Secretary of the Security Council of Russia and former Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu will visit China, Reuters reported, citing pro-Kremlin media. Shoigu is scheduled to meet high-ranking officials during his three-day visit.
Sergei Shoigu is to stay in China on November 11-14. He will meet, among others, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other high-ranking officials, the Russian state agency RIA Novosti reported on Sunday, cited by Reuters.
The Interfax agency reported, in turn, that Shoigu will hold consultations on “strategic security” matters with a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the head of the office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the CPC, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Yi, during which it is planned to discuss current international and regional security problems, as well as a wide range of bilateral cooperation issues.
Shoigu last met with the head of Chinese diplomacy in September this year in St. Petersburg. Also in September, the BBC's Russian section wrote about the Secretary of the Security Council's “tour” to Kremlin-friendly countries: North Korea, Syria and Iran.
Sergei Shoigu SERGEI SAVOSTYANOV / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL
Resignation and new position
President Russia Vladimir Putin he dismissed Sergei Shoigu from the post of head of the Ministry of Defense in May this year, at the same time appointing him secretary of the Security Council. Before this happened, there were reports in independent Russian media that Shoigu might leave office due to the lack of success on the Ukrainian front.
Shoigu was considered a close and long-time associate of Putin. He was Minister of Defense from 2012. Just before his resignation Deputy Minister of Defense Timur Ivanov was arrested (on charges of accepting bribes)..
Main photo source: SERGEI SAVOSTYANOV / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL