.

The SCO acts as the ideal platform for aligning China's Silk Road Economic Road initiative with the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) development strategy, he said.

Lavrov made the remarks at a press conference held on the sidelines of the 15th meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council and the 7th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit.

When answering questions raised by Xinhua, Lavrov noted that SCO members hope the conjunction of their development strategies would help increase pragmatic cooperation projects at multilateral levels and thus benefit other countries.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, agreed during Xi's visit to Moscow in early May to link each other's economic development initiatives, while the SCO is expected to play a key role in establishing such a partnership.

"Besides Russia and China, the conjoining project would also involve other countries," Lavrov said. "The other EEU countries are studying the initiative raised jointly by Russia and China."

According to the minister, the implementation of cooperation projects would help deepen the relationship between China and the EEU. Endi