Moscow wants to form axis with Beijing to counter West

The leadership in Moscow wants to form an axis with Beijing to counter the West, the head of Russia's National Security Council said at a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Moscow on Tuesday.

"In the conditions of a comprehensive campaign of double containment of Russia and China pursued by the collective West, the further deepening of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the international arena takes on special significance," Nikolai Patrushev said at the meeting with Wang, according to the Interfax news agency.

Patrushev, one of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies, assured his guest that Moscow supports Beijing's claim to Taiwan, for example.

Russia is also in solidarity with China regarding the regions of Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang, which is inhabited by Muslim Uighurs. The West accuses China of serious human rights violations in Xinjiang.

Russia has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine for almost 19 months and has been subject to Western sanctions as a result. Officially, China is neutral in the conflict, but Moscow has been trying to circumvent the Western sanctions with Beijing's help.