Putin meets top Chinese diplomat in St. Petersburg

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday met China's top diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of the BRICS security summit in St. Petersburg.

In his opening remarks, Putin emphasized that Russia and China stand united in defending the principles of a just and democratic world order, grounded in international law, sovereignty, and equality.

"This approach is also supported by like-minded nations from the Global South, which was evident once again during the recent BRICS summit," he added.

Putin also highlighted the continued success of Russia-China relations across various fields.

"Our bilateral cooperation is progressing smoothly in every direction, from coordination on the international stage to economic, cultural, and humanitarian collaboration. These areas remain central to our agenda and will be key topics in our upcoming discussions with the President of the People's Republic of China during both multilateral and bilateral meetings in Kazan."

Wang, in turn, confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to attend the BRICS summit set for Oct. 22-24 in the Russian city of Kazan.

BRICS, founded in 2009 with Brazil, Russia, India, and China, added South Africa in 2011, expanding its name, formed from the first letters of names of the founder countries, to BRICS. In December 2023, six more countries joined, but despite the expansion, the collective decision was made to preserve the name BRICS.