LONDON, January 30. /TASS/. The West’s unfriendly steps against Russia and China are pushing them toward closer bilateral cooperation in various spheres, Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin said in an interview published in The Sunday Times on Sunday.

"I will say that we now have best relationship with China. The best period, probably, in our relations, which was never before. The more pushes we will experience - China is experiencing the same pushes from the NATO allies, especially from the United States. I am sure they are pushing us to be closer," he said.

According to the Russian diplomat, Russia is actively cooperating with the Chinese authorities to implement joint projects in various economic sector, including in the gas sector. "I can say that, in terms of supplying gas and oil to China, China is a very willing partner, because it has a huge market and it needs quite a lot of it [resources]. Believe me, that we may construct much more pipelines to China than to Europe and it will be much more profitable, stable and calmer for us, than dealing with this northern pipeline. Instead of "Nord Stream 2"," he said, adding that China is a "very promising partner.".