Beijing greenlighted virtual talks between Chinese and US military officials who discussed the Afghan issue and the risk of clashes in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, the US Strategic Command has stated that in a few years, China will surpass Russia as the top nuclear threat to America. According to satellite imagery, China is constructing hundreds of new silos for nuclear missiles, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.
Contacts between China and the US donтАЩt include the field of nuclear weapons, which is what Washington is disgruntled about. The US maintains dialogue with Russia on reducing the risk of misunderstandings and mistakes but there is no dialogue on the matter with China. The Chinese media believes that the US seeks to sow discord between Russia and Beijing by raising MoscowтАЩs concerns. Vasily Kashin, a senior research fellow at the Russian Academy of SciencesтАЩ Institute for Far Eastern Studies, says that “during this decade, China will lag behind Russia in terms of the number of warheads.” “However, in the long run, China certainly has more resources to increase their number. Perhaps, the country will make a breakthrough, taking the number of warheads to several hundred and even a thousand. ItтАЩs not the number of warheads that matters but the way they are organized, as well as their variety. For instance, China has some sorts of weapons that Russia lacks, including intermediate-range ballistic missiles,” the expert explained.
Another important aspect is that in the past, ChinaтАЩs understanding of combat readiness used to differ from RussiaтАЩs. “They did not store missiles with warheads installed but the situation will change. ItтАЩs important that the Chinese have gained the experience that the Russians and Americans already have,” Kashin emphasized.
As for ChinaтАЩs prospects on joining the nuclear arms talks, the countryтАЩs position remains the same. Beijing will never agree to a lower nuclear threshold than that of RussiaтАЩs, the USтАЩ or other countriesтАЩ, the analyst concluded. Vedomosti: Turkey ready to ink second contract to purchase RussiaтАЩs S-400s
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview with NTV that Ankara would undoubtedly purchase a second batch of the S-400 air defense systems from Russia. Alexander Mikheyev, CEO of RussiaтАЩs state arms seller Rosoboronexport (part of the Rostec state corporation), said on the sidelines of the Army 2021 forum in late August that an additional contract for the delivery of the S-400 systems to Turkey was expected to be signed before the end of the year, Vedomosti writes.
Russia and Turkey penned a framework agreement for the delivery of four S-400 batteries to the tune of roughly $2.5 bln in 2017. TurkeyтАЩs move triggered criticism and pressure from Washington.
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