While meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, President Jiang expressed his satisfaction with Ivanov's talks with Vice-President Hu Jintao and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on Thursday.

President Jiang said China and Russia had formed a strategic partnership of cooperation and signed the Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, which he described as the two magic weapons of Sino-Russian ties.

The bilateral relationship between China and Russia would surely develop, Jiang added, provided the two nations took a tight hold of these two magic weapons.

During Russian President Vladimir Putin's China visit in December last year, he recalled, both sides had summed up the valuable experience on the all-round growth of Sino-Russian relationship and formulated a strategic plan for future development, he noted.

It was a necessity for the both sides to increase bilateral cooperation in various fields, in the face of the volatile international situation.

Jiang also expressed the hope that China and Russia implement the cooperative agreements in effectively and a down-to-earth way, and take steps to expand bilateral trade and economic cooperation, especially in fields like energy.

On the Iraq issue, President Jiang reiterated that Iraq should cooperate with the United Nations weapons inspectors positively and earnestly.

The Iraq issue should be resolved politically in which the United Nations should play an essential role, Jiang added.

On the nuclear issue in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Jiang said, China held that peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula should be safeguarded and the peninsula should be nuclear-free. China also held that the problem should be resolved peacefully through dialogue, and direct dialogue between the DPRK and the United States would be the effective means.

Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov gave a very positive and high appraisal of bilateral cooperation, saying that the Russia-China strategic and cooperative partnership had scaled new heights over recent years, and the good-neighborly treaty of cooperation signed between both heads of state had laid a solid foundation for the long-term growth of bilateral relations.

The Russian side highly valued President Jiang's personal contribution to the development of Russia-China ties, he said.

At present, the foreign minister noted, the two nations should work harder still to expand relations in all spheres, and should exert themselves to substantiate their ties.

In the current circumstances, it was in the interests of both sides and conducive to international stability for the two countries to maintain close ties and work for a new international order and a multipolarized world, he said.

Moreover, Ivanov said that his substantial talks with Vice-President Hu and meeting with Foreign Minister Tang were fruitful.

(People?s Daily February 28, 2003)