BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese military personnel will travel to Russia to take part in joint military drills led by Moscow that will also include soldiers from India, Belarus, Mongolia and Tajikistan among others, the ministry said on Wednesday. Chinese Defense.
China’s participation in these exercises is “unrelated to the current international and regional situation”, the ministry said in a statement.
Moscow announced three weeks ago the organization of strategic military maneuvers in eastern Russia from August 30 to September 5, exercises that would include military contingents from other countries.
The last such exercises date back to 2018.
China’s Defense Ministry said its participation in the exercises dubbed “Vostok” is part of an annual bilateral cooperation agreement with Russia.
“The aim is to deepen concrete and friendly cooperation with the armies of the participating countries, improve the level of strategic collaboration between the participating parties and strengthen the ability to respond to various security threats,” the statement said. .
Shortly before Russia’s armed offensive in Ukraine on February 24, Beijing and Moscow proclaimed a “limitless” strategic partnership.
US officials, however, say they have not seen Chinese military equipment supplied to Russia or Beijing helping in the face of Western sanctions.
(Report Yew Lun Tian and Tony Munroe, French version Laetitia Volga, edited by Matthieu Protard)
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