MOSCOW, August 3. /TASS/. Russia has no grounds to refuse to help China is case of an armed conflict in Taiwan, if such help is requested, a senior Russian lawmaker said on Tuesday.

"I see no grounds to refuse to help China, but I would like to see a two-way movement with China. It means that we should have some benefits from this cooperation," Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy chairman of the international committee of Russia’s Federation Counil, or upper parliament house, said in an interview with the Solovyov Live television channel.

"In principle, there is nothing impossible. We understand that sometimes it is a game of chance and a conflict may grow into a big war. But I think that China is behaving very cautiously in this sense, in a very restrained manner, but continues to build up its defense potential. I am convinced that in this case China hopes for a certain assistance from Russia," he said, when asked about risks of an armed conflict in Taiwan.

According to Dzhabarov, after the visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, China is likely to realize that it should continue to move closer to Russia. "Because it will be difficult for China to confront the United States without Russia’s support," he added.

Pelosi’s visit It is the first visit by such a high-ranking US official to the island in the past 25 years. Beijing has repeatedly warned the US side that such a move would not be left unanswered and that tough measures would be taken.