VIENTIANE, September 8. /TASS/. Russia calls against involving third countries in solving the territorial dispute in the South China Sea, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov told reporters on Thursday.

"Our position on the situation in the South China Sea remains unchanged," Morgulov said. Russia considers that "the disputes in the South China Sea should be solved by the direct parties in a format that they believe is acceptable," he said.

"We call for solving all the issues in the South China Sea by peaceful political and diplomatic means, we are against turning it into an international problem - this means the involvement of third countries not parties to the dispute," Morgulov stressed.

He reminded that China and the member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are discussing a code of conduct in the South China Sea. "We expect that the agreements on this code of conduct will be reached and the sides will strictly observe it," the diplomat said, adding that the US also backs this effort of China and the ASEAN countries.