(Reuters) – Russia’s Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev will hold talks on Monday with Chen Wenqing, a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo who oversees police, legal affairs and intelligence, Russian state news RIA reported.
This would be Patrushev’s first meeting with Chen Wenqing, RIA reported. In October, Chen Wenqing was appointed party secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, China’s top security post that oversees police, judges and spies.
Patrushev, the former head of the FSB’s internal security service, is widely seen as one of the most aggressive members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
While the bilateral security talks are an annual event, Russia and China have moved to further strengthen their economic, political and military ties since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
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(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Chris Reese)
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