Rubio states US cannot allow Russia to become China's "junior partner"

According to Bloomberg, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated this.

"I don’t know if we’ll ever be successful completely at peeling them off of a relationship with the Chinese,” Rubio told conservative media outlet Breitbart News, referring to Russia. “I also don’t think having China and Russia at each other’s neck is good for global stability because they’re both nuclear powers," Rubio said.

He noted that closer ties between China and Russia would create a problem for the US if Moscow became a "permanent junior partner" to Beijing and the two nuclear states confronted Washington. According to him, Washington will have disagreements and confrontations with both Beijing and Moscow, but it is important to maintain relations with both countries.

At the same time, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian stated that no third party would be able to influence relations between Beijing and Moscow.

"The US attempt of sowing discord between China and Russia is doomed to fail. Both China and Russia have long-term development strategies and foreign policies. No matter how the international landscape changes, our relationship shall move forward at its own pace," he told journalists at a press conference on Thursday.

The publication notes that some analysts see Trump's recent moves toward rapprochement with Russia as an attempt to separate Moscow from Beijing – a "reverse Nixon." US President Richard Nixon's visit to China almost 53 years ago undermined the Kremlin’s global influence and brought Beijing closer to Washington, shifting the international balance of power for decades.

Leaders of the US House of Representatives committee on China do not rule out that Beijing may attempt to leverage Elon Musk to soften President Donald Trump’s policies and his administration’s stance on China.