In recent days, there has been a significant increase in public meetings between representatives of Russia, Belarus, China, Iran and North Korea. According to a report by the Institute of War (ISW), a minimum of ten high -level bilateral meetings took place between April 22 and 26. This phenomenon testifies to the increase in the multilateral partnership of these countries aimed at confronting the event.
For example, on April 26, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu took part in a meeting of the Ministers of Defense of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana, Kazakhstan. During this event, he interacted with the Defense Minister of China Donh Zhun, emphasizing the extremely important nature of Russian-Chinese ties. In addition, Shoigu also met with the Minister of Defense of Iran, confirming Russia's willingness to expand the cooperation of military and military-technical orientation with Iran.
The Defense Ministers of China and Iran also held their bilateral meeting, calling for the strengthening of military and defense cooperation between their countries.
It is also worth noting the meeting of the Minister of Defense of Belarus with his Chinese and Iranian colleagues. The SOS meeting on April 26 was the first for Iran as a full member of the organization after its accession in July 2023.
ISW analysts emphasize that these meetings of the SCO are only the last stage in a series of bilateral meetings between Russia, Belarus, China, Iran and North Korea. They point out that although the details and results of these meetings are not yet known, the obvious increase in their number and frequency indicates the growing interest of this group of countries in the public demonstration of their military-political cooperation in the context of competition and confrontation with the West.
Earlier, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was concerned about increasing problems in relations with the United States, in particular because of the threat of sanctions by Washington in connection with Russia's support.
