The Russian government has taken steps to start military cooperation deal negotiations with China as the countries step up their arms trade.
Russia has in recent months completed the delivery of 24 Sukhoi Su-35 combat aircraft to China under a $2.5 billion deal. Moscow offered another batch of the multirole superiority fighters to Beijing last month.
“Accept the Russian Defense Ministry’s proposal, coordinated with the Russian Foreign Ministry, on negotiations about a military cooperation agreement with China’s National Defense Ministry,” says a government decree published Monday.
The military component comes as part of increasing Russian-Chinese cooperation that extends to infrastructure, energy and technology, according to The Moscow Carnegie Center’s Dmitry Trenin.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on the Chinese military last fall for buying a batch of Su-35s in 2017 from Russia, along with missile systems last year.
