Strengthening cooperation between China and Russia

China sent a powerful signal to Washington and Moscow with the visit to the Russian capital of the highest-ranking foreign policy figure of the Communist Party of China, Wang Yi, on the eve of the anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine.

The diplomat was warmly received by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who noted the common strategic interest of the two countries – to stand together on the world stage:

“International relations today are complex, they have not improved after the collapse of the bipolar system. On the contrary, they have become aggravated. In this regard, cooperation in the international arena between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation, as we have repeatedly stressed, is very important for stabilizing the international situation” .

At the same time, China defiantly refused to criticize the invasion of Ukraine, repeating Moscow’s statement that the US and NATO were to blame for the Kremlin’s provocation. The distinguished visitor hinted that this would not happen under US pressure:

“The China-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is in no way aimed at any third party, and certainly will not be affected by interference and provocations from any third party. We will not succumb to any coercion and pressure from any third party “.

Beijing also criticized the sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

The growing military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow was evidenced by their joint naval exercises in South Africa. The United States fears that China is ready to go further and supply the Kremlin with weapons for the war in Ukraine. So far, however, Beijing continues to deny the existence of such plans and, in turn, condemns Washington for supplying weapons to Ukraine. Edition Global Times writes:

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang Yi’s visit to Russia has two main goals: first, the focus is on developing Sino-Russian relations in the next stage; secondly, holding an in-depth exchange of views on topical international and regional issues of mutual interest. In the face of an increasingly fragile and unbalanced international security situation, with two major powers side by side, the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations is beneficial to world peace.

Meanwhile, the Joe Biden administration is considering releasing intelligence that suggests China is weighing whether to supply Russia with weapons for the war against Ukraine, writes Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous White House sources.

According to the WSJ interlocutors, China has so far behaved cautiously, mainly limiting itself to buying oil from the Russian Federation, but now the Chinese leadership is considering whether to abandon this approach. According to US and allied intelligence, there is much less uncertainty about how China can help Russia, the newspaper writes. However, according to intelligence estimates, Beijing has not yet made a decision on the supply of weapons to the Russian Federation.

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