Russia and China are not creating a military alliance and are hiding nothing in terms of their military cooperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with state television broadcast on March 26, news agencies reported. Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping professed friendship and pledged closer ties at a summit in Moscow early this week, as Russia struggles to make gains in what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. "We are not creating any military alliance with China," Interfax quoted Putin as saying, adding, "Yes, we have cooperation in the sphere of military-technical interaction."
Putin: Russia, China Not Creating Military Alliance
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) speaks to Chinese President Xi Jinping as they attend an official welcome ceremony at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow on March 21.