TASHKENT, July 15. /TASS/. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi suggested discussing the current regional situation at a meeting with Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov in Tashkent on Thursday on the sidelines of the high-level international conference "Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities."
"I am ready to exchange views with you, compare our approaches to the current situation in our region, and reach new agreements," he noted.
According to the top Chinese diplomat, the meeting on the sidelines of the conference on the eve of the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation between the two countries "indicates the intensity of strategic interaction."
"Our leaders decided to extend the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation. They adopted a joint statement on that score. That document summarized the experience of our twenty-year development. <…> Our leaders defined new prospects for our relations, and we are ready, together with our Russian counterparts, relying on the spirit of that great treaty and the joint statement by our leaders, to adamantly deepen our comprehensive strategic interaction, plan and promote our practical cooperation," he stressed.
The Russian-Chinese Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation was signed on July 16, 2001, by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin. On June 28, it was announced after talks by video between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping that the treaty would be extended for five years.