White House expresses concerns over Russia-China alliance

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
13 Sep 00:01

Although the White House has nothing to say about the upcoming meeting between the two leaders, it still maintains its concerns over the depth of China's alignment and ties with Russia.

The diplomatic rift between the two blocs is further widening due to the Russian-Ukraine war that is further exposing the West's ambitions of establishing a unipolar world

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday refused to comment on the upcoming meeting between the presidents of Russia and China in Moscow later this week but reiterated the US's concerns about the alliance between the two countries.

"We're going to let President Xi [Jinping] and President [Vladimir] Putin speak at their meeting. We've made clear our concerns about the depth of China's alignment and ties with Russia, even as Russia prosecutes a war of aggression in Ukraine, but again, I'm not going to speak to their meeting. They can speak to that themselves," Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing.

Xi is scheduled to meet with Putin this week during his first trip outside China since the COVID-19 pandemic started and ahead of the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) set to take place in Uzbekistan on September 15-16.

The diplomatic rift between the two blocs is further widening due to the Russian-Ukraine war that is further exposing the West's ambitions of establishing a unipolar world.

This tension has likewise surfaced in a number of other issues, such as the Russian-Chinese Arctic Cooperation, the price cap on Russian gas, the continuous supply of arms and weapons to Ukraine, the embargo on Chinese microchips, and the provoking visits of US officials to the island of Taiwan.

Although the US has repeatedly issued warnings to China about the inadmissibility of its support for Russia amid Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine, China has repeatedly stated its intention to continue to develop mutually beneficial relations with Russia despite the protests by its Western partners.

A growing friendship between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin has helped put the two countries closer together. The ambitions to end what China and Russia regard as America's economic and geopolitical hegemony further strengthened the diplomatic ties.

In June, the Kremlin reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping stated that Russian-Chinese relations are at an unprecedented high level and are constantly improving.