Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan on Wednesday hailed recent joint exercises by their countries' armed forces as evidence of increasingly warm Russian-Chinese ties, Russian news agencies said.
At a meeting with Cao at his residence by the Black Sea, Putin applauded China's performance at last month's exercises in the Russian Far East and in eastern China, noting "how brilliantly the Chinese military had accomplished its tasks, including taking charge of new Russian military equipment".
"Today the Russian-Chinese relationship has achieved the highest level in the history of the countries' cooperation… Our military cooperation shows the level of mutual trust between our peoples and states," Putin was quoted by ITAR-TASS as saying.
For his part Cao said that "China sees development of relations with Russia as an indisputable priority of our foreign policy.
"I agree that our relationship is at its highest level… Our cooperation encompasses all spheres and areas."
Russia is the main supplier of military equipment to China.
