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Russian, Chinese prime ministers may sign nuclear cooperation deal

"We started cooperating with China in nuclear energy long before these sanctions collisions," Prikhodko said

MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang are expected to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement at their meeting in St. Petersburg on November 7, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko told reporters on Saturday.

Prikhodko, who is also the cabinet’s chief of the staff, told reporters the document was "in the final stage of drafting" and that this agreement between Russia and China did not have any relation to the suspension of nuclear cooperation between Russia and the United States, in particular the suspension of weapons-grade plutonium disposal nuclear agreement.

"We started cooperating with China in nuclear energy long before these sanctions collisions," he said. "It (the future joint statement) will just summarize and open new prospects for the partnership (between Moscow and Beijing) in this sector and also will actualize some projects. So it has no relation to the US or Europeans."

The Russian and Chinese heads of government are due to hold talks in the Russian second largest city on November 7 both in a narrow and expanded (with delegations) formats and to sign some agreements. On November 6, Dmitry Medvedev and Li Keqiang are expected to visit the Hermitage museum and have an informal dinner.

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