Carpenter: The idea that Russia can be separated from China is pure amateurism and stupidity

It is impossible today to separate Russia and China, as former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger did more than 50 years ago, and attempts to repeat this maneuver threaten to split NATO. This opinion was expressed by American diplomat Michael Carpenter, former US Permanent Representative to the OSCE (2021-2024), in a comment to a LIGA.net correspondent during the 17th annual Kyiv Security Forum.

Answering a journalist's question about what signals Chinese leader Xi Jinping sent to the world when he appeared at the parade in Moscow on May 9, Carpenter said that it was about rapprochement and closer relations with Russia.

"The Russian-Ukrainian war has led to the coordination of policies of many autocratic regimes around the world. Now the world's autocracies do not yet behave as a coordinated bloc, as they did during the Warsaw Pact, but they clearly support each other in increasingly strong relations," he said.

According to Carpenter, this should be a concern for every democratic country in the world, including the United States.

He stressed that talk of separating Russia and China (the so-called "reverse Kissinger" maneuver) is "nonsense" and must stop.

"First of all, it's unrealistic. I think it's pure amateurism and stupidity to assume otherwise," he said.

In addition, according to Carpenter, attempts to repeat Kissinger's maneuver could lead to a split in NATO.

"And second, by viewing our European allies as a strategic enemy, we may inadvertently alienate the United States from Europe. So instead of achieving a 'reverse Kissinger,' we may achieve Putin's dreams by dividing the transatlantic alliance," he said.

Carpenter expressed hope that Washington could prevent a "strategic mistake of a generation."

• Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, which is celebrated in Russia as "Victory Day."
• China's leader and Russian dictator Putin have signed a new agreement to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Russia.