Putin says China isn't a threat, but US hypersonic weapons are

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he isn’t worried by China’s growing military strength because of the “unprecedented” level of ties between the former Communist rivals, and pointed to U.S. capability in hypersonic weapons as the real threat.

“Why should we be concerned about the increased military potential of our nearest neighbor with whom we have an unprecedentedly high level of bilateral ties?” Putin said Tuesday during a videoconference at the Russia Calling! investment forum in Moscow. “We saw the reaction of our U.S. partners to this but we know that the U.S. is slightly ahead in hypersonic weapons development.”

Putin unveiled Russia’s hypersonic weapons just before his re-election as president in 2018, and has boasted that his military has the world’s most advanced such armaments, capable of evading missile-defense systems. Russia is preparing to deploy a sea-based hypersonic missile next year that can travel at nine times the speed of sound, Putin said at the forum.

U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley last month described China’s suspected test of a hypersonic weapons system over the summer as close to a “Sputnik moment” in significance for the American military, adding that “It has all of our attention.”

Russia has built a “strategic partnership” with China, in part to counter U.S. dominance, despite some concerns among Kremlin policymakers about the rising power of the giant eastern neighbor. Putin said he plans to visit Beijing for the opening of the Winter Olympics in February.