- “I would like to remind you that Moscow and Beijing will respond to ‘double containment’ by the United States with ‘double counteraction,'” Says Russian Foreign Ministry
Russia and China could “combine their potential” if faced with aggression, Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said.
It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed in May to deepen what they called their “comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation” for a new era.
In a weekly briefing to reporters, Ms Zakharova was asked about a possible deployment of US missiles in Japan.
It was reported the US had expressed an interest in deploying a Typhon mid-range missile system to Japan for joint military exercises.
“I would like to remind you that Moscow and Beijing will respond to ‘double containment’ by the United States with ‘double counteraction’,” Ms Zakharova said.
“It is clear that both Russia and China will react to the emergence of additional and very significant missile threats, and their reaction will be far from being political, which has also been repeatedly confirmed by the two countries.
“Our relations are not directed against third countries… and double counteraction does not contradict this. This is a defensive position, this is not an initiative to target other countries.
“But if an aggressive policy of attack is being implemented against us from one centre, why don’t we combine our potential and give an appropriate rebuff?”
The two countries have not declared a formal military alliance, although Mr Putin last week described them as “allies in every sense of the word.”
Meanwhile, Russian warships are taking part in large-scale naval exercises – and the Defence Ministry has released photos.
They show the Russian Northern Fleet forces searching for submarines and launching missiles as part of the simulated situation in the Barents Sea.
The exercise, called Ocean-24, spans the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, the Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic Seas and involves over 400 warships, submarines and support vessels, more than 120 planes and helicopters and over 90,000 troops, the ministry said yesterday.
It is aimed to train troops to “repel large-scale aggression of a potential enemy from ocean directions, combat unmanned boats, unmanned aerial vehicles, defend naval bases, conduct amphibious operations and escort transports,” defence minister Andrei Belousov said.
China confirmed it would be taking part in the drills and that the two countries’ navies would cruise together in the Pacific, but gave no details.
The drills will continue until next Monday.
Pics: Russian Defence Ministry/AP
@Sky News