It is a primary duty of Russia and China to counter any attempts by the U.S. to restrict them, said Sergei Shoigu, the former Russian Defence Minister, during a meeting in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose high tariffs on exports from China and other countries, raising concerns over a potential trade war. Washington views Beijing as its biggest competitor and Moscow as the primary state that threatens it.
Shoigu, now the secretary of the Russian Security Council, told Wang that Moscow’s close ties with Beijing have a stabilising influence on the world.
“I consider our most important duty to be countering the U.S. policy of ‘dual containment’ of Russia and China, pursued by the U.S. and its allies,” Shoigu emphasised, as reported by Russian state news agencies.
Shoigu’s meeting with Wang also followed shortly after North Korea announced the ratification of a historic bilateral defence agreement with Russia, marking a further rapprochement between the two countries amid the war in Ukraine.
China’s relationship with Russia has been viewed with suspicion by the West, as Beijing has never publicly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China maintains it communicates with all parties and plays a mediating role.
Since the outbreak of the war, Beijing and Moscow have strengthened their economic and diplomatic ties.
China frequently calls for peace talks to resolve the conflict, while also emphasising the need to respect the territorial integrity of all countries, implicitly including Ukraine.
Shoigu served as Russia’s Defence Minister for the first two years of the Ukraine war before being replaced in May 2024.
Source: ANA-MPA
