Chinese Defense Minister received by Putin in person in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu attend a meeting in Moscow, April 16, 2023. © via REUTERS - SPUTNIK

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2 min

The Chinese defense minister arrived in Moscow on Sunday, April 16 for a three-day official visit, which began with great fanfare with a working meeting with Vladimir Putin himself. To say the least, significant, in the current context.

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With our correspondent in Moscow, Julian Colling

A visit to Russia by Li Shangfu is far from trivial, a month after that of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

In the opinion of many observers, these two high-level trips, back-to-back, hide behind the scenes an increasingly marked rapprochement between the military sectors of the two countries.

In addition to the respect shown to the Chinese Minister of Defense by Vladimir Putin's own trip to meet him, his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu was also in the room.

Li Shangfu said that in his opinion, current Russian-Chinese ties "go beyond the military-political alliances of the Cold War era."

In Moscow, prominent scholar of Sino-Russian relations Alexander Gabuev recently wrote an article for Foreign Affairs magazine on the subject. He writes that faced with the total rupture of technological relations between the West and Russia, the latter has no choice but to concede to sell its most advanced systems to China. Such as its fighter jet engines, or its S-500 surface-to-air defense systems.

A very sensitive trend in the context of the war in Ukraine. In recent weeks, Kiev has repeatedly expressed its concern about possible real military aid from Beijing to Moscow. An outcome that is not even in doubt, according to CIA boss Williams Burns. According to the Ukrainian army, more and more Chinese parts are found in the weapons and ammunition used by Russia.

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  • Russia
  • China
  • Vladimir Poutine
  • Diplomacy
  • Defense
  • Ukraine