China is likely to back Russia for the foreseeable future.
(Photo: AP)
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin spared no effort to flatter China’s head of state Xi Jinping in Moscow. Despite the top-class program and exquisite hospitality – the dinner on Monday included reindeer and quail pancakes – Xi was reluctant: For example, Putin was unable to wring a promise from his “dear friend” to buy significantly more gas from Russia.
Still, for Putin, the main message emanating from this summit is one of success: Beijing stands by Moscow. This means that the vague hope that Xi could put pressure on Putin and contribute to an early end to the fighting in Ukraine has finally evaporated with his visit.
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Xi likes to pretend to be a peace mediator and refers to the twelve-point paper presented by China. But that hardly contains any concrete proposals for peace in Ukraine, but above all it does not envisage the withdrawal of Russian troops from the entire national territory of Ukraine.
In truth, then, China is primarily supporting Russia’s position. Putin has spoken five times in Xi since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is still awaiting a first phone call. For Ukraine, the state visit gave no cause for optimism.
For Europe and the USA, all of this can only mean: Now more than ever, back up Ukraine in the fight for its sovereignty and territorial integrity – and do it as a unit.
Hoping for or being distracted by the initiatives of others means wasting valuable time. Xi is not an honest broker in this conflict. The president makes his decisions with a completely different calculation. He sees in Russia a partner for his goal of a world order without Western dominance.
A quick departure from his current pro-Russian position is therefore unlikely. The West must also draw conclusions from this in relation to its own relationship with China.
China is exploiting Russia’s self-inflicted economic difficulties to further its own political interests. A head of state Xi, who openly supports someone wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes, is neither concerned with the well-being of the people in Ukraine nor with the development opportunities of ailing Russia – but solely with his own interests.
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