Russian President Vladimir Putin, 69, and 68-year-old Chinese President Xi Jinping met on Zoom today, discussing the new aggression coming from the United States and its European partners. President Joe Biden, 79, got off to a bad start with Putin, telling the Russian leader to release 45-year-old Russian dissident Alexi Navalny from prison. Biden and his 59-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken have been making nothing but mistakes, antagonizing Russia and China since taking office. When it comes to Biden, most foreign leaders don’t take the aging U.S. leader seriously, knowing his age-related limitations. But Biden and Blinken’s overly aggressive foreign policy is something Putin and Xi discussed in their Zoom summit, largely reaffirming the closeness of old Communist allies. Nether Putin nor Xi are too concerned about Biden’s threats of new sanctions.
Western officials and the press have grossly exaggerated the Russian troop build-up on the Ukrainian border, with Putin sending a loud message to the U.S. and NATO that any talk of Ukraine joining the Transatlantic Alliance is off-limits. Putin has told Biden that it’s a “red line” for NATO to continue to meddle in Ukraine, concerned that the alliance encroaches on Russian sovereignty. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said yesterday that NATO has no intent of moving troops or hardware into Ukraine, certainly not intermediate-range nuclear missiles. Putin complained today to Xi that he had growing concerns about NATO moving too close to the Russian border. So when it comes to Russia or NATO’s intentions, more communications would be helpful to dispel any misunderstandings. Biden’s gunboat diplomacy, threatening military or economic sanctions, has backfired.
Since taking office Jan. 20, Biden didn’t waste too much time, calling Putin a “soulless killer” March 16, in reference to alleged poisonings of his enemies with banned Soviet-era chemical weapons. But whatever Biden reasons, he’s pushed U.S.-Russian relations to the most dangerous state since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. When it comes to China, Biden has been equally abrasive, accusing Beijing of “genocide” of Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang Province. Xi was more than happy to renew old friendships with Putin today, promising to have each other’s backs, in the Biden era of anti-Russian, anti-China relations. Xi actually looked forward to Biden after four years of tough trade negotiations with Trump. Xi hoped Biden would return to the halcyon days of former President Barack Obama, where China met no resistance. But with Biden, Xi never expected such hostile relations.
Putin and Xi agreed to extend the 20-year cooperation agreement, assuring trade and energy transfers to China into the indefinite future. Putin told Xi about his growing concerns about NATO encroachment into Ukraine. Xi agreed with Putin that the U.S. and NATO should supply Russia with legal guarantees that they’d stay out of Ukraine. Ukraine’s 45-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky has begged NATO for membership since taking office May 20, 2019. Zelensky’s flirtations with NATO have irked Putin to the point that he stationed 95,000 troops on the Ukrainian border. Xi backs Putin’s demand to have legal guarantees from the U.S. and NATO that they won’t encroach in Ukraine on Russian territory. Putin and Xi pledged relations based on not interfering with each other’s internal affairs, pledging that he would accept Xi’s invitation to join him at the Beijing opening ceremony.
Russian athletes currently serve out a two years ban from the Olympics for violating the anti-doping policy. But Russia athletes are allowed to compete under the Russian Olympic Committee [ROC] banner, skirting the Olympic ban. Biden announced last week that the U.S. would boycott any official delegation to the Beijing Winter Games, while allowing athletes to compete. Joining the U.K. and Australia in pulling officials delegations from the Beijing Games, Xi welcomed Putin to the Games with open arms. Biden has pushed Russia into China’s arms by persecuting both countries with accusations of human rights abuses. Both Russia and China consider what goes on in its borders an internal matter, not subject to international criticism. Biden’s approach to Russia and China have forced the two Communist superpowers into a security alliance, promising to protect their interests.
Boycotting the Beijing Winter Games was another nail Biden pounded into the coffin of U.S.-Chinese relations. European Union [EU] officials have been reluctant to follow the U.S. lead, if for no other reason, making political statements violates the principle of the Olympics. “At present, certain international forces are arbitrarily interfering in the internal affairs of China and Russia under the guise of democracy and human rights, and brutally trampling on international law and the norms of international relations,” Xi was quoted by CCTV. Biden has pushed Putin and Xi into an anti-Western alliance, all because he’s inclined to criticize Russia and China’s records on human rights. No matter how much Biden tries to get the EU to join his anti-Russia and anti-China campaign, there’s too much at stake for other countries to burn important trade and foreign policy bridges.
