Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia-China cooperation does not pose a danger to the West.
“We will not form a military alliance with China.” Certainly, we have cooperation in the realm of military-technical collaboration, and we are not ashamed of it. Nonetheless, it is transparent. “There is nothing hidden,” Putin stated in an interview carried late Saturday on Russian television channel Rossiya-24.
Putin emphasized that, while Russia and China are growing military cooperation, this does not constitute a “military alliance.”
“This is completely false,” he said in answer to a question about whether Russian-Chinese collaboration poses a threat to the West, emphasizing that Moscow appreciates its relations with Beijing.
Putin also noted that he disagreed with the opinion that Russia could be influenced by Beijing in the future, saying Europe’s economy is much more dependent on China.
“These are not skeptics, but envious people. Why? Because the dependence of, let us say, the European economy on China — it is increasing at a much higher pace than the Russian one, much higher,” he said.
‘Global NATO concept reminiscent of Axis alliance during WWII’
Putin also commented on the idea of a “global NATO” through the development of relations with countries of the Asia-Pacific region, saying these efforts are reminiscent of the Axis alliance of the Second World War.
“What is the United States doing? They are creating more and more new alliances. And this gives Western analysts, Western political scientists reason to say that the West is building new ‘axes’,” Putin said.
He claimed that Western analysts themselves are saying the West is starting to build a new axis “similar to the one that was created back in the 1930s by the fascist regimes in Germany and Italy and militaristic Japan.”
He went on to say that NATO’s plan names particular countries in the region, including Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea, and that Japan inked an agreement with the UK in January to “create contacts and develop partnerships in the military sphere.”
Meanwhile, he stated that the transfer of Western weaponry to Ukraine is done surreptitiously and that the Russian military is attempting to destroy supplies during their delivery.
“Our military does some things, but not everything. They are carried at night, in secret. Yet whatever they manage to obtain, they obtain. But, of course, there is such a purpose,” he said.