ALBAWABA - At a meeting that took place in Beijing on Monday, the Chinese and Russian defense ministers made a commitment to further strengthen the collaboration between the military of their respective nations, further solidifying a strategic alliance that has raised concerns in the West, AFP reports.
As a continuation of the "no limits" alliance that was established by their respective leaders, President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin, just before the conflict in Ukraine started in 2022, the defense ministers made a commitment to boost their level of engagement in subjects pertaining to military.
Although China has remained neutral in the situation in Ukraine, NATO countries have criticized Beijing as a "decisive enabler" of the conflict due to its strong political and economic links to Russia. However, China still maintains that, in contrast to the United States and its allies, it is not giving deadly assistance to any side of the conflict, according to AFP.
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun underlined that the relationship between China and Russia has reached "an all-time high," acting as a template for power dynamics throughout the world, as reported by Moscow Times.
His Russian counterpart, Andrei Belousov, shared similar views, pointing out that maintaining regional and international security and strengthening strategic relationships depend heavily on the tight relationship between their leaders.
The meeting coincides with a rise in combined military exercises between the two countries, including a number of drills conducted since the conflict in Ukraine began. Putin characterized the military demonstration as the biggest in decades when Russian and Chinese vessels engaged in significant naval drills in the Sea of Japan in September.