Putin to hold separate meetings in Vietnam with leaders of China, Vietnam, Japan, Philippines- senior official

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold separate bilateral meetings with the leaders of China, Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on November 10. "There are plans to hold several bilateral meetings [on the sidelines of the APEC leaders’ summit on November 10 between Russian President Vladimir Putin and] Vietnam’s President [Tran Dai Quang,] China’s President Xi Jinping, [Japan’s] Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe and the Philippines’ President [Rodrigo] Duterte," Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov told reporters. He said that Putin regularly meets with the Chinese leader, adding that this time the meeting "will be all the more interesting because Xi Jinping will meet with [US President Donald] Trump today or tomorrow, and the assessments of these negotiations will be very useful to us, of course." The Kremlin representative reported that Putin and Abe will share opinions on the current issues of Russian-Japanese cooperation and international issues, including cooperation between the two countries in the APEC and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, during their meeting. As for the meeting between the Russian and Vietnamese presidents, Ushakov noted, in particular, that a joint statement on cooperation and provision of international information security will be taken after it. The Kremlin official noted that Putin and Duterte are expected to discuss bolstering cooperation in the trade and economic sphere. The leaders will also touch upon current issues on the regional agenda, including within the framework of the Philippines’ chairmanship in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Read more