Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed a senior leader of Chinese Communist Party Central Military Commission in Moscow Thursday to discuss the expansion of joint war games and military cooperation around the world.
The move signals an interest on Russia’s part to leverage its relationship with China into greater military security. Russia has previously exploited diplomatic ties with the rogue Islamic regime of Iran to expand its military reach in Syria, taking credit for victories benefitting dictator Bashar al-Assad largely attributable to the Iranian military.
In China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Putin may find a similarly willing actor to elevate the prestige of the comparably less intimidating Russian military.
The Chinese state outlet Xinhua reported that CPC Central Military Commission vice chairman Zhang Youxia visited Putin on Thursday to discuss deepening military cooperation. Xinhua states that Putin told reporters that he feels “the two countries should continue to strengthen their partnership in joint military drills, army games and personnel training.”
Putin reportedly went on to emphasize the need for China and Russia to work together military to “maintain regional and global peace and stability as they hold the same or similar positions in many issues.”
Xinhua quotes Zhang as saying that “China is ready to work with Russia to implement the consensuses between the two presidents, support each other, and jointly safeguard security interests of both countries and help maintain world peace and stability.”
In addition to meeting with Putin, Zhang met with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, who according to the Russian outlet TASS echoed his boss’s interest in deepening an alliance with the PLA.
“Highly confidential relations between the Russian and Chinese state leaders play a very important role in bilateral ties,” Shoigu is quoted as saying. “Russian President Vladimir Putin participated as the main guest in the Belt and Road Forum that was held in Beijing in May, in July China’s President Xi Jinping visited Russia, and in November the leaders held substantial talks on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Da Nang.”
“Belt and Road,” or “One Belt One Road,” is a sprawling Chinese economic project designed to give Beijing full control of trade routes between Beijing and Europe through the construction of roads, ports, and critical infrastructure ultimately ending up in Chinese control.
In addition to high-level meetings, the Russian and Chinese militaries began joint exercises on Thursday in northwest China. A Russian military press release states that the exercises service to help Russian Special Forces adapt to “a dry climate without precipitations … and to the meals represented by a variety of both traditional spicy and sour-sweet Chinese and European dishes.”
China and Russia both have a vested interest in maintaining stability in the region, most loudly threatened by the Kim Jong-un communist regime of North Korea. Pyongyang consistently threatens to use nuclear weapons against the United States and test-fires its missiles over Japan, not constituting an immediate threat to either China or Russia, but both nations have insisted on taking on a larger role in discussions with North Korea.
On Tuesday, for example, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov insisted that Moscow should play a larger role in any dialogue with Pyongyang regarding its nuclear program.
“We have channels, through which we are conducting a dialogue, and we are ready to deploy them, we are ready to exert our influence on North Korea,” Morgulov said. “We believe that the isolation alone … will not work, this won’t take us forward. By doing this, we will only worsen the situation, which is dangerous. We are really on the brink of a real war.”
The same day, however, a report in Japanese media cited sources within North Korea who had evidence to believe that “massive amounts” of Russian oil were flooding the North Korean economy, keeping it afloat in the midst of global sanctions. China, meanwhile, has increased its trade flow to North Korea, but upheld United Nations sanctions on goods such as seafood and coal.
In October, American President Donald Trump suggested that Russia was a hindrance to dialogue with North Korea.
“China is helping us and maybe Russia’s going through the other way and hurting what we’re getting,” Trump told Fox Business host Lou Dobbs.
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