Russian President Vladimir Putin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu attend a meeting in Moscow, Russia (Image: Reuters)
China’s defence minister Li Shangfu met Russian President Putin, a meeting closely observed by Kyiv as they grow wary of Beijing arming Russia in its war against Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s defence minister Li Shangfu met over the weekend and vowed to deepen military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow. Shangfu met Putin on Sunday.
It was his first trip overseas after being appointed defence minister.
Shangfu said China and Russia are willing to work with each other to build close strategic communications between each other’s militaries. He said Beijing is ready to strengthen “multilateral coordination and cooperation with Russia”.
“China is willing to work with Russia to make new contributions to the maintenance of world and regional security and stability,” Li said, according to a report by state-run CCTV.
“(Ties between Russia and China) surpass the military-political alliances of the cold war era. This is my first overseas visit since taking over as China’s defence minister. I specifically chose Russia for this in order to emphasise the special nature and strategic importance of our bilateral ties,” Shangfu said, according to the translated remarks broadcast on Russian TV.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu attended the meeting.
Video footage of the meeting released by Russian state-run media outlets showed Putin sitting down with Li at a table after shaking hands.
“We are working actively through our military departments, regularly exchanging useful information, working together in the field of military-technical cooperation, and holding joint exercises,” Putin was quoted as saying by Russian state-run media outlets.
Putin revealed that joint exercises were held in the Far East as well as in Europe and ground, naval and air forces participated in those exercises.
“This is another crucial area that strengthens the extremely trusting, strategic nature of our relations,” Putin said.
Li’s trip to Russia comes a month after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Moscow visit, where he met Putin and promised to deepen the relationship between both countries.
While both leaders also discussed Beijing’s proposals to end the Ukraine conflict, the talks mostly focused on how Russia and China can present an alternative to what they perceive as a Washington-led world order.
The meeting is likely to have been closely observed by Kyiv as Ukrainian forces find a growing number of components from China in Russian weapons used in Ukraine.
The US has placed sanctions on Shangfu since 2018 after the latter oversaw the purchase of combat aircraft and equipment from Russia’s main arms exporter, Rosoboronexport.
(with inputs from the Guardian, AFP and Reuters)
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