Russia has said it is opposed to any alliance against Beijing, which Washington has declared a major threat. The United States still hopes to rely on Moscow to involve China in a new arms control treaty.

Russian diplomacy reacted on July 24 to the very offensive speech by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had called for "a new alliance of democracies" to oppose China the day before. Moscow has made it known that the idea of ​​a common front against Beijing was not an option, stressing that it did not approach international relations in the same way as Washington.

"I would like to mention the words of the Russian president, who indicates that Moscow never participates in alliances against someone. We do not make friends to thwart someone, whether it is an integrative or political association" said Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Vladimir Putin. "Any alliance to which we adhere aims to promote relations of good neighborliness and reciprocal benefit" he continued, insisting that Russia would not make an alliance "against a country" and recalling that China was by elsewhere Russia “ally and partner”.

Likewise, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, accused the West, and at their head the United States, of wanting to push Russia and China into a clash. “They go even further in their statements. Now it is not just a belligerent rhetoric reinforced by equally bellicose activities, but an attempt to provoke some kind of confrontation between Russia and China in the public domain. I can assure you they will not succeed" she said.

Find out more about RT France: https://francais.rt.com/international/77145-russie-rejette-idee-americaine-alliance-contre-chine

Meanwhile:

“I agree that the nuclear risks have increased substantially in the recent past,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told an audience at the high-profile Primakov Readings forum on Friday.

The reasons for that are “obvious,” the minister clarified. “The US wants to regain global dominance and achieve victory in what they call a great power competition.”

Lavrov said Washington refuses the notion of “strategic stability” and calls it “strategic rivalry” instead. “They want to win,” he added.

We are particularly worried about the US’ biennial refusal to reaffirm a fundamental principle: the premise that there can be no winners in a nuclear war, and, therefore, it should never be unleashed.

Continuing, the Russian FM suggested Washington wants to dismantle the entire arms control mechanism. The Trump administration pulled out last year from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which bans either side from stationing short- and intermediate-range, land-based missiles in Europe.

That withdrawal also threw the New START treaty, signed with Russia in 2010, into jeopardy. The milestone agreement saw the US and Russia reduce their warheads to 1,550 each and their launchers to 800. It is set to expire next year but Lavrov said on Friday he was not optimistic that it would be extended.

According to the foreign minister, the US decision not to renew the New START is already a done deal and the fate of the pact “is sealed.”

Washington insists that the renewal of talks be made trilateral, with China joining in on the discussions. Beijing has said it would “be happy” to take part in the negotiations – but only if the US was willing to reduce its nuclear arsenal to China’s level, which is about 20 times smaller.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/494350-nuclear-confrontation-us-global-domination/