On April 21, 2017, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was paying an official visit to Kazakhstan at invitation and attending the Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia in Astana.
Wang Yi said that China and Russia have kept close coordination and cooperation in international and regional issues. On the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) held on April 20, the Chinese side showed its support for reasonable proposals initiated by the Russian side on the investigation related to the issue of chemical weapons in Syria. Meanwhile, in the discussion of the President's press statement of the UN Security Council on the missile launched by Democratic People's Republic of Korea, China and Russia have insisted on the settled direction of a peaceful resolution through dialogues. Facing the complex and volatile international situation, China and Russia should further strengthen strategic cooperation and continue to play the constructive role in safeguarding the international peace, stability and the political settlement of hotspot issues.
Wang Yi expressed that China-Russia relationship maintains a sound momentum. During this period, the two countries carried out close high-level exchanges, and constantly advanced and deepened cooperation in various fields, which embodies the high level of China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination. Now the top priority for both sides is to proactively well prepare for President Vladimir Putin's attendance at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in China next month and inject new impetus into the development of the relationship between the two countries.
Sergey Lavrov said that Russia and China shoulder special responsibilities in safeguarding the international peace and stability, prohibiting the dominance of hegemonism and unilateralism in the settlement of the international crisis. The two sides maintain coordination and cooperation in the UN Security Council, the OPCW and other international organizations, which reflects the importance of Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination. Russia is ready to continuously strengthen high-level exchanges with China. President Vladimir Putin will visit China for the BRF next month. Russia expects to take this as an opportunity to promote the alignment of Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk Road Economic Belt and push forward the construction of Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.
The two sides also exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, agreeing that the current development of the Korean Peninsula situation has entered into a key stage. The two sides pledged to enhance communication and coordination and work together to manage the situation and prevent it from getting riskier. The two sides agreed that the plans to resume talks of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issues proposed by China and Russia are consistent and similar, and both sides are willing to further refine and promote them.
The two sides also exchanged views on the Syrian issues, the SCO and other issues of common concern.