Foreign Ministers of Russia, China sign Plan of Consultations for 2024

The two leaders signed the plan of consultations after their meeting in Beijing.

In a post on X, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated, "Following talks in Beijing, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi signed the Plan of Consultations between the Foreign Ministries of Russia and China for 2024."

Addressing a joint press conference with Wang Yi following the talks, Lavrov said that they have signed the next plan of inter-Ministry of Foreign Affairs consultations for 2024, and briefly touched upon certain issues of intergovernmental cooperation in practical areas, according to the transcript of the remarks released by Russian Foreign Ministry.

In a joint press conference, Lavrov said, "We talked about contacts through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In your presence, we just signed the next plan of inter-Ministry of Foreign Affairs consultations for 2024, and briefly touched upon certain issues of intergovernmental cooperation in practical areas."

"This set of tasks will be considered more substantively during the upcoming five intergovernmental commissions this year, headed by deputy prime ministers in preparation for the next regular meeting of heads of government," he added.

He noted that the issues that the two leaders are addressing are in the economics, trade, and investment sectors, as per the transcript of the remarks released by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Lavrov said that he and Wang Yi during the meeting talked about the upcoming 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between two nations. He stated that they have agreed to prepare a series of events for to mark this anniversary.

Lavrov said, "The issues that we are addressing in the field of economics, trade, investment, and the introduction of new technologies directly relate to the struggle for the establishment of a fair multipolar world order, where there is no place for dictatorship, hegemony, neocolonial and colonial practices, which are now being widely used by the United States and the rest of the "collective West." unquestioningly submitting to the will of Washington."

Lavrov said he and Wang Yi discussed coordinating actions of China and Russia in the international arena, based on a broad convergence of interests and approaches to key international problems. He announced that they spoke on cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). They also held talks on Middle East settlement and the situation in the Gaza Strip.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Lavrov said that the presidential elections in Russia took place under conditions of severe external pressure from the West and a surge in terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime.

He noted that shelling of Russian cities has become more frequent, leading to civilian casualties, according to the transcript of his remarks released by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Lavrov said that hackers made numerous attempts to hack Russia's election system. However, the voting was successful and nothing prevented the free and recorded expression of the will of Russian voters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in China on Monday for an official visit at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Global Times reported. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that Lavrov will be on an official visit to China from April 8-9.

While addressing a regular press conference on Monday, Mao said that the two sides will exchange views and coordinate stances on the development of bilateral ties, cooperation in different fields and the international issues of shared common concern on the sidelines of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of China-Russia diplomatic ties. (ANI)