Ammon News - Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that his country could make up for China's energy shortages as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is choked by the US-Israeli war with Iran, Russian state media reported Wednesday.

"Russia can, without a doubt, compensate for the shortfall in resources that has arisen" for China and "other countries that are interested in working with us" Lavrov said at a news conference in Beijing in response to a question about the Hormuz blockage.

He also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China in the first half of the year, Moscow's state media reported.

AFP