Xi, Putin agree to boost co-ordination on major issues, including North Korea

BEJING - Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, met here Monday and agreed to further cement bilateral ties and strengthen coordination on the Korean Peninsula and other major issues, accosrding to the State newsagency Xinhua.

“China and Russia are comprehensive strategic partners of co-ordination, and it is quite important for them to intensify communication and co-ordination in dealing with major affairs, said Xi, who had a meeting with Putin in the Kremlin shortly after his arrival in Moscow,” said the Xinhua report.

“The two leaders also exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula and Syria issues. They agreed to jointly push for a proper settlement of the peninsula issue via dialogue and negotiation.

“As for the U.S. deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in South Korea, Xi and Putin said the move concerns the strategic balance in the region. China and Russia, they stressed, are both opposed to installing THAAD in South Korea” www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).