In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Vladimir Putin enters a hall to meet with graduates of higher military educational institutions at the Kremlin on June 23, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov via Getty Images)
A formation of Dongfeng-41 nuclear missiles takes part in a military parade celebrating the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing on October 1, 2019. (Xia Yifang via Getty Images)
Senior lecturer in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University, Council of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute
President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pose for a picture with European leaders following a meeting at the White House on August 18, 2025. (Win McNamee via Getty Images)
A US Marine Corps VXE30 Stalker unmanned aerial system is staged during a maritime domain awareness training exercise in southern Finland on July 31, 2025. (DVIDS)
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping via a video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on December 15, 2021. (Photo by Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping make a statement to the press following their talks on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on September 11, 2018. (Sergei Chirikov/AFP via Getty Images)
Chinese Leader Xi Jinping holds talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 4, 2022. (Photo by Li Tao/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Ukrainian soldiers of the 25th Airborne Brigade in military position situated around the city of Avdiyivka on February 8, 2022 in Avdiyivka, Ukraine. (Photo by Gaelle Girbes/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping pose during their meeting in Beijing, on February 4, 2022. (Photo by Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
A Taiwanese soldier in position during an Army Preparedness Enhancement Drill amid escalating Chinese tensions in Taiwan. (Photo by Ceng Shou Yi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)