Bolton warns US against ‘sitting still’ as China, Russia, Iran grow closer

Former US national security adviser John Bolton sounded the alarm following a China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic ties.

In an interview Sunday, Bolton warned the United States against “sitting still” as China expands its role in the world and grows closer to Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

“We’re sitting still, and the Chinese, the Russians, Iran, North Korea, and several others, are moving to shore up their relations and threaten us in a lot of different places,” Bolton, a US foreign policy hawk, said on a radio morning show on Sunday.

Bolton’s warnings came two days after Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume their diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies and diplomatic missions within the next two months. The pact followed days of intensive talks in Beijing.

In a joint statement issued by Iran, Saudi Arabia, and China, Tehran, and Riyadh highlighted the need to respect each others’ national sovereignty and refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of one another.

They agreed to implement a security cooperation agreement signed in April 2001 and another accord reached in May 1998 to boost economic, commercial, investment, technical, scientific, cultural, sports, and youth affairs cooperation.

“It’s an indication that the Saudis and others are trying to hedge their bets with China and Russia, because they don’t think the United States has the resolve and the fortitude necessary to do what they need to do to protect the world against Iran and its intentions,” Bolton said.

“The Chinese have a strategy they’ve been following,” he added. “We kind of wander around from day to day.”

“Bolton is a fine one to talk about strategy. His strategic record includes WMDs in Iraq and Juan Guaido in Venezuela, among others. Not exactly a record of success,” said New York-based journalist Don DeBar.

Iran-Saudi détente spells a ‘catastrophe for US hegemony’: Analyst

An American political analyst has said that the restoration of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia is “a catastrophe for US hegemony.”

Top US officials have expressed concerns that Russia also appears to have moved closer to China, warning that Beijing is “strongly considering” providing Moscow with lethal aid for its war in Ukraine.

However, China has said it is a neutral arbiter in the war in Ukraine and rejected US allegations.

“One of the biggest winners of the war in Ukraine has been China,” Bolton said. “If Russia were to win, and at the maximum retake all of Ukraine, that would be a victory for China’s ally that would strengthen China as well.”

“But, frankly, if Russia continues to get chewed up in Ukraine, that just makes Russia more dependent on China,” he continued. “So China wins there as well.”

Bolton also claimed that in a reversal of China-Russia relations during the Cold War, Beijing is now the senior partner in the relationship.

“It’s exactly right to say that we’re watching Russia slip increasingly under Chinese control,” he said. “This is China’s alliance it’s putting together, and Russia is the junior partner.”

“That’s not good for any of us. I’d like to find ways to pry Russia away from China,” Bolton continued.

The US aims to suppress Chinese development

Chinese President Xi Jinping accused Western countries led by America of implementing an all inclusive "containment, encirclement and suppression" of China.

CIA Director William Burns said the United States believes that China is considering providing weaponry to support Russia in its war in Ukraine.

“We’re confident that the Chinese leadership is considering the provision of lethal equipment,” he said in an interview aired late last month. “We also don’t see that a final decision has been made yet, and we don’t see evidence of actual shipments of lethal equipment.”

“If Burns is correct, this is a new development. Russia and China haven't had a military alliance since the early 1960s and perhaps, actually, since the Korean War. In fact, they've never had an overt military alliance, and whenever they've had anything resembling that alliance, both were still severely damaged in terms of their ability to produce hardware and project power by World War II,”  jouranlist DeBar said in response.

“In fact, such an alliance could be decisive, both in a war limited to Ukraine and in a global conflict, should it come to that,” he told Press TV.

Over the past year, Ukraine has been showered with weapons and billions of dollars in financial support by the United States and its allies.

Still, the US intelligence chief warned that such a step by China would be "a very risky and unwise bet.”

DeBar denounced the CIA chief's statement and said that the "war in Ukraine is an American war against Russia."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also said his country is opposed to the emergence of a unipolar world that revolves around Washington’s interests.

He said Russia is striving to create a multipolar world rather than one that is centered around the US.

Russia began its “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 with a declared aim of “demilitarizing” Donbas, which is made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk self-proclaimed republics. Back in 2014, the two republics, which are predominantly Russian-speaking, broke away from Ukraine, prompting Kiev to launch a bloody war against both regions. The years-long conflict has killed more than 14,000 people, mostly in the Donbas.

Since the onset of the conflict between the two countries, the United States and its European allies have unleashed an array of unprecedented sanctions against Russia and poured numerous batches of advanced weapons into Ukraine to help its military fend off the Russian troops, despite repeated warnings by the Kremlin that such measures will only prolong the war.

US warns China of consequences of arming Russia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States believes that China is considering providing weaponry to support Russia in its war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, China has defended expanding relations with Russia against the backdrop of growing American unilateralism.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said last month that despite the challenging international landscape, China-Russia relations have stood the test of time.

Wang said Beijing and Moscow were seeking to strengthen relations and remain committed to building a “multipolar” world.

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