WASHINGTON, October 28. /TASS/. US officials and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi have discussed Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and recent steps by North Korea, a senior US administration official said.

The official made the statement in an online news conference following Wang Yi’s visit to Washington where he held talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, among other members of US administration.

"This discussion took place against the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East, about which the secretary and <…> the foreign minister had frank exchanges. The two sides discussed additional regional and global issues which included Russia's war against Ukraine and the DPRK’s provocative actions. They spoke about additional areas of further potential cooperation, including counternarcotics and climate," the official said. "Director Wang and the secretary also had candid exchanges on a wide range of issues where we have differences of views and perspective. For instance, the secretary raised concerns about PRC human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, as well as individual cases of concern."

Wang Yi also holds the title of China’s director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission.

When asked whether US officials and Wang Yi discussed issues related to Washington’s efforts to restrict cooperation between China and Russia, the official said that the Russian military operation in Ukraine "has been a long standing topic of conversation. Every time Secretary Blinken speaks with the Chinese. And the same was true in the conversations yesterday and today (Thursday and Friday - TASS)."

"I think it would be inappropriate to go into details about the diplomatic conversation themselves because that limits our ability to work," the official went on to say.