A helicopter flies during a landing exercise during the Vostok-2018 (East-2018) military exercise at the Klerka training ground (Photo: MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images)

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army will send troops to Russia to take part in the “East-2022” exercise, also known as Vostok-2022, China’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

China’s participation in the exercise aims to deepen practical and friendly cooperation with the militaries of participating countries, improve the level of strategic cooperation between participating parties, and strengthen the ability to respond to various security threats,” the defense ministry said. “It has nothing to do with the current international and regional situation.”

The exercises will see the participation of India, Belarus, Tajikistan, Mongolia and other countries, according to the Chinese Ministry of Defense, and are scheduled to be held in late August.

Some background: In July, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held more than five hours of “candid” talks, with Blinken raising concerns about Beijing’s “engagement” with Moscow. Blinken said he did not think China would behave neutrally, having backed Russia at the United Nations and “expanded Russian propaganda.”

Just before Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Beijing and Moscow announced a “no-holds-barred” partnership, although US officials say China does not see Russia avoiding tough US sanctions or supplying military equipment.

Putin says Russia can train foreign fighters: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is ready to provide military equipment to its allies in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Putin said during the opening ceremony of “Army-2022” that Moscow is ready to train foreign fighters.

“We greatly value the fact that our country has many allies, partners, like-minded people on different continents,” Putin said.

Putin highlighted the benefits of training foreign soldiers in Russia, saying Russia invites allies to joint military exercises.

“We see great opportunities in the training of foreign military personnel and their advanced training. Thousands of military specialists from around the world are proud alumni of our country’s military universities and academies,” Putin said.

Russia will continue to work in this area, he said.