(CNN) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. mark milley He told lawmakers on Wednesday that China, Russia and Iran would be a problem for the United States “for many years” as the three are working more closely.
Speaking before the House Armed Services Committee alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Milley said that Russia and China are “getting closer.”
“I wouldn’t call it a true full alliance in the true meaning of that word, but we’re seeing them getting closer, and that’s problematic,” Milley said. “And then…Iran is the third. So those three countries together are going to be problematic for many years, I think, especially Russia and China because of their capabilities.”
While the US has made it clear for years that all three countries are military hotbeds, particularly China and Russia, tensions with all three have grown in recent months and even weeks.
The United States continues to help finance Ukraine’s defense against invasion by Russia, which Milley said Wednesday “in itself is a war crime.” Tensions with China recently escalated after an alleged Chinese spy balloon traveled over the continental US. Finally, it was shot down by the US army off the east coast of the country; Chinese Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe refused to take a call with Austin about the incident.
And last week, the US launched retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed groups in Syria after a suspected Iranian drone hit a facility harboring US personnel, killing a US contractor and wounding five service members. Following the US strike, additional rocket and drone strikes were carried out against US and coalition personnel in Syria.
Milley warned during a hearing Tuesday that Iran could “produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon in less than two weeks” and ultimately create a nuclear weapon within “several months.”
“The United States military has developed multiple options for our national leaders to consider if or when Iran decides to develop a nuclear weapon,” he said.
But he added on Wednesday that China and Russia specifically have “the means to threaten our interests and our way of life,” and marks the first time the United States has “confronted two major nuclear powers.”
And while Milley also said Wednesday that China’s nuclear capabilities “do not match” those of the United States, he added that they remain significant.
“There is probably nothing we can do to stop, slow down, disrupt, intercept or destroy the Chinese nuclear development program that they have projected for the next 10 to 20 years,” Milley said. “They’re going to do that according to their own plan. And I think there’s very little influence we can do externally to prevent that from happening.”
