Pushkov pointed to Trump's intention to weaken the Russia-China partnership

US President Donald Trump expects to weaken Russia's partnership with China by returning it to the G8. Russian Senator Alexei Pushkov said in his Telegram channel on February 14.

"Trump is thinking big: he believes that by excluding Russia from the G8, the West has thrown it into the arms of China. This has strengthened China and strengthened the Russia-China tandem, making these two great powers allies. And that, in turn, is against the interests of the United States. This is what Trump means when he says it was a mistake to exclude Russia," the report said.

According to Pushkov, Trump wants to return US policy to the doctrine of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Washington cannot antagonize both Moscow and Beijing at the same time, so it needs to end its enmity with Russia and distance it from China.

He also added that amid the "big game" between the US, Russia and China, Ukraine is a liability for Trump.

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Earlier, on February 13, Trump said that he would like to restore the G8 with Russia's participation. The US President added that Russian representatives should sit "at the negotiating table" together with the rest of the members of the organization.