The foreign ministers of China and Russia met ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit—scheduled to be held in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, for two days starting on the 18th of next month—to discuss pending issues including "high-level bilateral exchanges."

		0
Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese Foreign Minister, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Baku, Azerbaijan, host of the CICA summit, on the 14th to discuss bilateral issues. / Xinhua News Agency

According to Beijing diplomatic sources knowledgeable about both nations' affairs on the 15th, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs (concurrently director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission), and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met the previous day in Baku, Azerbaijan, host of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit, to exchange views on pressing issues confronting the two countries.

During the meeting, Wang first cited the outcomes of the China-Russia summits held in May and August of this year, stating, "The APEC summit will be held in Shenzhen next month." He added, "With the support of various nations, including Russia, we hope that APEC's 'Year of China' will yield fruitful outcomes. We hope to jointly revive historical progress toward an Asia-Pacific community and inject strong momentum into the development and cooperation of the Asia-Pacific region."

Regarding the CICA summit held after a four-year hiatus, he stated, "China wishes to work closely with member states, including Russia, to practice genuine multilateralism and contribute to improving global governance."

Lavrov responded, "Under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both countries, Russia and China continue to advance bilateral relations and cooperation across various fields. This aligns with the fundamental interests of both nations," adding, "Russia fully supports China in successfully hosting the APEC summit."

He further noted, "Russia and China hold similar stances on international issues. Russia wishes to further enhance cooperation with China under multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, the Group of 20 (G20), APEC, and BRICS mechanisms, and jointly safeguard international fairness and justice."

Prior to this, on the 12th, Wang met in Beijing with Nikolai Patrushev, aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin and chairman of the Russian Maritime Collegium, holding in-depth discussions on international and regional matters of common concern. The latest meeting also took place amid emerging speculation over the possibility of a trilateral summit among the U.S., China, and Russia on the sidelines of the APEC gathering. For this reason, the spark of possibility for a three-way summit at APEC appears to remain very much alive.

                                                                                                           Hong Soon-do