US friendly gesture is no doubt Trump's trick to drag Russia into the anti-China game

The friendship of Russia and the United States, according to Mike Pompeo, will end in unpleasant surprises for Moscow from Washington, said FBA Economika Segodnya (rueconomics.ru) Doctor of Economics and chief researcher at the US and Canada Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Vasiliev.

US will try to lure Russia into forming a coalition against China

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an interview with Washington Examiner said the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and terrorism is an area in which successful collaboration between Moscow and Washington is possible.

“I adhere to a rather pessimistic view of the prospects for Russian-American relations. As soon as the United States of America makes some kind of conciliatory gestures, later negative actions take place that sharply worsen bilateral relations.

Therefore, such statements can be called a harbinger of the unfriendly steps that Washington is preparing for us. It’s difficult to say which specific area it may affect,” comments Vasiliev.

The expert believes that the mention of the successful cooperation between Russia and the United States in preventing terrorist attacks was made by Mike Pompeo as a standard statement.

The US Secretary of State emphasized during the interview that he had been working with Russia since the time he was director of the CIA. He recalled that Moscow helped Washington save American lives by providing information, and the United States, in turn, helped Russia prevent the terrorist attack planned in St. Petersburg.

America gathers a coalition

The expert suggested that Mike Pompeo's statement is primarily related to American policy regarding the Chinese side.

“Turning to the topic of coronavirus under conditions when Pompeo is considered Washington’s main mouthpiece in the anti-Chinese course seems very suspicious. The United States of America is interested in using the Russian factor to pressure China,” the expert assures.

It is noteworthy that in his interview, Mike Pompeo openly declared Washington’s intention to force the world to unite in order to impose on China the costs incurred by states due to the pandemic. Pompeo also expressed hope that a union of countries would emerge that understands that the only way to get the world out of the coronavirus crisis is to rid it of the risks allegedly emanating from China.

Pompeo gave the interview after a trip to Israel, where he put pressure on the US ally to weaken its relationship with China. Among other states that Washington would like to bring around to its idea of ​​confronting the PRC, the US Secretary of State named India, Japan, Australia, and Brazil.

“The United States of America is forming an international position, and the statements of some states testify to this. I think that European countries will also join.

In other words, Washington has begun to form a coalition of states, which together with it will put pressure on the Chinese side in order to persuade the authorities to conduct an investigation into the emergence of coronavirus infection,” the expert believes. [Australia was one of the countries whose fawning leadership opted to fall into step with Washington. As soon as Australian sanctions on China were announced, China immediately banned Australian beef exports, causing an outcry among beef growers down under.]

Vladimir Vasiliev believes that America thinks only the Russian Federation can appeal to the Chinese leaders directly.

“Therefore, the White House will try to use Russia as a factor that could theoretically influence China’s position and persuade it to be more compliant with the West. Other states do not have such potentials.

Knowing the American approach, we can say that the principle of pressure permeates the actions of the United States to use Russia as a lever in relations with China. It is this motive that is embedded in the offer of friendship, voiced by Mike Pompeo,” the agency’s interlocutor is sure.

US is working on a strategy

Vladimir Vasiliev recalled that recently, the American side has been actively trying to pressure the World Health Organization to echo the White House’s opinion.

“The United States is gradually building its own tactics, as part of which they are also trying to probe the state of the Russian Federation, which is fighting the coronavirus epidemic. Thus, Washington intends to find out the state of our country’s economy, its epidemiological situation, and the extent to which the coronavirus has weakened Russia's position and made it compliant with the possible demands of America,” the expert explains. [At this point, Russian economists are saying that Russia’s position is strong thanks to its vast gold and foreign currency reserves, including yuan].

Marshall Billingsley, appointed by US President Donald Trump on April 10 as special representative for arms control, recalls Vasilyev, bluntly stated that the situation in the world has changed dramatically, and Russia's allegedly deteriorating economic situation opens up opportunities for the United States to strengthen the arms race.

“This logic is also observed in the statements of Mike Pompeo, who intends to launch a kind of mechanism and probe how much the pandemic has changed the Russian Federation’s posiiton.

The Americans do not share the views of Moscow, which supports China through its information activities. However, against the backdrop of United States actions, the question arises of how the Russian Federation will react and whether it decides to support the Western side to some extent instead of the Chinese side. The reaction of our country will show what role it will play in the information war that Washington has unleashed against Beijing.

However, I do not rule out that the friendly gesture by Mike Pompeo will be followed by a surprise or a gift in the form of a threat of new sanctions against Russia, ”the expert said.