Page 262 of 265 FirstFirst ... 162212252254255256257258259260261262263264265 LastLast
Results 6,526 to 6,550 of 6611
  1. #6526
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,552
    Too scared to even go to church, so many people want him dead.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has attended an Orthodox Church Christmas service by himself inside a Kremlin cathedral, instead of joining other worshippers in a public celebration.

  2. #6527
    Thailand Expat helge's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    11,648
    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Too scared to even go to church
    Better sitting in the pub thinking about the church, than sitting in the church thinking about the....

  3. #6528
    In Uranus
    bsnub's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    30,429
    Quote Originally Posted by helge View Post
    Better sitting in the pub thinking about the church, than sitting in the church thinking about the....
    Can you imagine Putin sitting in a pub?


  4. #6529
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,552
    Quote Originally Posted by bsnub View Post
    Can you imagine Putin sitting in a pub?

    On his own, for a photoshoot, yes.

  5. #6530
    Member

    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Last Online
    Today @ 03:18 PM
    Location
    Back in Farangland
    Posts
    315
    I can't imagine him hanging around and drinking a beer. He's such a pussy.

  6. #6531
    Thailand Expat
    malmomike77's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2021
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    13,672
    ^ it bet he'd win at Pool, Bar skittles and darts.

  7. #6532
    Thailand Expat HermantheGerman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 05:25 AM
    Location
    Germany/Satthahip
    Posts
    6,675
    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Too scared to even go to church, so many people want him dead.
    Too many Nazis....

  8. #6533
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Last Online
    Today @ 07:03 PM
    Location
    Where troubles melt like lemon drops
    Posts
    25,222
    30 January 2023 11:00

    Foreign Ministry’s answers to media questions for a news conference on Russian diplomacy’s performance in 2022


    132-30-01-2023

    "The response to unfriendly actions by Poland and the Baltic States

    Question:

    Can Russia break off relations with Poland and the Baltic States in response to these countries’ clearly unfriendly actions?

    Foreign Ministry:

    Poland and the Baltic countries are countries that have been pursuing a rampant Russophobic campaign for a long time now and that try to spearhead any anti-Russia design coming from the West. Bilateral relations with these countries have worsened in devastating proportions lately, and interaction with them has been frozen and practically reduced to zero across all areas.

    But we are not looking to break off diplomatic relations with them. Even amid these exceedingly challenging circumstances, it is important to maintain dialogue channels and to address issues that our fellow citizens and compatriots may have. We cannot rule out the possibility that, in an anti-Russia frenzy, these countries will not decide to break off contact with us altogether. If this happens, the responsibility for this step and its ramifications will fall entirely on these countries’ leaders. We will firmly defend our national interests, and our detractors must be aware of the fact that their moves will have long-term consequences.

    Russia’s role in the UN

    Question:

    Last year, we saw a greater than usual number of proposals seeking to revise Russia's role in the UN, in particular, to exclude it from being a Security Council permanent member, which is what Ukraine is insisting on with the support of its Western patrons. On the other hand, there is a growing credibility crisis regarding the UN’s ability to resolve international issues. Could 2023 become a year of dramatic change for the UN?


    Foreign Ministry:

    Kiev's awkward attempts to question the legitimacy of Russia's membership in the UN and the UN Security Council cause nothing but bewilderment. However, we are ready to continue to provide lessons in international law for our Ukrainian neighbours and their Western curators, since unfounded attacks of this kind against our country continue unabated, despite the incontrovertible arguments that we regularly present.


    We have made it clear on many occasions that Russia is a member of this global organisation and a permanent member of the UN Security Council as a successor to the Soviet Union. This status of our country is backed up by numerous official documents, among which the CIS Heads of State Council’s resolution of December 21, 1991 in which the CIS members supported Russia in taking over the Soviet Union’s UN membership, including permanent membership at the Security Council and other international organisations. President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk also put his signature under this resolution which largely brings any and all arguments provided by Kiev to naught.

    A letter by President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin to UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar dated December 24, 1991 is notable in this regard. It states that Soviet membership in the UN, including the UN Security Council, and all other UN bodies and organisations “shall be continued by the Russian Federation with support from the CIS.” Back then, not a single CIS member state objected to the arrangement described in that document, as a result of which Russia automatically assumed all the rights and obligations of the Soviet Union in this world organisation.

    There were no further attempts to formally challenge Russia’s status as the successor to the Soviet Union, which raises the question: what kind of legal changes have suddenly taken place 30 years later? This is, without a doubt, a rhetorical question given that nothing has changed since then, except the policy of the Ukrainian authorities who have chosen to engage in a crude rewriting of history to underpin the fantasies that exist only in their heads.

    With regard to the value and overall effectiveness of the UN, I would like to start by saying that, under any circumstances, the UN must retain its centrality in international affairs. It remains the core element of the modern international legal system and the only truly universal platform for finding collective answers to global challenges. The principles enshrined in its Charter, primarily, the sovereign equality of states and non-interference in their internal affairs, have not only retained their relevance, but are also being affirmed as key pillars underlying international peace and security.

