China’s foreign minister has expressed condolences to his Russian counterpart on the killing of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, calling the assassination a “barbaric act of terrorism.”
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday that China strongly condemns such actions targeting diplomatic personnel and was “resolutely opposed to all kinds of terrorism.”
Wang says China is willing to work with the international community in “resolutely supporting” Russia’s efforts to crack down on terrorism and will boost cooperation with Moscow on this front.
Chinese and Russian leaders have in recent years extolled the blossoming strategic partnership between the former communist rivals, despite a major decline in two-way trade and the failure to materialize a slew of ambitious projects.
The U.N. Security Council is condemning “in the strongest terms” the “terrorist attack” that assassinated Russia’s ambassador to Turkey and is calling for the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors to be brought to justice.
A statement Monday night from the U.N.’s most powerful body reaffirms that all forms of terrorism pose one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. It says “that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.”
The council also expresses “deep condolences” to the family of Ambassador Andrei Karlov and the Russian government.
The council further stresses “the fundamental principle of the inviolability” of diplomats under the 1961 Vienna convention on diplomatic relations and reaffirms the need to combat threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that the meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran will be held Tuesday as planned after the killing of the Russian ambassador to Ankara.
The key meeting about Syria will be held in Moscow a day after Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov, who has been serving in Turkey since 2013, was shot during a speech at a photography exhibition in Ankara. The gunman was later killed by police.
