The Chinese defense chief pledged on Tuesday to take military cooperation with Moscow to a new level, a statement that reflected an upswing in Russia-China ties amid fighting in Ukraine. Chinese Defense Minister General Li Shangfu talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu after attending a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Sunday.
“The armed forces of China and Russia will implement the agreements reached by the heads of state and expand military cooperation, military-technical ties and arms trade,” Li said in opening remarks at Tuesday’s meeting with Shoigu. “We will definitely take them to a new level.”
Li’s visit follows a three-day state visit to the Russian capital by Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month, reflecting China’s deepening ties with Russia. Moscow and Beijing have closely aligned their policies in an effort to reshape the world order to reduce the influence of the United States and its Western allies.
China again refuses to criticize Russia for war
China has refused to criticize Russia’s actions in Ukraine and has blamed the US and NATO for prodding Moscow. Xi’s trip to Moscow gave Putin a strong political boost, sending a message to Western leaders that their efforts to isolate Russia had failed. After the talks, Putin and Xi agreed to further strengthen their “strategic cooperation”, develop cooperation in energy, high-tech industries and other areas, and expand the use of their currencies in mutual trade to reduce dependence on the West. issued joint declarations for
Russia’s dependence on China has increased significantly after more than a year of conflict in Ukraine and crushing Western sanctions. Faced with Western sanctions on its oil, gas and other exports, Russia has shifted its energy flows to China and rapidly expanded other exports, resulting in a 30% increase in bilateral trade.
Jinping also promised to develop military cooperation
Last month, Putin and Xi also vowed to further develop military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing and to conduct more joint maritime and air patrols. However, there was no mention of any possible Chinese arms supplies to Russia, prompting fears from the US and other Western allies, and the Chinese foreign minister reaffirmed on Friday that Beijing would not provide arms to either side in the conflict in Ukraine. Will sell
(with inputs from AP)