Moscow to hold Russia-China security talks, RIA reports

Illustrative photo — Cars drive past the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in central Moscow, Russia, November 10, 2015. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo

(Reuters) - The head of Russia's Security Council Nikolai Patrushev will hold talks on Monday with Chen Wenqing, member of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo who oversees police, legal affairs and intelligence, the Russian RIA state news reported.

This would be Patrushev's first meeting with Chen Wenqing, RIA reported. In October, Chen Wenqing was named the party secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, China's top security post with oversight of the police, judges and spies.

Patrushev, a former chief of the FSB internal security service, is widely seen as one of the most hawkish 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 into Ukraine in February 2022.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Chris Reese)