Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday that Russia’s partnership with China is not aimed at any third country, but the two countries could “combine” to respond to threats from the US.
“I would like to remind you that Moscow and Beijing will respond to ‘double containment’ by the United States with ‘double counteraction,'” Zakharova said when asked about US plans to deploy a Typhon missile system to Japan for several months, according to Reuters.
The Typhon is a new missile system developed by the US that would have been banned under the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a treaty between the US and Russia that the Trump administration tore up in 2019. The INF prohibited land-based missile systems with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles.
The Typhon can fire nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of over 1,000 miles. The US recently deployed a Typhon system to the Philippines and is planning on sending missile systems to Germany by 2026, which Russia views as a major threat.
“It is clear that both Russia and China will react to the emergence of additional and very significant missile threats, and their reaction will be far from being political, which has also been repeatedly confirmed by the two countries,” Zakharova said.
Zakharova’s comments come amid large-scale Russian naval drills that the Russian military said involve over 90,000 personnel, 400 warships and submarines, and 120 aircraft. China is participating in the Pacific portion of the drill with three Chinese ships and 15 planes.
Russia and China have increased their military cooperation in recent years directly in response to he similar pressure the two countries have been facing from the US and its allies. Zakharova insisted the relationship is defensive in nature.
“Our relations are not directed against third countries… and double counteraction does not contradict this. This is a defensive position, this is not an initiative to target other countries,” she told Reuters. “But if an aggressive policy of attack is being implemented against us from one center, why don’t we combine our potential and give an appropriate rebuff?”
