Russia and China Conduct Largest Military Drills since Cold War

In the last week, the military forces of China and Russia conducted some of the largest drills in the last 30 years, marking an alarming increase in the two nations’ displays of military strength.

According to Fox News, the week-long drills will include 90,000 troops, 400 naval vessels, and 120 aircraft, and will take place in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, as well as the Baltic, Caspian, and Mediterranean Seas. The drill has been named “Ocean 24.”

The display of power takes place as representatives from the United States meet with leaders of the European Union in Brussels, specifically focusing on rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific Region. China and Russia have slowly been growing closer together in recent years, with the former supporting the latter’s invasion of Ukraine.

The United States has been critical of China for providing “very substantial” support to Russia’s ongoing war effort.

“These are not dual-use capabilities,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell after the latest reports of China providing military supplies to Russia. “These are basically being applied directly to the Russian war machine.”

These are component pieces of a very substantial effort on the part of China to help sustain, build and diversify various elements of the Russian war machine,” he continued. “We’re seeing efforts at the highest levels of both governments to try to both hide and protect certain elements of this worrisome collaboration. Most of these activities have been driven underground.”

China has denied that it supports Russia’s war against Ukraine, pointing to the fact that it joined forces with Brazil to propose a peace deal to end the war. This deal, however, was rejected by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he would be most willing to agree with a peace deal if it is mediated by China, Brazil, or India, with the former two being close allies of Russia. This has brought any attempts at negotiations to a standstill due to the unwavering positions of both leaders.