During the summit in Beijing between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, both nations issued a joint statement strongly condemning the proposed U.S. Golden Dome missile-defense shield.
The allies argued that President Donald Trump’s ambitious project—which aims to deploy a global, multi-layered defense system integrating advanced ground and space-based interceptors—poses a severe threat to global strategic stability.
According to Moscow and Beijing, the system violates the fundamental balance required between strategic offensive and defensive capabilities by attempting to neutralize peer adversary missiles at any flight stage.
Furthermore, Russia and China criticized the United States for allowing the 2010 New START nuclear arms control treaty to expire earlier this year without securing a replacement.
Moscow also backed Beijing’s refusal to participate in future U.S.-Russian arms control negotiations, a demand previously made by Washington citing China’s rapid nuclear expansion.
Additionally, the joint statement condemned efforts by unnamed states to deploy intermediate-range missiles for potential preemptive strikes.
Highlighting the escalating geopolitical tensions, Russia simultaneously released footage of troops loading nuclear warheads onto mobile Iskander-M missile systems as part of sweeping military exercises across Russia and Belarus.
