New alliance against the West?
Russia and China call for a halt to NATO expansion
Russia and China’s party leaders united: a new alliance against the West?
© Ramil Sitdikov / Pool Sputnik Kremlin / DPA
In a joint statement, Russia and China spoke out against NATO expansion. The alliance must abandon “the ideological approaches of the Cold War era,” the paper says.
Russia and China have jointly spoken out against NATO expansion. According to the Kremlin, this comes from a joint statement adopted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at a meeting in Beijing on Friday. The US-led Western military alliance must give up the approach “from the Cold War era,” it said.
According to the information, the two heads of state also agree in their rejection of US influence in the Indo-Pacific region. This is “negative for peace and stability” in the region, the Russian government quoted from the joint statement. Moscow and Beijing are “seriously concerned” about intensified US military cooperation with Australia and Great Britain in the Indo-Pacific.
The three states had proclaimed the Indo-Pacific alliance Aukus in September. The cooperation includes, among other things, a close exchange on technology for nuclear propulsion for submarines. The fact that Australia then bought nuclear submarines from the USA also caused outraged reactions in France, where Canberra originally wanted to get the submarines from.
New tensions between East and West?
Putin traveled to the Chinese capital for the start of the Winter Olympics. The Kremlin had previously announced that Xi and Putin would present a “shared vision” on international security policy at the occasion. It had been expected that Putin was primarily concerned with the Ukraine conflict and the dispute with NATO.
The West fears a major attack on the neighboring country because of massive Russian troop movements on the Ukrainian border. Russia rejects the allegations and says it feels threatened by NATO. Putin demanded security guarantees from the West, including an end to NATO’s eastward expansion. The Western allies reject this.
Beijing had recently made its support for the Russian demands increasingly clear. In return, Xi appears to be counting on Russia’s support in the struggle with the US for influence in the Indo-Pacific region.