Chinese state-sponsored groups including Mustang Panda and Tonto Team have been targeting Russian aerospace and defense firms looking for intelligence on Moscow's military capabilities, researchers at the Taiwanese cybersecurity firm TeamT5 told POLITICO.

The two leaders have developed strong personal ties that helped boost relations between Moscow and Beijing, growing even closer after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022.

China's largest airline, China Southern Airlines, has suspended flights from Beijing to Moscow at the end of January, a surprise move that comes just ahead of the Chinese New Year. Newsweek reached out to China Southern Airlines and the Russian Foreign Ministry with an emailed request for comment outside of office hours.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a video call hours after President Donald Trump re-entered the White House and pledged to "deepen" their partnership.

The US President has previously called for tariffs as high as 60% on China, and analysts have expressed mixed feelings about the news.

All three countries are adversaries of the United States, and Russia has used its ties with them to help blunt the impact of Western sanctions and boost its war effort in Ukraine. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping met in Beijing on Feb.

The United States has not tested a nuclear weapon since 1992.REF However, given the deteriorating security environment, it may need to do so once again.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a call Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the two countries’ close ties, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Moscow and Beijing's foreign policy ties played a stabilising role in international affairs.

The attack came as South Korea’s military said North Korea is preparing to send more troops to join Russia’s fight against Ukraine, despite Pyongyang suffering a high rate of losses among its existing deployment of 11,000 and seeing some of its soldiers captured.

Moscow responds to Trump ultimatum as 1,000 North Koreans killed in Kursk - Kremlin seeks to play down new Trump threat over war in Ukraine