OREANDA-NEWS. July 8, 2009. A telephone conversation between Russian Federation Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi took place at the Chinese side’s initiative.

The PRC Minister of Foreign Affairs briefed on developments in Urumqi, the administrative center of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of the PRC, where riots had taken place entailing casualties.

Sergey Lavrov expressed sympathy to the kith and kin of those killed or injured in the violence caused by the instigators of the clashes. The head of the Russian foreign affairs agency stressed that the Russian side regards Xinjiang as an integral part of China and what is happening there as a purely internal matter of the PRC. Hope was expressed that the actions being undertaken by the Chinese authorities within the law would help normalize the situation in that area very soon.

The sides also discussed topical bilateral and international issues, particularly the preparations for the events to be held in the framework of a G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy, and a G8 dialogue with leaders of major developing countries.