On Thursday, China and Russia accused the United States of heightening the risk of nuclear war and pledged to work together to address emerging threats, underscoring the intensifying strategic confrontation between Beijing, Moscow, and Washington.
Following a meeting in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the two countries issued a joint statement focused on global strategic stability. In it, they condemned several U.S. policies, including the expansion of military alliances, the forward deployment of strategic weapons, the development of global missile defense systems like the “Golden Dome,” the militarization of space, and the sharing of nuclear technology with allied nations.
According to the statement, such U.S. actions seek “overwhelming military supremacy” and “absolute strategic security” and are “undermining global strategic stability, spurring an arms race and increasing conflict potential both among nuclear-weapon states and in the international arena as a whole.”
Xi Jinping emphasized that China and Russia have a “special responsibility” to stand up to power politics.
The statement further noted: “The two sides note with concern that against the backdrop of aggravation in the relations between nuclear-weapon states, which in some cases has escalated to the threat of a direct military clash, a critical mass of problems and challenges has accumulated in the strategic sphere, and the risk of nuclear conflict has increased.”
This statement was one of over 20 bilateral documents signed to strengthen the countries’ “no-limits” partnership during Xi’s visit, which coincided with Russia’s celebration of the 80th anniversary of Germany’s defeat in World War II.
Reflecting their shared security stance toward the U.S.-led West, the statement denounced the expansion of military alliances and coalitions by “some nuclear-weapon states” as one of “the most pressing strategic risks to be urgently addressed.” It also condemned the deployment of missiles in non-nuclear countries that target nuclear-armed states, declaring: “the two sides strongly condemn such provocative activities that undermine regional stability and global security.”
Russia has consistently opposed NATO’s eastward expansion after the Cold War, arguing it threatens Russian security and citing it as a justification for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, China has criticized the U.S. push to form “small circles” of alliances in the Indo-Pacific and has objected to U.S. missile deployments near its borders, such as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea and the Typhoon missile system in the Philippines.
The statement specifically criticized the newly announced “Golden Dome for America” global missile defense system, which also includes space-based interception weapons. According to the statement, the “Golden Dome for America” system would also turn space into a battlefield.” The United States established its Space Force as a military branch in 2019 and officially designated space as a warfighting domain in 2020.
The statement also condemned the “use of commercial space systems to interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign states and armed conflicts involving third countries,” likely referring to the Starlink satellite internet system, operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has played a crucial communications role in the Ukraine conflict.
Lastly, the joint statement reaffirmed the importance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and global conventions banning biological and chemical weapons. It accused the U.S. and its allies of engaging in “military biological activities” both at home and abroad.
