The Times: Russian President Vladimir Putin, ahead of his visit to Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, has called “nonsense” the idea that the United States will go to war with Russia and China. The Russian leader will attend a forum to mark the tenth anniversary of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The visit comes after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March over the alleged forced deportation of Ukrainian children. Putin criticized a U.S. congressional commission report that warned Washington should prepare for simultaneous conflicts with Russia and China, calling it a scare tactic. However, it also noted that any such conflict involving nuclear powers would be quite different from a conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The U.S. Strategic Planning Commission recently recommended increasing U.S. conventional forces and modernizing nuclear weapons to counter threats from Russia and China. Putin’s visit to China comes amid intense global attention to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which is expected to be high on the forum’s agenda. China has accused Israel of “collective punishment” in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, Russia and China continue to increase their economic ties, especially in oil and gas trade. Prior to Putin’s visit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing.
The entire article can be read at the link https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/us-war-against-russia-and-china-is-nonsense-talk-says-putin-fm6zz20vj