Russia and China Must Counter Any US Attempt at Containment, Shoigu Says

Russian Security Council's Secretary Sergei Shoigu attends a meeting dedicated to the situation in the south of the country following an incursion of Ukrainian troops, at a residence outside Moscow, Russia August 12, 2024. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via Reuters)
Russian Security Council's Secretary Sergei Shoigu attends a meeting dedicated to the situation in the south of the country following an incursion of Ukrainian troops, at a residence outside Moscow, Russia August 12, 2024. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via Reuters)
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Russia and China Must Counter Any US Attempt at Containment, Shoigu Says

Russian Security Council's Secretary Sergei Shoigu attends a meeting dedicated to the situation in the south of the country following an incursion of Ukrainian troops, at a residence outside Moscow, Russia August 12, 2024. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via Reuters)
Russian Security Council's Secretary Sergei Shoigu attends a meeting dedicated to the situation in the south of the country following an incursion of Ukrainian troops, at a residence outside Moscow, Russia August 12, 2024. (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via Reuters)

The key task for Russia and China is to counter any attempt by the United States to contain their countries, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin told China's foreign minister on Tuesday.

US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose steep tariffs on China and other countries, raising fears of a trade war and the United States casts China as its biggest competitor and Russia as its biggest nation-state threat.

China's Xi Jinping and Putin in May pledged a "new era" of partnership between the two most powerful rivals of the United States, which they cast as an aggressive Cold War hegemon sowing chaos across the world.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing that the strong relations between Moscow and Beijing were a stabilizing influence on the world.

"I see the most important task as countering the policy of 'dual containment' of Russia and China pursued by the United States and its satellites," Shoigu was quoted as saying by Russian state news agencies.

Xi and Putin believe the post-Cold War era of extraordinary US dominance is crumbling after the perceived humiliations of the 1991 Soviet collapse and centuries of European colonial dominance of China.



Netanyahu Says Iran’s Government Fears Its People More than Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 13, 2024. (Reuters)
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Netanyahu Says Iran’s Government Fears Its People More than Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 13, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday in a direct message to Iranians that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's government feared the people of Iran more than Israel.

"That’s why they spend so much time and money trying to crush your hopes and curb your dreams," he said in a video message. "Well, I say to you this: Don’t let your dreams die. I hear the whispers: Women, Life, Freedom. Zan, Zendegi, Azadi.

"Don't lose hope. And know that Israel and others in the free world stand with you," Netanyahu said.