Wang Yi in Russia for security talks
Foreign Minister Wang Yi begins on Monday a four-day trip to Russia after two days of meetings with US President Joe Biden's national security adviser over the weekend in Malta. The Foreign Ministry said Wang will be in Russia from Monday to Thursday for a round of China-Russia strategic security consultations. He will meet the secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Nikolai Patrushev. In an earlier briefing, the Russian foreign ministry said the foreign minister would meet with his counterpart Sergei Lavrov, and the two planned to "focus on efforts to strengthen collaboration on the international scene". "There will be a detailed exchange of views on issues related to a settlement in Ukraine, as well as ways of ensuring stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region," a spokesperson said. Beijing and Moscow are expected to pledge deeper mutual political trust, readying for a possible landmark visit by President Vladimir Putin to Beijing in October. Wang, who's also China's top diplomat, discussed the situation in Ukraine in his weekend meetings with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Both sides described the talks as candid, substantive and constructive as they try to stabilise their rocky relationship and manage differences over security, trade, technology and human rights.  Those talks were the latest in a series of high-level meetings between Chinese and US officials that could lay the foundation for a meeting this year between President Xi Jinping and Biden. (Agencies)