FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

Moscow no longer cares about “European integration or moving towards Europe” instead it is open to an allegiance with the world superpower, according to one leading expert. Tensions continue to rise between the world’s biggest economies following the ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing, alongside continued talk of a ‘European army’ which threatens to undermine NATO. Bruno Maçães a former Europe minister for Portugal told Politico that talks were already underway behind the scenes between Russia and China.

Mr Maçães said: “In the halls of the Kremlin these days, it’s all about China — and whether or not Moscow can convince Beijing to form an alliance against the West.” He added: “Russia’s view of China has shifted significantly over the past five years. “Moscow has abandoned any hope that the Chinese economy is an example it might emulate. Instead, foreign policy experts now talk of how Russia can use China to further its geopolitical goals.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin

This idea is backed in the annual worldwide threat assessment of the US International community, which warned threats will “expand and diversify” citing Russia and China as the chief danger. The security report published last month also highlighted the growing relationship between Moscow and Beijing stating it was “more aligned than at any point since the mid-1950s”. The report stated: “Threats to US national security will expand and diversify in the coming year, driven in part by China and Russia as they respectively compete more intensely with the United States and its traditional allies and partners.”

Russia was identified as a danger by the Annual worldwide threat assessment

The analysis concludes: “China and Russia are more aligned than at any point since the mid-1950s, and the relationship is likely to strengthen in the coming year as some of their interests and threat perceptions converge, particularly regarding perceived US unilateralism and interventionism and Western promotion of democratic values and human rights." The trade war impasse between Washington and China has seen the US threaten to impose further tariff rates on $200bn worth of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent if the two sides do not strike a deal by March 1. Meanwhile, this growing discontent between US president Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen to only strengthen ties between China and the Kremlin.

US president Donald Trump is locked in a trade war with China

Mr Maçães added: “Seen from Moscow, there is no resistance left to a new alliance led by China. And now that Washington has imposed tariffs on Chinese exports, Russia hopes China will finally understand that its problem is Washington, not Moscow.” The former Europe minister also stated that a new allegiance between the superpowers would mean “Washington would feel under attack” and Europe “intimidated and unsettled”. He added: “This alliance, if it becomes concrete, would overturn how we do global politics. Imagine an international crisis in which Russia and China suddenly emerge as a single bloc. “The impact would be considerable, and to some extent unpredictable: Psychologically, in the mind of the West, it would combine the fear associated with Russia with the apparent invulnerability of China. Washington would feel under attack; Europe, intimidated and unsettled.”