Intelligence ties with China at 'unprecedented' level, says Russian spy chief

MOSCOW

Relations between Russia and China’s intelligence services are at an “unprecedented” level, a top Russian official said on Tuesday.

“We have a lot of interaction, and a large volume of intelligence, operational, and awareness information is exchanged,” Sergey Naryshkin, head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, said at a news conference in Moscow.

On his November meeting with CIA Director William Burns in Türkiye’s capital Ankara, Naryshkin described their discussions as “meaningful.”

“It was a meaningful meeting with the director of the CIA, which lasted about two and a half hours. We managed to say a lot to each other, clarify our positions,” he said.

He said Moscow has also built relations with Iranian intelligence services, adding that there are “prospects” for cooperation with Tehran.

Naryshkin said he periodically speaks with heads of European intelligence agencies, including about Ukraine.

On peace talks with Kyiv, he said Ukraine’s “overseas masters” do not want any progress on that front.

“They say no peace talks, no peace; we have already paid you (Ukraine) tens of billions, invested in you, and we will continue to give money and weapons. Your task is simple; keep waging war,” he said.

Naryshkin said the threat of Ukraine creating a “dirty bomb” still exists, but was largely minimized because Russia exposed it in time.