Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that Moscow is not establishing a military alliance with Beijing. In response to a question by "Russia-24" channel whether the cooperation between Moscow and Beijing is a threat to the West, Putin stressed that Russia does not threaten any country, and said that these allegations do not correspond at all to reality. He added that Russia does not form any military alliance with China, but rather has cooperation in the military and technical field, pointing out that his country follows the approach of transparency, that it has no secrets.
The Russian President's statements came in response to concerns raised by Western countries about the recent developments in relations between China and Russia. For quite some time now, relations between the two countries have been converging on a number of files.
Although Beijing did not explicitly support Moscow's military campaign against its western neighbor, Ukraine, it did not criticize the Kremlin in any way, but more than once held NATO responsible for provoking Russia.
It is noteworthy that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a strategic partnership in Moscow a few days ago, aimed at countering US influence, and said that there would be no prohibited areas of cooperation.
The Sino-Russian rapprochement comes at a time of escalating tension between Washington and Moscow on the one hand, and Beijing on the other, as the war waged by Russia against Ukraine prompted Washington to impose thousands of sanctions on Moscow, prompting the latter to move further towards the Chinese embrace.
In turn, Beijing previously criticized what it described as unilateralism, calling for a new international order based on dialogue and cooperation, in criticism of US policy.
Okaz (Moscow) @okaz_online