Lavrov holds phone talks with Wang Yi

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov telephoned his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and congratulated him on his appointment as China's Foreign Minister, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

"On August 7, Russian Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov held a telephone conversation with Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), member of the CCP Politburo Wang Yi," the ministry said.

It was noted that the Russian diplomat congratulated his Chinese counterpart on his recent appointment as head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The top diplomats touched upon a number of hot regional topics, including the Ukrainian crisis and the Western bloc’s policy.

"They noted their rejection of the Western bloc’s confrontational policy toward Russia and China, its attempts to contain their development by means of sanctions and other illegitimate methods. They gave a positive assessment of the constructive dialogue and the high level of cooperation between Moscow and Beijing within the United Nations, BRICS, SCO, the G20 and other international structures," the ministry said.