Russia's top-ranking official Sergei Shoigu said the key task for Moscow and Beijing is to counter what he calls "US containment". He was meeting China's top diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing. President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin made the same comment in May,

During security talks, a senior Russian official told China’s foreign minister that their countries must work together to counter U.S. 'containment' policies. Beijing and Moscow have strengthened ties since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago.