Nearly a month after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow, his Defense Minister also went on a four-day visit to Russia where he met President Vladimir Putin. According to Chinese media, Minister General Li Shangfu held a key meeting with the Russian premier and the two echoed “closer” cooperation in the defense sector.
This sparked speculation about whether the two would hold any meeting related to the Ukraine peace talks, amid the fact that Xi and Putin held talks earlier last month.
Although there was no mention of any peace talks on Sunday, a statement released by the Kremlin described Xi’s recent visit as “very productive”. The statement claimed that relations between the two countries are developing well in all fields, including military departments.
China ready to strengthen ties with Russian military
“Military cooperation between the countries is one of the most important areas that remarkably reinforces the trusting, strategic nature of the relationship,” Putin was quoted as saying by CNN.
On the other hand, the Chinese minister stressed that the trust between the two militaries has “consolidated rapidly” and the cooperation has yielded “fruitful results”.
Furthermore, Li said Beijing is ready to work collectively with Moscow to strengthen strategic communication between the two militaries. At the same time, Li said that China and Russia will work inclusively to safeguard regional as well as global security.
The visit comes amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan
Notably, China is also acting like Russia in “harassing” its neighboring island nation, Taiwan. It is also believed that the Chinese minister may or will discuss Beijing’s future strategies against Taipei.
Recently, tensions between China and Taiwan have reached a peak after Beijing launched three-day “combat readiness patrols” in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to the United States.
During the so-called exercise, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense claimed that it had detected over 400 Chinese military aircraft and 80 PLN ships around Taiwan during the three-day exercise. In addition, the Chinese military said it was “ready for battle” after completing three days of large-scale maneuvers around Taipei.
the west is still waiting for a breakthrough in the war
Meanwhile, the West, which has supplied Ukraine with lethal weapons in its war against Moscow, has repeatedly pressured China to start peace talks, amid the fact that Beijing recently held talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, In which two long-standing Middle Eastern rivals were reinstated. diplomatic ties.
In fact, German Foreign Minister Annalena Bierbock, during her visit to China, described Xi’s recent visit to Moscow as most influential and said that “only China can broker a settlement between Russia and Ukraine”.
“The way China mediated between Iran and Saudi Arabia, we want China to use that influence to urge Russia to end its war in Ukraine,” Bierbock was quoted as saying by CNN.
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