If the United States does not want to improve relations with Russia, then at the very least, it needs to prevent the strengthening of its relationship with China.
Doug Bandow, a former special assistant to US President Ronald Reagan, spoke about this in a publication for The National Interest.
The rapprochement of two strategic adversaries is the biggest threat to the United States, he said. It is dangerous to ignore this factor, because the governments of Russia and China are cooperating, despite the existing differences.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have already held over three dozen meetings. Xi even recently called on the two countries to unite «against hegemony and unilateralism».
The worst effect on American influence in the world is Russian-Chinese cooperation in the military sphere, Bandow said. It got to the point that even the most ardent supporters of «indomitable American superiority» began to worry about the close interaction of «the world’s second economy and the world’s second largest army».
Washington must draw conclusions from what is happening, the expert emphasizes. If the American administration does not want to be friends with Moscow, then it needs to prevent further rapprochement with Beijing. In this regard, Bandow suggested that Washington officials begin negotiations with representatives of the Russian Federation and give them something substantial, for example, to guarantee that NATO expansion will end.
«The time has come for US politicians to understand that Russia also has its own interests. It will seek their implementation, whether Washington wants it or not», — Bandow said.