Referring to security cooperation with Russia and China, threatening risks to the sovereignty of those countries and their relations with the US
During the webinar, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence Dana Strawle said:
“Obviously, certain countries and partners would like to shirk and test what else they could get from the United States by probing the ground for closer cooperation with the Chinese or Russians, particularly in the security and aerospace fields…I would just caution them again that there is a point where this will turn into a strategy that will not only threaten your cooperation with the US, but also your national sovereignty in countries like Lebanon.”
According to the Pentagon official, “the choice between cooperation with the PRC and the Russian Federation or association with the US” for Middle Eastern states should be obvious, and the possible benefits of such relations allegedly cannot even be compared.
Previously, the US has repeatedly stated that Russia and China are a threat. In the transitional provisions of the national security strategy, the US named the PRC and the Russian Federation as the main threats, with China named as the main potential adversary of the US. The regulations stated that “Beijing and Moscow have seriously invested in efforts to contain U.S. advantages and to prevent the country from defending the interests of its own and allies around the world.
Moscow has repeatedly stressed that Russia will never attack any NATO country.