MUNICH, Germany — Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, met on Saturday in what was the first face-to-face engagement by the two powers since the United States shot down China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon off the South Carolina coast, the State Department said Saturday.

The meeting occurred on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference, where leaders from across the globe have gathered to discuss key geopolitical challenges including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s contentious engagement with the West.

During the meeting, the two diplomats discussed a range of issues, including Chinese surveillance and the country’s alliance with Moscow — topics that have brought diplomatic relations between Beijing and Washington to new lows.

“The secretary made clear the United States will not stand for any violation of our sovereignty," said State Department spokesman Ned Price, noting that the top U.S. diplomat assailed China’s balloon incursion as an “irresponsible act must never again occur."

Blinken also reiterated to Wang comments he had made publicly about Beijing’s alleged balloon surveillance program, saying it has “intruded into the air space of over 40 countries across 5 continents [and] has been exposed to the world,” Price said.

The viewpoint of China is looming particularly large at the traditionally Eurocentric conference given the surprise announcement that Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning to deliver a “peace speech” on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

China will lay out its position on resolving the Ukraine conflict in a document underscoring that countries’ territorial integrity must not be violated, said Wang, who spoke on a panel at the conference on Saturday.

Wang said world powers need to start thinking “about what kind of efforts we can make to stop this war" and underscored that “nuclear wars must not be fought.”

Wang was much more critical in describing the United States’ handling of the balloon incident, saying the Biden administration’s actions were “absurd and hysterical."

“We asked the United States to handle it calmly and professionally based on consultation with the Chinese side,” he said. “Regrettably, the United States disregarded these facts and used advanced fighter jets and downed a balloon with its missiles.”

Blinken, who spoke during a separate panel, said it was a top priority of the United States that China not provide any military aid to Russia, a development it would consider a “very serious problem"