Washington has said recently that it fears Beijing could arm Russia, something China denies.

In his televised remarks, Putin dismissed suggestions that Moscow’s increased ties with Beijing in areas such as energy and finance meant that Russia was becoming overly dependent on China, saying these were the views of “jealous people”.

“For decades many have desired turning China against the Soviet Union and Russia, and vice versa,” he said. “We understand the world we live in. We really value our mutual relations and the level they have reached in recent years.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has visited Japan and South Korea this year, and stressed the importance of the Atlantic alliance working closely with partners in the Indo-Pacific region. He has also spoken of rising tensions between the West and China and urged more military support for Ukraine.

In response, NATO castigated Vladimir Putin over what is one of Russia’s clearest nuclear signals since the start of its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago, and Ukraine called for a meeting of the UN Security Council.

“Russia’s nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Sunday.

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“NATO is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia’s nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own.”

While Washington, played down concerns about Putin’s announcement, NATO said the Russian president’s comparison of the move to the US stationing its weapons in Europe was way off the mark.

“Russia’s reference to NATO’s nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments,” Lungescu said. “Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments.”

Oleksiy Danilov, a top security adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Russia’s plan would destabilise Belarus, which he said had been taken hostage by Moscow.

Lithuania said on Sunday it would call for new sanctions against Moscow and Minsk in response to Russia’s plan.

Reuters

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