The visit of the Russian President Vladimir Putin to China is seen as a landmark event in terms of changing the vector of Russia's development towards Asia. State Duma deputy Mikhail Emelyanov explained in an interview with Pravda.Ru why the United States tried to prevent Russia's initiative to move closer to China and how the States "accidentally" accelerated this process.
"Today, Russia and China actively discuss opportunities to build the new Silk Road, Vladimir Putin is expected to pay a visit to China, during a variety of vital questions will be discussed, including the issues of gas supplies to China. What do you think are the prospects of relations between Russia and China? Is there a danger of such an association for the U.S.?"
"The United States had been trying to put obstacles of the way of Russian-Chinese cooperation. There was this G2 formula during George Bush's presidency.
It was about two great states that will rule the world. That is what they offered to China. The United States and China were to become the two great nations. But the Chinese are farsighted, they declined the offer.
"The United States and its allies actively worked against Russia and the Russian elite, fanning up the idea about the alleged Chinese threat to our eastern borders, thereby trying to alienate Russia from China.
"Without understanding our interests in the West, not knowing our interests in Ukraine, they broke the balance of power in Eastern Europe, trying to bring openly pro-Western politicians to the throne in Ukraine, they, of course, push Russia straight into the arms of China, making it a very fast process. After all, the cooperation between Russia and China has been developing by leaps and bounds recently.
"We very quickly resolve our gas problems, our oil problems and many more. We will work closely in the field of armaments. Naturally, there is a continental block appearing, if you like, although President Putin said that we do not seek military- political alliance with China. But the statement itself is indicative."
"Is cooperation in this field possible?"
"Very often, if politicians even mention this possibility, it says that it is possible. Even in denial. If this question was not on the political agenda, perhaps one would neither ask nor answer it. But there is such an option. If we take Iran into account, we will have a very interesting geopolitical combination. In Russian classical geopolitics, this is land power against maritime powers. This is not the best scenario for the world. But again, we were not the attacker. They are trying to drag Ukraine into the Western bloc. Following this, following the association with the EU, they would drag it into NATO. In the long run, all Eastern European countries have experienced this classic combination. Accordingly, Russia had no choice, and our political leadership made the right decision."
"Can Russia compensate China's huge demand that it gets from the United States - a huge sales market? Is it possible for the United States and China to estrange themselves?"
"The United States has not raised a question of sanctions against China yet. This is a matter of remote future. If the Americans go the way of expanding sanctions, they will take the world to World War III. Therefore, they do not touch China and they hardly ever will. The Americans are afraid of China. This can be seen from their low-key response to China's actions in the Pacific theater of political action, in the case of the Senkaku Islands, for example. They just dumped the Japanese and told them that they would not be protecting them, in spite of the agreement between Japan and the United States.
"The U.S. is very cautious when it comes to China; and Russia, too. I think that the States will take effort to blow up Russia from the inside. John Tefft is supposedly coming to us as an ambassador - this is very revealing. He was in Lithuania, he was in Georgia, he was in Ukraine, by the way, as an ambassador. He arranged all these orange, white ribbon and other revolutions. I think that the United States will stake on the work with the so-called civil society in Russia. They will try to play on our internal contradictions and take people to the streets."
Pravda.Ru