MOSCOW: A top Russian security official declared on a visit to China that the Kremlin considers beefing up ties with Beijing as a top policy goal.

Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the national Security Council chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, described the “strengthening of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation with Beijing as an unconditional priority of Russia’s foreign policy”.

Patrushev is one of Putin’s closest associates.

Speaking during a meeting on Monday with Guo Shengkun, a top official of China’s Communist Party, he said “in the current conditions, our countries must show even greater readiness for mutual support and development of cooperation”.

Patrushev’s office said in a terse statement after the talks in the Chinese city of Nanping that the parties agreed to “expand information exchanges on countering extremism and foreign attempts to undermine the constitutional order of both countries in order to derail independent policies of Russia and China serving their national interests”.

The Chinese and Russian officials also emphasised a need to expand cooperation on cybersecurity and strengthen contacts between their law enforcement agencies on fighting terrorism.

The statement did not offer any further details of prospective cooperation.

Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week in Uzbekistan, their first encounter since the Russian leader sent troops into Ukraine in late February.

A Chinese government statement issued after the meeting did not specifically mention Ukraine but said Xi promised “strong support” for Russia’s “core interests”.

Beijing uses “core interests” to describe issues such as national sovereignty and the ruling Communist Party’s claim to Taiwan, over which it is willing to go to war.

Xi’s government, which said it had a “no-limits” friendship with Moscow before the Feb 24 invasion of Ukraine, has refused to criticise Russia’s military actions.

Xi and Putin met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, an alliance created as a counterweight to US influence that also includes India, Pakistan and four ex-Soviet nations.

 - AP