MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/. A meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping is due next month, China’s ambassador in Moscow Zhang Hanhui told the media on Friday.

"A meeting between our leaders is due soon, in November, on the sidelines of the BRICS or APEC summit. I believe they will exchange opinion on the whole range of relations," he said.

Zhang recalled that Russia would host a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization next year. "We will support our Russian counterparts in organizing the summit. We will jointly draft all documents to guarantee the summit’s success. We believe that the summit will be very important," the diplomat stated.

A BRICS summit will be held in Brazil on November 13-14 and an APEC summit — in Chile on November 16-17.

Collaboration on Afghan settlement

China supports Russia’s efforts aimed at resolving the Afghan crisis and will provide assistance to Russia in that process, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui told reporters on Friday.

"We have already received an invitation [to the talks between the Russian, US, Chinese and Pakistani special envoys for Afghanistan in Moscow]. I believe that such consultations are very important. I would like to note Russia’s important role in resolving the Afghan issue," the diplomat said. "We will work together with Russia and support the work of our Russian counterparts."

On September 30, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan and Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department Zamir Kabulov reported that the Russian, US, Chinese and Pakistani envoys for Afghanistan would hold talks in Moscow in October.