An old friend of mine, who was the deputy minister for foreign affairs in Russia, has said that Russia has refused to become a junior partner of the United States; therefore, it has become a junior partner of China. Russia is very junior in all regards in relation to China. Think of it. The Russian economy today is $1.5 trillion. It's rather less than the Canadian economy. It's the 12th biggest economy in the world. The Russian leadership doesn't understand that's where they are.
On November 6th, 2018. See this statement in context.