Meeting 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, 69-year-old Chinese President Xi Jinping convened the Shanghai Cooperation Organization [SCO], comprised of former Soviets nations all banned together to compete with the West. “We highly appreciate the well-balanced position of our Chinese friends in connection with the Ukrainian crisis,” Putin told Xi across a long table. Putin has scrambled to circumvent crippling economic sanctions from the U.S. and EU, essentially boycotting Russian oil and natural gas. Looking to friends in various parts of the globe, Putin found more than willing customers in his oil and natural gas, rejecting 79-year-old President Joe Biden’s attempt to isolate Putin. Xi has been concerned that the Ukraine War has fueled inflation and driven many countries into recession around the globe, some of the obvious drawbacks.
Biden’s relations with Russia and China could not be worse, in a proxy war with Russia and close to a war over Taiwan with China. Never before in U.S. history, have U.S.-Russian and U.S.-Chinese been so deteriorated under Biden’s leadership. It’s one thing to have dispute with the Kremlin over the Ukraine War, it’s another thing for Biden to morph the conflict into a proxy war against Russia, claiming March 26 that Putin should no longer remain Russian president. Daily fake news about an imminent coup in Moscow or Putin’s alleged terminal illness has shown the degree to propaganda and disinformation coming from the West. Biden didn’t calculate that only half the world agree with his position to sanction, isolate and evict Putin from office. Xi continues to offer Putin all the support he needs to circumvent U.S. and EU sanctions, leaving Biden exasperated with his anti-Putin coalition.
European Union Commission President Ursuala von der Leyen, a once German politician, said today she should have listened to countries, like the Baltics, warning about Putin’s intent to take over Eastern Europe. Von der Leyen forgets how the whole mess started Feb. 22, 2014 when a CIA-backed coup toppled the Kremlin-backed Kiev government of Viktor Yanukovych. Putin was stuck hosting the Sochi Winter Olympics. But one the games ended, Putin didn’t waste any time moving the Russian army into the Crimean Peninsula. So when it comes to the history of today’s Ukraine War, there were clear antecedents to the conflict. Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky provoked Putin for years trying to gain NATO membership. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg rejected any attempt by Ukraine for membership knowingNATO could get sucked into a war on the European Continent.
When the war started Feb. 24, Zelensky asked the U.S. and NATO for troops and and a no-fly-zone, all rejected by the White House, EU and NATO knowing it could start WW III. Biden’s poor relations with Beijing drove Xi into a military and economic cooperation agreement with Russia. While Biden begged Xi to denounce the Ukraine War publicly, he was simultaneously called out Communist China for genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in Western China. Once Biden decided to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics, Putin had cemented his new strategic alliance with Xi. Xi’s concern about the Ukraine war is less about Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity then about how the war has fueled global inflation and recession. Xi 100% agrees with Putin’s right to national security, resisting U.S. arming Kiev to battle the Russian Federation for a U.S. proxy war.
Putin didn’t hesitate to let the world know that he’s been transparent with his partners in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. “We understand your questions and your concerns in this regard, and we certainly will offer a detailed explanation of our stand on this issue during today’s meeting even though we already talked about it earlier,” Putin said. “We condemn the provocation of the U.S. and its satellites in the Taiwan Strait,” Putin said, letting Xi know that he totally backs Beijing in any conflict against Taiwan. Putin also talked about his support for a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan where Armenia has battled for its independence. White House officials agree with Putin to defuse current hostilities in Armenia and Azerbaijan. But with Biden wrecking any cooperation between Moscow and Washington, it makes work between the two superpowers next to impossible.
Putin plans to meet with 68-year-old Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Smarkand to discus Turkey’s possible role in ceasefire and peace talks for Ukraine. Erdogan has promised to push for more grain transfers out of Ukraine’s ports to mitigate any effect on world hunger, especially in Africa. Putin and Xi stay active economically in Krgyzstan and Usbekistan, investing in high-peed rail to better connect countries along the historic Silk Road to China. Xi wants to promote his Global Security Initiative, countering the Quad by the U.S, Japan, Australia and India, to challenge China’s more assertive actions in the Indo-Asian countries. When it comes to the U.S., it has less clout than ever trying to counter China’s aggression in the South China Sea, building military installation in what the Hague ruled in 2015 was international waters. Biden has made U.S. clout more difficult in the Pacific Rim.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
