MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet on Tuesday with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, who arrived in Moscow the day before on a three-day visit. The top diplomats will discuss the prospects of the Ukrainian settlement ahead of contacts between the leaders of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
The face-to-face meeting of the foreign ministers is particularly relevant against the background of the intensified dialogue between Russia and the United States on the Ukrainian settlement, as well as in the context of Putin's proposal to apply the practice of UN external governance to Ukraine. Wang Yi is likely to be briefed on Russia's initiative in this regard, as well as on the results of the Russian-US bilateral consultations. The current meeting will be a prologue to Xi Jinping's already approved visit to Moscow on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Meeting’s agenda
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, one of the priority topics on the agenda of the meeting will be the Ukrainian issue. Another important issue is likely to be strategic stability. The United States has long insisted on the need to include China in its bilateral dialogue with Russia in this sensitive area. Another call to expand the format was recently made by US President Donald Trump in connection with nuclear security issues.
The sides are also expected to address the bilateral agenda. The parties have already noted the "unprecedented high level" of relations.