19 Sep 2017 11:26

Lavrov, Wang discuss Russian, Chinese leaders' participation in upcoming APEC summit

NEW YORK (UN). Sept 19 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the Russian and Chinese leaders' participation in an upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam in November at a meeting on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly.

Lavrov congratulated Wang on the success of a recent BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit held in Xiamen.

"Since we are meeting at the UN headquarters, I will note that the five countries, including the Russian Federation and China, will take advantage of most of the results of the BRICS summit in order to further refine our coordination within the UN. We can speak about it today and also discuss the upcoming contacts of our heads of government and the joint participation of our leaders, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, in the APEC summit in Da Nang," the Russian foreign minister said.

Lavrov also said it had long been agreed that a Russian-Chinese reference book on major international problems would be published.

"It is a serious step toward boosting our foreign policy coordination. When it is published, I suggest that it be sent out to all diplomatic missions of Russia and China abroad," he said.

The Chinese foreign minister, for his part, said that the Chinese and Russian leaders' meeting at the BRICS summit had helped even further enhance cooperation between the two countries. Maintaining contacts, including those between the leaders, is a good tradition, Wang said.