Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with the leaders of China, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines and Peru on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima on Nov.19.
The series of bilateral meetings will start with talks with the Vietnamese leader, Tran Dai Quang, whose country will assume the rotating APEC presidency next year.
"This meeting is important first of all because it is the first contact of the two states’ leaders, but it is also worth noting that Vietnam will assume the APEC presidency next year and host the next summit in 2017," presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said.
The two leaders will also discuss opportunities to boost bilateral trade following the creation of the free trade zone between members of the Eurasian Economic Union and Vietnam. Military cooperation and nuclear energy will also be up for discussion.
The meeting will be followed by talks with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. It will also be their first-ever meetings with Putin.
Ushakov said the meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping will be "traditional," because the leaders of Russia and China meet on the sidelines of every international forum. It will be their fifth meeting this year.
During the meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the two leaders will discuss the agenda of Putin’s upcoming visit to Japan due December 15-16 and other issues.