Russia and China have no military alliance and cooperation between the two militaries is "transparent", Putin said in comments aired on Sunday (March 26), days after his summit with visiting Xi Jinping.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, visited Moscow on March 20 to offer diplomatic support to Putin, who is isolated and wanted by the International Criminal Court, as Russia struggles to gain ground in an invasion of Ukraine. The two emphasized their strong friendship and pledged to further strengthen their relationship, including in the military sphere.

Reuters reported that, however, Putin said on state television on Sunday: "We have not created any military alliance with China. Yes, we have cooperation in military technology exchanges. We do not hide this. Everything is transparent, there is no any secrets."

A few weeks before Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he visited Beijing on the occasion of the Beijing Winter Olympics and reached an agreement with Xi Jinping on an "uncapped" partnership.

Beijing has been reluctant to criticize Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has refused to join the international community's economic sanctions against Russia. At the same time, Beijing has significantly increased its purchases of commodities from Russia, mainly crude oil and natural gas, to provide blood transfusion and support for the Russian economy.

Before Xi Jinping's visit to Russia, Beijing also proposed the so-called peace plan for Ukraine, but Western countries led by the United States believe that Beijing's proposal for peace talks is a plot to buy Putin time to regain momentum and continue to invade Ukraine.

Washington has repeatedly warned in recent times that it is concerned that Beijing is supplying Russia with lethal weapons. Beijing denies it.

Putin, on state television, pushed back on claims that Moscow's closer ties with Beijing in areas such as energy and finance signaled Russia's growing reliance on China, calling them the perceptions of jealous people, Reuters said.

While denying that Russia and Beijing were creating a military alliance on Sunday, Putin accused Western powers of building a new axis like that of Germany and Japan during World War II.

Putin singled out Australia, New Zealand and South Korea as queuing up to join the "global NATO" and referred to a defense agreement Britain and Japan signed earlier this year.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited Japan and South Korea this year to stress the importance of close cooperation between NATO and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. He also addressed escalating tensions between the West and China, urging more military support for Ukraine.

Putin has argued that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a defensive counterattack against a hostile and aggressive West, comparing Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine to fighting Nazi Germany during World War II.

Both Ukraine and its Western allies have dismissed Putin's similar comparisons as absurd, criticizing Moscow for seeking to annex Ukrainian territory and destroy Ukraine's ability to function as an independent state.

Ukraine insists there will be no peace talks until Russia withdraws from Ukrainian territory in its entirety. Russia said Ukraine must accept the loss of large swathes of territory. Moscow claims to have annexed these Ukrainian territories.