Photo: VCG

 
Under the change of US-Russia relations, there are currently some speculations about the direction of China-Russia relations. To expose the falsehood of these speculations, it's important to share some facts about the China-Russia relationship. They've been strategic partners since 1996. They participated in the forming of the Shanghai Five, also in 1996, which later evolved into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), one of the engines of the multipolar world order. China and Russia then signed the Treaty on Good-Neighborliness and Friendship Cooperation in 2001.

China and Russia are also founding members of BRICS, which functions as an economic-financial complement to the SCO's role in accelerating multipolar processes across the world. Apart from co-founding these two institutions, the other tangible manifestations of their strategic relations are trade and military-technical cooperation. Trade mostly comprises commercial products, technology and energy, including nuclear power cooperation. 

On January 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised their record-high bilateral trade of nearly $245 billion last year during a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where he also noted that China has remained Russia's top trade partner and the largest consumer of Russian natural resources. This relationship is mutually beneficial and that's why both leaders pledged to further expand their bilateral trade, which will continue diversifying in line with contemporary economic trends.

China-Russia political ties are just as close. They cooperate at the United Nations Security Council on issues of global significance, continue working together within the complementary multipolar engines of the SCO and BRICS to accelerate associated processes, and also coordinate policies at the G20. 

As responsible major countries, they're jointly reforming the international system in a peaceful way so that it becomes more equal and just for all countries, especially medium-sized and small ones.

This shared worldview and the modus vivendi that they've formed in the spirit of their over-quarter-century-long strategic partnership are the core of their contemporary relations. Putin briefed Xi on February 24 about the Russia-US contacts that had just taken place in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Not only are their countries very close at the civil society and governmental levels, but their leaders are also close friends too, having met more than 40 times.

This makes it impossible to "un-unite" China and Russia, yet the US administration does indeed appear like it's trying to achieve this goal, to which end it's displaying a surprising degree of flexibility toward the Ukraine conflict in an attempt to appeal to Putin. 

It is suggested by some that Washington apparently hopes that the new American interaction with Russia on the Ukraine crisis will be reciprocated by Russian rethinking of its cooperation with the US regarding China. 

However, the US-Ukraine and China-Russia relationships are incomparable, since the first is between a senior and junior partner while the second is between true equals. Thus, the US is in a position to coerce Ukraine into concessions toward Russia, while Russia isn't in the position to coerce China into concessions toward the US nor will Russia harm its own interests by distancing itself from China in exchange for the aforesaid concessions on Ukraine. The entire idea of a trade-off is therefore illogical. 

Given the rock-solid strategic relations between China and Russia, it's unimaginable that Russia wouldn't offer China the opportunity to partner with it on those projects. The China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination will continue strengthening and accelerating multipolar processes no matter how the Ukraine conflict ends.

The author is a Moscow-based American political analyst. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn