MOSCOW. April 1 (Interfax) - Russia and China are not planning to respond jointly to Western sanctions and do not need to establish a military union like NATO, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"We aren't plotting any particular schemes in response to what is being done to us, and we won't be making such plans. I don't think we'll coordinate our response to the sanctions hijinks undertaken in regard to China and Russia," Lavrov said in an interview with the Bolshaya Igra program aired on Channel One.
As to the possibility of forming a military union between Russia and China, the minister referred to an earlier joint document concluded at the summit level, which "underscores that our relations are not a military union, and we are not pursuing this goal."
"We view NATO as a classic example of a military union; we don't need that kind of union," Lavrov said.
NATO belongs to the unions of the Cold War era, Lavrov said, adding he would prefer "to think in categories of the modern era of emerging multi-polarity."
"In this sense, our relations with China are completely different from relations in a classic military union. They may even be closer in a certain sense," Lavrov said.
The level of cooperation between Russia and China "continues its qualitative growth," and another document is being prepared for signing by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the treaty of neighborliness, friendship and cooperation, Lavrov said. "Our strategic treaty will be extended," he said.