In recent days, a significant increase in public meetings between representatives of Russia, Belarus, China, Iran and North Korea has been recorded. According to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), at least ten high-level bilateral meetings took place between April 22 and 26. This phenomenon testifies to the increasing multilateral partnership of these countries aimed at confronting the West.
For example, on April 26, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu took part in a meeting of defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana, Kazakhstan. During this event, he interacted with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Zhong, emphasizing the extremely important nature of Russian-Chinese ties. In addition, Shoigu also held a meeting with Iran's Defense Minister, confirming Russia's readiness to expand military and military-technical cooperation with Iran.
The defense ministers of China and Iran also held their bilateral meeting, calling for stronger 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 SCO meeting on April 26 was Iran's first as a full member of the organization after it joined in July 2023.
ISW analysts emphasize that these SCO meetings are only the latest stage in a series of bilateral meetings between Russia, Belarus, China, Iran and North Korea. They note that although the details and results of these meetings are not yet known, the apparent increase in their number and frequency indicates the growing interest of this group of countries in publicly demonstrating their military-political cooperation in the context of competition and confrontation with the West.
Earlier, China's foreign minister expressed concern over growing problems in relations with the United States, including the threat of sanctions from Washington in connection with Russia's support.
