United States: The United States Secretary of State Mr. Antony Blinken has dismissed the deepening ties between China and Russia as a “marriage of convenience.”

Mr. Blinken made the comments after Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were filmed saying warm goodbyes at the end of two days of closely watched meetings in Moscow.

“In part as a result of having this very different worldview than we do, they have a marriage of convenience. I am not sure if it’s conviction,” Mr. Blinken told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The Secretary of State commented that Russia is “very much the junior partner” in the relationship and noted that China had so far declined to provide weapons to Moscow for its war in Ukraine.

“As we speak today, we have not seen them cross that line,” Mr. Blinken observed.

“The post-Cold War world is over, and there is an intense competition under way to determine what comes next,” Mr. Blinken added.

The secretary of state urged every member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to comply with an arrest warrant issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a video of Mr. Xi’s departure from Russia, the Chinese leader was seen telling Mr. Putin that there are changes “the likes of which we have not seen for 100 years” and that the two men are “driving these changes together.”

Mr. Xi also told Mr. Putin, “Take care please, dear friend,” to which the Russian leader replied, “Have a safe trip.”

The talks were the latest example of deepening ties between Beijing and Moscow, which share a mutual suspicion of the West, since the announcement of a “no limits” partnership in February 2022.

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