The Limits of the Chinese-Russian Alliance: Putin's Nuclear Announcement Humiliates Xi.

Former US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "humiliated" Chinese President Xi Jinping by announcing plans to station nuclear weapons in Belarus just days after issuing a joint statement with China opposing countries stationing nuclear weapons abroad. McFaul said the announcement would particularly rankle Beijing given that Belarus' President, Viktor Lukashenko, had recently made a state visit to China. Putin and Xi had strengthened their alliance at a summit in Moscow last week, but analysts suggest that the balance of power between Russia and China has tipped in China's favour.