Lavrov, Kerry to meet in China

Moscow, Nov 7 (IANS/TASS) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet in Beijing, China Saturday at the preparatory events for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

"Lavrov and Kerry are expected to meet as part of preparations for the APEC summit in Beijing Nov 8," a Russian foreign ministry official said Friday.

The Russian and US foreign ministers previously met in Paris Oct 14 to discuss a broad range of issues, including the crisis in Ukraine and Iraq and bilateral relations and humanitarian issues related to the fate of Russian citizens.

Leaders of APEC, a forum of 21 Pacific Rim member economies seeking to encourage free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region, are due to meet in Beijing Nov 10-11.

The Kremlin has not ruled out that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Barack Obama would also meet on the sidelines of the summit.

--IANS/TASS

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