DUSHANBE, September 12. /ITAR-TASS/. President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that trilateral meetings between Russia, Mongolia and China would continue.

The first such tripartite meeting, initiated by Mongolia, took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit now underway in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

“We agreed to support this format. Russia suggested holding such trilateral meetings on the sidelines of SCO summits [Mongolia is a SCO observer],” the president said.

“We have many things to discuss in a trilateral format since our geographical closeness can prompt a number of joint projects,” he added.

Putin did not rule out that the level of these meetings could be raised from the heads of ministry departments to deputy ministers.

He said Russia and China had vast opportunities for joint work in such areas as machine-building, aircraft making and military-technical cooperation.

“On the whole, we are pleased by how our relations develop,” he said.