MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Astana welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping's proposal to hold a peace conference on Ukraine on the condition of equal participation of Moscow and Kiev, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"Sergey Lavrov expressed his gratitude to the Chinese partners for a balanced position on the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, welcomed the proposal of Chinese President Xi Jinping to organize a peace conference on the condition of equal participation of Russia and Ukraine, taking into account the legitimate security interests of Moscow and current realities," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministers discussed the results of Russian President Vladimir Putin's state visit to China. "The Chinese side expressed its gratitude for the choice of the People's Republic of China for the first state visit of the Russian head of state after taking office," the statement said. "The top diplomats pointed to the key importance of high-level contacts for further deepening of comprehensive partnership relations and strategic cooperation between the two countries, discussed in detail the implementation of the agreements reached at the Beijing summit, as well as a number of other issues on the bilateral agenda," the ministry emphasized.
Alliances
Lavrov and Wang Yi exchanged views on the current state and prospects of further development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The top diplomats hailed the collective efforts of the member states to maintain peace and stability in Eurasia, "poinitng to the growing authority of the SCO in world and regional affairs."
They reaffirmed the common intention "to strengthen mutual coordination in the UN and its Security Council, the SCO, BRICS, the G20, APEC and other major international organizations and dialogue mechanisms."
World agenda
The sides discussed a number of "pressing" issues, including the Middle East settlement, the situation in the Red Sea and on the Korean Peninsula. "The need to build a new architecture of Eurasian security against the background of the stagnation of Euro-Atlantic mechanisms was emphasized," the Foreign Ministry said.
In addition, there was an in-depth exchange of views on the situation in the Asia-Pacific region "in the context of the intensification of provocative activities of the United States and its allies to draw individual countries of the Asia-Pacific region into various narrow bloc formats that destroy the ASEAN-centric security system, to deploy destabilizing weapons systems in the region."
The ministers "unanimously condemned the interference of third countries in China’s internal affairs on the Taiwan issue." "In connection with the May 20 inauguration ceremony of Taiwan's so-called ‘president' Lai Ching-te, the Russian foreign minister reiterated Moscow's firm commitment to the 'one China' principle," the ministry said in a statement.