3 weeks ago
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (L) shakes hands pinch Minister of National Defense of nan People's Republic of China Dong Jun connected nan sidelines of nan Shanghai Cooperation Organization Defense Ministers' gathering successful Astana, Kazakhstan, connected Friday. Photo by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/EPA-EFE
April 27 (UPI) -- The defense ministers of Russia and China person emphasized nan adjacent bilateral ties betwixt nan 2 nations moreover arsenic nan United States voices displeasure complete China's stance connected nan Ukraine war.
China's Dong Jun met pinch Russia's Sergey Shoigu successful Astana, Kazakhstan, connected Friday during a gathering of Shanghai Cooperation Organization personnel nations, and some leaders made statements affirming their cooperation.
"We are wished to instrumentality each agreements reached astatine nan highest level," nan Russian defense main said, according to an official statement.
The 2 sides, he said, mostly agreed "on nan basal issues of nan existent world bid and pressing world problems."
Russia and China "are consistently moving to build broad business and strategical cooperation" successful a world wherever "new hotbeds of hostility are emerging and things are getting worse successful nan existing ones. In fact, this is nan consequence of nan West's geopolitical escapades and selfish neocolonial activities," Shoigu said.
Meanwhile, China's Dong said it is "particularly important that nan relations betwixt our equipped forces support a precocious move and respond to nan trends of nan times," nan Russian authorities news agency TASS reported.
The narration betwixt nan 2 countries "is important for strategical stableness connected nan planet," Dong said.
The declaration of adjacent ties betwixt China and Russia came arsenic U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President President Xi Jinping, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and different apical leaders of nan Chinese Communist Party for "in-depth, substantive, and constructive discussions" connected world issues.
The main thrust of nan gathering was an effort to find statement connected a wide scope of topics and to "stabilize" nan relationships betwixt nan 2 Pacific superpowers. but nan rumor of China's subject narration pinch Russia continued to beryllium a sore point.
During nan meeting, nan State Department said Blinken "raised superior concerns pinch [Chinese] support to Russia's defense business guidelines that is enabling Russia to prosecute its warfare against Ukraine and undermining European and transatlantic security."
"In my discussions today, I reiterated our superior interest astir nan PRC providing components that are powering Russia's sadistic warfare of aggression against Ukraine," Blinken told reporters successful Beijing.
China, he said, is nan apical supplier of instrumentality devices and microelectronics captious to Moscow's weapons accumulation arsenic it ramps up a defense business guidelines that is "churning retired rockets, drones, tanks, and different weapons" utilized by Russian President Vladimir Putin "to invade a sovereign country, to demolish its powerfulness grid and different civilian infrastructure, to termination guiltless children, women, and men.
"Russia would struggle to prolong its battle connected Ukraine without China's support," nan U.S. diplomat said.
