Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday encouraged a senior Chinese military leader to strengthen their nations’ military cooperation by collaborating on cutting-edge defense technologies.
In a televised speech ahead of his meeting with Gen. Zhang Youxia, second-in-command of China’s military, Putin spoke of partnerships regarding ambitious weapons projects.
“I mean space, including high-orbit assets, and new prospective types of weapons that will ensure strategic security of both Russia and the People’s Republic of China,” Putin said without providing specifics.
Beijing announced last year it would have a relationship with “no limits.” Amid international scrutiny, the Xi administration walked back that language.
But the Sino-Russian bond is still strong. Putin earlier projected that Russian-Chinese trade would hit a record high of $200 billion this year. Since the outset of the war in Ukraine, Beijing has been Moscow’s top trade partner, helping to keep Russia’s economy alive despite Western sanctions.
Last week, at a military forum in Beijing, Zhang pledged to “deepen strategic cooperation and coordination with Russia.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu was in attendance and said the Sino-Russian partnership was in “exemplary” shape.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Putin said he plans to extend Russia’s sphere of influence into the Asia-Pacific region with China’s help.
“The U.S. has increasingly drawn the alliance members into inciting tensions in the Asia-Pacific region and tried to create new military-political alliances, including countries of the region, proceeding from its own egoistic interests,” he said.
Russia and China’s response has been “calm and balanced,” Putin said, describing how the two nations have staged joint air force and navy drills to boost their security.
Zhang praised Putin for not caving into pressure from NATO: “The Russian Federation under your leadership is standing firm in the face of Western sanctions, showing that you and Russia won’t be bent by any difficulties.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Zhang met with Shoigu, Russia’s defense minister.
Shoigu emphasized that “[u]nlike certain aggressive Western countries, we are not creating a military bloc.” The Sino-Russian partnership, he said, will “set an example of strategic interaction based on trust and respect.”
“We hold regular operational and combat exercises on land, in the air and at sea, and successfully accomplish combat training missions of various levels of complexity shoulder-to-shoulder,” Shoigu continued. “All those actions do not target third countries and are taken exclusively in each other’s interests.”
Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press.
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