Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov noted in an article published in a local weekly on June 11: the Asia-Pacific region is a priority area for Russia's foreign activities, and "the Russia-China Good-neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation" signed last year has laid a solid foundation for the development of multi-faceted, long-term cooperation between the two countries.
In its foreign activities in the Asia-Pacific region, Russia gives primary consideration to the interests of Siberia and the Far East, said Ivanov. He went on to say that China is one of Russia's main trade partners, with bilateral trade volume reaching a record level last year. The two countries had reached an agreement on the plan of laying an oil pipeline leading from Russia to China.
Ivanov indicated that the Russian government has lately carried out a series of important diplomatic activities in order to implement the foreign policies made by Russian President Putin two years ago and safeguard Russia's national interests. Although people have different views on globalization, one point, however, is indisputable, that is, globalization has deepened interdependence and internationalization of modern social life in the world.
Ivanov also pointed out that Russian and US leaders have reached consensus that existing bilateral problems should be resolved through dialogs. On this basis, substantive progress has been achieved in Russia-US relations.
(People's Daily June 14, 2002)
