China, Russia pledge to strengthen military cooperation

BEIJING: The Chinese and Russian defence ministers pledged on Monday to deepen cooperation between their two countries´ militaries as they met in Beijing.

Moscow and Beijing have forged closer ties since Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022, an alliance that has drawn anxiety in the West as both countries seek to expand their global influence.

China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership shortly before Moscow launched its attack on Ukraine and have carried out a series of military drills together since.

Chinese defence minister Dong Jun met Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov in Beijing on Monday and called for the two sides to “deepen strategic collaboration” and “continuously advance military relations”. “Under the strong leadership of President Xi Jinping and President (Vladimir) Putin, China-Russia relations have reached an all-time high... serving as a model for major power relations,” Dong said, according to Beijing´s defence ministry. Belousov, in turn, said that “friendly relations” between their two leaders “play a key role in strengthening strategic ties”, according to Russian news agencies.