Putin Says China No Threat To Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with NBC that he did not see any threats coming from Russia's neighbor China

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th June, 2021) Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with NBC that he did not see any threats coming from Russia's neighbor China.

"We do not believe that China is a threat to us. That's one. China is a friendly nation. It has not declared us an enemy, as the United States has done," he said when asked whether he was concerned about China's militarization.

Putin said Russia had developed an unprecedented strategic partnership with China across a wide range of areas, from politics and economy to the defense industry.

Asked whether Russia's decision to quit the ISS space station project meant it was splitting off from the US space program and moving forward with China, Putin said that Moscow was ready to work together with both Washington and Beijing.

"We will continue to do so if our US partners don't refuse to do that. It doesn't mean that we need to work exclusively with the US. We have been working and will continue to work with China, which applies to all kinds of programmes, including exploring deep space," he said.

On Taiwan, which China considers its territory, Putin said that he had no knowledge of China's purported plans to make a military move on the island nation. He declined to speculate what Russia would do if China invaded Taiwan, saying there was no "could be" and "would be" in politics.