As soon as the Chinese and Russian distinguished guests left, Mongolia invited senior NATO military officials to be guests with great fanfare. Putin, who ventured to visit Mongolia, can also be regarded as having seen the left and right sources of Mongolia. At this moment, NATO's four words to Mongolia may affect the future direction of relations between China, Russia and Mongolia.
Putin's visit to Mongolia
A few days ago, Russian media reported that NATO military committee chairman Bauer said that Mongolia extended an invitation to him to visit Mongolia and meet with Mongolia's peacekeepers who had participated in relevant NATO missions. Power stressed that Mongolia has been a "reliable partner" of NATO for 20 years. You must know that Powell can be regarded as NATO's "third-in-command", and his statement largely symbolizes NATO's attitude.
As soon as the four words "reliable partner" came out, the meaning of NATO was already very clear. On the one hand, Mongolia invited NATO through the policy of "third neighbor", and NATO really had the intention of wooing Mongolia.
Not only NATO, but also the United States has fully considered the geographical location of Mongolia and has thrown an "olive branch" to Mongolia several times. Previously, Blinken made a special visit to Mongolia and reached a number of bilateral agreements between the United States and Mongolia.
You know, Russia President Vladimir Putin has just visited Mongolia, and he braved the "hunt and kill order" of many Western countries, and has set a number of economic development consensus with Mongolia, and emphasized the project between China, Russia and Mongolia.
The Chinese high-level also visited Mongolia subsequently, not only reiterating the specific matters of the three-country project, but also giving Mongolia some implicit "knocks".
Bauer
The Chinese side made it clear that in order to deepen cooperation in relevant fields, Mongolia should pay attention to strengthening communication among regional countries and strengthening communication and coordination in international affairs. It is likely that the Chinese side is implicitly reminding Mongolia not to do anything that is detrimental to trilateral relations.
However, Mongolia is constrained by its geographical location and considers being sandwiched between China and Russia a "huge diplomatic disadvantage," so it insists on developing a so-called "third neighbor" policy. It is precisely because of the geographical location of the Mongolia countries that United States and NATO are willing to develop corresponding exchanges with them, but the so-called "third neighbor" must be built on the premise of the stability of the first and second neighbors. Now Mongolia's actions will undoubtedly make Russia unhappy.
In recent years, relations between Russia and NATO have been tense, on the one hand, NATO's eastward expansion has made Russia feel threatened. For Russia, these moves are seen as the West building a "containment circle" near its borders. On the other hand, after being re-elected, Putin has gradually demonstrated a more offensive diplomatic and military posture, especially in foreign policy, and has taken more decisive measures.
Russia-Ukraine battlefield
Especially since the Russia-Ukraine war, NATO has continuously strengthened its military deployment in Eastern Europe and increased the frequency and scale of exercises. In response, Russia conducted a series of large-scale military exercises and deployed more advanced weapons and equipment, including Iskander tactical ballistic missiles, in its western strategic direction.
It is no exaggeration to say that the relationship between the two sides is already at the most tense moment in history. At such a critical moment, Mongolia's left and right sources naturally became a thorn in Russia's heart.
In the future, if Mongolia's relationship with NATO is really "on the next level", then it will indeed have an impact on Russia and even China, and perhaps the China-Russia-Mongolia gas pipeline-related projects should really consider rerouting.
However, it must be emphasized that China has no intention of interfering in Mongolia's foreign affairs, but if Mongolia makes a decision that threatens China's national security and fundamental interests, then China will naturally give corresponding measures.