Vladimir Putin’s defence minister issued a mysterious update on Russia’s relationship with China on Tuesday.
Andrei Belousov met with a top Chinese official this week – deputy chair of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia – and, according to the Moscow top brass, they held “very substantive” military talks.
A Telegram post from the Russian government department quoted Belousov as saying: “The military departments of Russia and China are united in their assessments of global processes, and they have a common understanding of what needs to be done in the current situation.”
It was not entirely clear what he meant by “current situation”.
It could be a reference to the regional war Putin initiated in 2022. Russia does not directly refer to its invasion of Ukraine as a war, instead usually calling it “a special military operation”.
But there is also a chance the officials were discussing China’s own aggression towards the self-governing island of Taiwan, which president Xi Jinping wants to retake by force if necessary.
On Monday, China launched new military drills off the coast of Taiwan, saying it was “punishment” after Taiwan’s president William Lai vowed to “resist annexation” from Beijing.
According to Reuters, Belousov also said Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi would be deepening their “strategic partnership”, although he did not explain exactly what that entails.
Continuing to speak in oblique terms, the minister added that he is confident “fruitful work and the adoption of significant, weighty decisions are ahead”.
The US believes Beijing is supporting Moscow’s attacks on Ukraine by offering goods which can be used to build weapons.
But China says it has not offered any weaponry to Russia, but that normal trade with Moscow has not been interrupted throughout the Ukraine war.
Both authoritarian countries have accused the US of trying to expand its influence around the world, too, and “deliberately stir up” tensions around Taiwan as Washington is the island’s most important arms supplier.
There have long been concerns that Putin’s attempt to seize its much smaller neighbour would encourage Xi to do the same with Taiwan.
And China and Russia initiated a “no limits” partnership back in February 2022, three weeks before Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine.
The two leaders also decided to set up a “new era” of partnership between their countries in May this year.