US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan concluded meetings his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Sunday in Malta, where they discussed a potential leaders’ meeting and other issues in the relationship, according to a US official.

Wang was recently named foreign minister after Chinese President Xi Jinping surprisingly ousted his predecessor, Qin Gang, who hasn’t been seen in public in weeks.

The meeting comes at a critical time in US-China relations. Wang is scheduled to visit Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this week, while other world leaders and their aides are heading to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Xi and Wang are skipping the UN summit.

President Joe Biden is expected to meet Xi later this year when he hosts an APEC leaders’ summit in San Francisco in November.