Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Prime Minister, what recent discussions she has had with her Russian counterpart on the treatment of political prisoners in that country.

While I met President Putin at this G20, my last substantive bilateral with him was at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China where we discussed a range of international and domestic issues. In our bilateral relationship with Russia we regularly raise our concerns with Russia that political freedoms in that country are becoming increasingly constrained. The interests of the Russian people and the stability of the Russian state would be best served by a political system based on strong institutions, together with a safe political space for dissenting views to be heard, and free and fair elections.