Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov has accused the West of attempting to turn Ukraine into “a second Afghanistan” amid Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine.

At a Wednesday meeting in China with his Pakistani counterpart Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Lavrov said, “Those who tried to make Afghanistan the center of world politics are now trying to replace Afghanistan with Ukraine."

Lavrov's statements come ahead of the summit on Afghanistan, which will occur in China on Thursday and will be attended by Russia, China, the US, and Pakistan.

In the meeting, Lavrov told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that the world is today going through “a very serious stage in the history of international relations,” adding that Moscow, Beijing, and their “sympathizers” will move together toward “a multipolar, fair, democratic” new world order.

In the meantime, China still adopts a ‘neutral’ position regarding the Ukrainian conflict.

Read more: Lavrov: Ukraine's neutral status discussed in talks

Read more: China maintains independent, objective stance on Ukraine