"Relations between Russia and China are really at their highest level in history because we have left behind outdated zero-sum games which presuppose that power states may be either allies or rivals…. [Russia and China] follow new format of international relations which do not allow for confrontation or alliance and are not aimed against third countries", Geng Shuang said.
The statement comes after US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told US senators on 29 January that cooperation between Russia and China was "closer than it'd been in many decades" and warned that such ties were used to challenge the United States.
According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, Russia and China were closely cooperating on all the issues of the agenda in the field of strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime and would further enhance this productive interaction.
In October, US President Donald Trump announced his country's intention to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia. The treaty prohibited the development of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles whose ranges are between 500 and 5,500 kilometres (from 311 to 3,317 miles). The withdrawal means that the United States can now deploy ground-based missile systems in Asia, in high proximity to China.