text: A Russian-Chinese military alliance cannot be ruled out – Ohio POW MIA
  Home›Military alliance›A Russian-Chinese military alliance cannot be ruled out
  MOSCOW (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that a Russian-Chinese military alliance is not needed now, but noted that it could be forged in the future.
  Putin's statement signaled the deepening of ties between Moscow and Beijing amid growing tensions in their relations with the United States. The Russian leader also urged an extension of the latest arms control pact between Moscow and Washington.
  Putin stressed on Thursday the importance of extending the new START treaty which expires in February, Russia's latest arms control pact with the United States.
  Russia had offered to extend the pact unconditionally, while the Trump administration initially insisted that it could only be renewed if China agreed to join. China refused to consider the idea. The United States recently changed its position and proposed a one-year extension of the treaty, but said it must be combined with the imposition of a wider cap on nuclear warheads.
  "The question is whether to keep the existing treaty as it is, to enter into a detailed discussion and try to reach a compromise in a year or to lose this treaty altogether, leaving us, Russia and the United States. , as well as the rest of the world, without any agreement restricting an arms race, "he said. "I believe the second option is much worse."
  "If our partners decide they don't need them, well, so be it, we can't stop them," he said. "Russia'