The meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping went off without a hitch as expected, as the two men walked toward each other down long rugs to meet in the center of an ornate, palatial hall in the Kremlin for a firm handshake.
A performance of Swan Lake by the Russian ballet couldn’t have been better choreographed, right down to the grand entrance.
Xi and Putin stood shoulder to shoulder as Xi wanted to send a clear message that he didn’t care how many civilians Putin murdered or how many aggressive wars he started, China and Russia were joined at the hip because much of the rest of the world stands against them.
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Was there any serious business discussed at all? It’s generally believed by western intelligence agencies that Putin brought up the topic of Chinese armaments to Russia — lots and lots of them. Indeed, at this point, China is the only non-western aligned nation that can give Putin what he needs to continue the slaughter in Ukraine.
Other than that, Xi might have told Putin to keep that dirt-cheap energy coming his way, as the Russian leader has been forced to sell oil, gas, and coal to China at a steep discount due to western sanctions.
As he was leaving, Xi was heard telling Putin, “Now there are changes that haven’t happened in 100 years. When we are together, we drive these changes.”
“I agree,” Putin said, to which Xi responded, “Take care of yourself, dear friend, please.”
The Chinese were gushing about the meeting. “They [the leaders] shared the view that this relationship has gone far beyond the bilateral scope and acquired critical importance for the global landscape and the future of humanity,” said a statement released by China.
Putin stressed his belief in the UN — magical thinking to be sure. “We are working in solidarity on the formation of a more just and democratic multipolar world order, which should be based on the central role of the U.N., its Security Council, international law, the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter,” he wrote on the Kremlin website.
Both Xi and Putin insist they are not forming a military alliance.
In an earlier joint statement the leaders accused the West of undermining global stability and NATO of barging into the Asia-Pacific region, but asserted the close partnership between China and Russia did not constitute a “military-political alliance.”
On Ukraine, Putin praised Xi for a peace plan he proposed last month, and blamed Kyiv and the West for rejecting. The West sees China’s peace plan as a ploy to buy Putin time to regroup his forces and solidify his grip on occupied land.
China’s 12-point plan has no specific details on how to end the bloody year-long war, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee.
The White House was not convinced.
“A ceasefire right now, freezing the lines where they are, basically gives him [Putin] the time and space he needs to try to re-equip, to re-man, to make up for that resource expenditure,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said about the Chinese plan.
The International Monetary Fund announced a preliminary agreement with Kyiv on a four-year loan package of about $15.6 billion — a not insignificant amount. And the U.S. has promised to speed up the delivery of the 31 Abrams tanks Biden pledged to supply to Ukraine last month.
If Xi is serious about helping his “dear friend” Vlad, he’s going to have to risk western sanctions and start supplying the Russian army with what they’re going to need to stave off disaster when Ukraine launches its own offensive during the spring.
