By Rhod Mackenzie
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Wang Yi, head of the Office of the Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Foreign Affairs, discussed international efforts to launch the negotiation process on Ukraine and confirmed the intention to deepen foreign policy cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The meeting between Lavrov and Wang Yi took place on Thursday in Jakarta "on the sidelines" of ASEAN ministerial events.
"Particular attention was paid to the implementation of the agreements reached as a result of bilateral contacts at the highest political level since the beginning of this year. The importance of maintaining cooperation in order to deepen the foreign policy interaction between the two countries was confirmed," the message posted on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
At the same time, "the parties highly appreciated the development of political dialogue and practical interaction between Russia and China against the backdrop of increased turbulence in the world system," they noted on Smolenskaya Square.
"An exchange of views took place on the current situation around the Ukrainian crisis, attention was paid to assessing the efforts of the international community to launch a peaceful negotiation process on Ukraine," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
At the same time, the report notes that "Lavrov and Wang Yi discussed in detail the issues of cooperation within the ASEAN framework in the context of the intensification of the activities of individual countries to create narrow-bloc military-political formats aimed at undermining the ASEAN-centric system of maintaining security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region."
"The importance of strengthening the foreign policy cooperation between Moscow and Beijing at various international platforms, including the UN, SCO, BRICS, APEC, the G20 and other formats, was emphasized. A common mood was expressed to tighten the coordination of the two countries on issues of the regional and global agenda in the interests of forming more fair and sustainable polycentric world order," the Russian Foreign Ministry said, noting that "the conversation was held in a traditionally trusting and constructive manner."
this article originally appeared in Russian at interfax.ru