HONG KONG, September 20. /TASS/. The West's attempts to put pressure on China only encourage it to band together with Russia, said Wu Dahui, deputy head of the Russian Research Institute established by St. Petersburg State University and Beijing's Tsinghua University.

The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported that the expert recently visited Donbass and gave an interview to the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Shijie Zhishi magazine (World Affairs), but then the online version was deleted. According to Wu Dahui, China has increasingly been categorized in the international arena as "the non-Western camp" since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine. The expert also noted that it was unlikely China would criticize Russia, given the fact that the common border between the two countries is about 4,300 kilometers.

"This situation leaves Russia and China no choice but to continue to strengthen their strategic cooperation," he said. However, Wu Dahui stressed that Moscow and Beijing's positions on some issues differ. In his opinion, Russia believes that the current system of international relations is dominated by the West, so it should be replaced. Meanwhile, China considers itself one of the main beneficiaries of the current world order.

"Russia believes that the tendencies toward a multipolar world are gaining momentum and that as long as the Russian Federation and the PRC are together, the world will not return to the post-Cold War era of US supremacy," Wu Dahui added.

He emphasized that Russia has a significant influence on the international arena with many African and Middle Eastern countries heavily dependent on Russian food supplies. The expert also pointed out that Russia has one of the world's largest oil and gas reserves. Wu Dahui noted that the crisis in Ukraine has led to significant changes in the international situation and added that he does not expect any serious progress on peace talks between Moscow and Kiev until at least spring 2024.