Mongolia under pressure to align with Russia and China

Landlocked state is pursuing neutrality despite neighbours' efforts to create triangle of anti-western cooperation

Mongolia, a squeezed outpost of democracy in north-east Asia, is under renewed pressure from its authoritarian neighbours, Russia and China, to shed its independence and form a triangle of anti-western cooperation in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

The country is doggedly pursuing a path of neutrality, coupled with a policy of economic diversification designed to keep its unique culture and still relatively recent independence alive, according Nomin Chinbat, its culture secretary.