Report: Russia moves to expand ties with China

On Monday, a top Russian security official during his visit to China announced Kremlin considers strengthening the partnership and cooperation between Moscow and Beijing a top priority. This comes days after the leaders of the two countries Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the SCO Summit.

Russia’s secretary of the national Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, is currently in Nanping, a city in China, where he described “strengthening of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation with Beijing as an unconditional priority of Russia’s foreign policy.” While the council is personally chaired by the Russian president, Patrushev is reportedly one of Putin’s closest associates.

These remarks were made during a meeting with the Chinese Communist Party’s top official, Guo Shengkun, where he also said that given the current conditions, “our countries must show even greater readiness for mutual support and development of cooperation.”

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According to the secretary of the security council’s office, both countries have reportedly decided to expand on “exchanging information on countering extremism” and “foreign attempts to undermine constitutional order of both countries.” Reports also suggest that officials from Moscow and Beijing have stressed the need for cybersecurity.

ALSO WATCH: China, Russia forge stronger ties at the SCO summit

This meeting comes after the Chinese and Russian presidents met at the SCO Summit in Uzbekistan last week. Notably, this was the first time the two leaders were meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine, in February. According to a statement released by the Chinese government after the meeting, which did not mention Ukraine but went on to indicate that Beijing promised a “strong support” for Moscow’s “core interests.”

On the other hand, there were no specifics mentioned by Xi’s government which prior to the invasion said there were “no-limits” on its friendship with Moscow and has refused to criticise Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Putin praised Xi for his “balanced” approach to the conflict in Ukraine and was ready to discuss China’s concerns about the same.

(With inputs from agencies)