US General: Russia and China's strengthening in Middle East is risky

As the United States scales back its military presence across the Middle East to focus on great power competition with China and Russia, it risks giving those two countries a chance to fill the gap and expand their influence around the Gulf, Commander of the US Central Command Frank McKenzie said.

"The Middle East writ broadly is an area of intense competition between the great powers. And I think that as we adjust our posture in the region, Russia and China will be looking very closely to see if a vacuum opens that they can exploit. I think they see the United States shifting posture to look at other parts of the world, and they sense there may be an opportunity there," McKenzie told reporters.

According to him, weapons sales would be one need that Moscow and Beijing could exploit. Russia, he said, tries to sell air defense systems and other weapons to whomever it can, and China has a long-term goal to expand its economic power and ultimately establish military bases in the region.

NATO, including the US, will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan on May 1. The US noted the process would end on September 11, 2021. The United States is expected to deploy troops in the Gulf.