国内英语新闻:Belt & Road cooperation to strengthen Russia-China ties: Russian parliament leader

MOSCOW, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Russia-China cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative will accelerate the development of bilateral relations and lead to global changes in Eurasia, said a Russian parliament leader Monday.

Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the Federation Council, or the upper house of the Russian parliament, made the remarks at the third international conference "Russia-China: Taking on a New Quality of Bilateral Relations."

"The modern world is going through difficult times ... we have only one way -- to jointly build our future on the basis of justice, equality, respect for national sovereignty, norms of international law and UN principles," Matviyenko said.

This approach shared by Russia and China and supported by an increasing number of other countries represents a "solid foundation for mutual understanding and cooperation both in the international arena and in bilateral relations," she added.

The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China in 2013 consists of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. It aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

Speaking at the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation earlier this month in Beijing, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country has supported the initiative from the very beginning.

He called the Belt and Road Initiative an example of cooperation in such fields as infrastructure, transport and industry.