Putin receives Chinese PM after meeting with White House envoy

O Russian President received today in St. Petersburg the Chinese Prime Minister, after talking three hours with the White House envoy on Ukraine and the possible meeting of the leaders of Russia, the United States and China in November.

“ Our relations do not depend on the international situation nor are they turned against anyone,” Vladimir Putin said to the head of the Chinese Government, Li Qiang, Russian news agencies reported.

The head of the Kremlin highlighted the high level of relations between Moscow and Beijing and ensured that cooperation will continue to expand “in all key areas”.

“ We will continue to broaden the scope of practical cooperation in all key areas. We are working on energy, information technologies, space and nuclear energy for peaceful purposes,” the Russian leader said Interfax.

Putin recalled that during his talks with the Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, fundamental agreements were reached for the development of Russian-Chinese relations, and that its governments are engaging in their implementation.

“I would like to ask you to convey my best wishes to my friend, Chinese President Xi Jinping. We met three times this year and, as we agreed, there is an opportunity to see it again at the APEC summit in November”, he concluded.

The Chinese Prime Minister, in turn, said that good relations between Moscow and Beijing are “a valuable stabilizing factor in a turbulent world”.

“ The Chinese side is prepared, together with the Russian side, to continually deepen mutual trust and to extend mutually beneficial cooperation for our peoples and on the basis of the high-level agreements reached,” he said.

Before the meeting with Putin, Li met in St Petersburg with Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin.

The meeting between the head of the Kremlin and the Chinese High Commissioner is taking place at a time when more and more of a summit is being held between the leaders of Russia, the United States and China in the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.