Editing Office - Brussel

Russia and China seem to be destined to move closer as the two Eurasian giants are largely complimentary in terms of economy and security, independent political risk analyst Eric Kraus told Sputnik, commenting on Zbigniew Brzezinski's warning about "the most dangerous scenario" for the US.

"Twenty years ago, the main relationship for virtually every country on Earth was with Washington — today, it is increasingly their relationship with China," says Eric Kraus, an independent political risk analyst.

On 10 January, the Center for the National Interest, a Washington think tank, held a discussion eloquently titled "China and Russia: New Best Friends?" It was organised by Graham Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, as well as the Center's President and CEO, Dimitri K. Simes. The participants recalled the late Zbigniew Brzezinski's warning that "the most dangerous scenario" for the US would be "a grand coalition of China and Russia… united not by ideology but by complementary grievances".

"Russia is clearly moving into a military, economic and, to some extent, cultural alignment with China", Kraus told Sputnik. "Whether we call it an alliance, an alignment, a partnership or something different is only semantics. Neither country is interested in being locked into a formal alliance compelling them to go to war in the event of a military conflict with some third party."

Commenting on why Beijing and Moscow still avoid declaring an official pact, the political risk analyst elaborated that "to announce a formal alliance would be needlessly provocative at a time when the Dragon is already the world's largest economy in PPP [purchasing power parity] terms, and is rapidly increasing its global footprint, inter alia via the One Belt — One Road initiative and economic partnerships the world over".