Washington. June 14. INTERFAX-Relations between Russia and China are developing, threatening to turn into a semblance of an alliance, and Washington is concerned about such a development, Politico reported on Monday, citing an unnamed senior White House official.
"What we've seen over the last decade is something deeper and, frankly, more disturbing," he said in an interview with Politico, adding that previously Russia and China were limited to tactical cooperation and a temporary partnership.
"I think you could say that at some level this (cooperation between the Russian Federation and the PRC-IF) works almost like a quasi-alliance," the source said.
In particular, he touched upon the military-technical cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, citing examples of modern fighter jets, hypersonic technologies, radars, nuclear power plants for submarines, night vision equipment, and "battlefield integration systems".
According to him, US President Joe Biden was briefed on Russian-Chinese relations, and the president, having paid attention to this issue when communicating with advisers, has a "very detailed understanding" of the relationship between Moscow and Beijing.
In turn, Politico points out that Biden is expected to discuss Russia's ties with China at the upcoming talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, the representative of the US administration pointed out, the White House will only have to develop better mechanisms for monitoring the dynamics of relations between the Russian Federation and China.
"It will be imperative for us to rethink our entire strategy... will you differentiate your approach (in relation to the Russian Federation and the PRC-IF) to try to improve relations with Moscow? These are all incredibly complex things, " the source admitted to Politico.
At the same time, he stressed that the US attempts to take advantage of the differences between the Russian Federation and China should be extremely skilful and accurate.
"Both sides (Russia and China-IF) are extremely attentive to attempts to create tension or divide them, and they are very focused on what I think they perceive as a larger sinister problem, and that is the United States," the White House official said.