    However, amid arguments about the alleged inconsistency of the UN with contemporary realities, it is important to keep in mind that the ability of the organisation to successfully fulfil its tasks directly depends on the member states’ willingness to seek compromises and to show political will, since the UN is not an “autonomous” organism. So, the remarks about the UN being “ineffective” that we hear now and then are simply untenable and any arrows of criticism should be aimed at those who undermine its authority and legitimacy with their destructive moves.

    Unfortunately, the collective West has of late adopted a straight course on destroying the foundations of the UN-centric world, striving at all costs to preserve its monopoly on declaring the main vectors of human development. On the one hand, guided by the concept of a “rules-based order,” Washington and its like-minded allies are busy churning out non-inclusive decision-making mechanisms in circumvention of the UN.

    Concurrently, attempts are being stepped up to turn the UN into a platform for exerting pressure on the countries that pursue independent foreign policies and are not willing to blindly follow Western diktat. Russia has been affected by this unscrupulous approach as well. Since the special military operation started, the United States and its allies have spared no effort to flood the UN with politically-driven anti-Russia initiatives and to exert tremendous pressure on the developing economies, literally forcing them to vote for documents of that kind.

    As a result, this global organisation has become hostage to the West’s confrontational course. This state of affairs is by no means conducive to establishing an atmosphere of trust and solidarity at the UN, which is so much sought-after in today's challenging times.

    So, a logical conclusion: our Western partners need to overhaul their approaches to international cooperation and then the full creative potential of the UN might be realised in 2023."

    To be continued...

    https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1850908/
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  9. #6534
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,552
    What's the old war criminal up to now?

    Russian diplomacy’s performance
    I'd say it's pretty shit considering they've invaded one country and are supporting terrorism in a few others.

  10. #6535
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Last Online
    Today @ 07:03 PM
    Location
    Where troubles melt like lemon drops
    Posts
    25,222
    PERMANENT MISSION
    OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS



    Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing dedicated to the anniversary of resolution 2202 that endorsed the Minsk Package of Measures


    "Thank you.

    Mme. President,

    On this day eight years ago, 17 February 2015, the Security Council adopted resolution 2202 that endorsed the Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements and thus made those agreements the only valid legal basis for internal Ukrainian settlement. Through the Security Council, the Minsk Package received support of the entire international community. Since then, the Council has convened regularly, mostly upon Russia’s initiative, to review the progress of the Minsk Package. In 2018, a PRST was adopted in support of this process. Notwithstanding, the Minsk process collapsed to signify a clear failure of the Security Council in preventive diplomacy, which many of you cite among the central tasks of this body.

    I do not know about you, but to us, it is extremely disappointing. This situation undermines the authority of the Security Council that failed to deliver on its main task, maintenance of international peace and security. I suggest that today we talk earnestly about what went wrong and what lessons need to be learned.

    I would ask our former Western partners, who are about to start reciting their habitual mantras about how everything is Russia's fault, to pry themselves away from their sheets and answer one simple question. How come that while reiterating your support for the Minsk process in this very chamber from year to year and signing documents with us, you kept “a stone in your sling” and knew all that time that the Minsk process was just a smokescreen to rearm the Kiev regime and prepare it for war against Russia in the name of your geopolitical interests?

    The recent revelations by F.Hollande, A.Merkel, and B.Johnson leave no space to doubt that the West merely imitated the a constructive process. And claims by Secretary General of NATO J.Stoltenberg that the Alliance has been preparing for a war against Russia ever since 2014, reveal the plan for geopolitical deterrence of Russia that is attempted to implement in our plain sight.

    Further to revelations, those of P.Poroshenko and V.Zelensky very eloquently depict this entire criminal plot. The corpus delicti is clear, as well as the motive. For a method, they chose to talk the international community’s head off with absurd allegations that it was Russia who did not implement the Minsk Agreements, even though the text of the deal did not mention Russia whatsoever.

    We have got a question to Mr. Sajdik. Please answer frankly, if you can. Did the OSCE and in particular the SMM realize that they were being abused, either blindly or knowingly, in this two-penny show? In Vienna, do they realize their guilt and their responsibility? Now it is clear that the SMM failed all its goals. Besides, in recent years, the Mission slid down to extremely politicized unilateral approaches. Thus, contrary to its mandate, the SMM suspended local contacts with leaders and most officials from the DPR and LPR, demanding that Donetsk and Lugansk publicly claim loyal to Kiev.

    OSCE staff did not bother to notice the Russophobia and aggressive Ukrainian nationalist narrative that were thriving in Ukraine. Inconvenient facts for Kiev and the UAF, such as the killing of civilians by Ukrainian forces in Donbas, were often retouched or hidden from the eyes of the general public in closed reports. As a result, SMM OSCE was in fact turned into a biased tool that was used to cover-up for the Kiev regime and exert pressure on the authorities of Donetsk and Lugansk instead of engaging in a dialogue with them. Such approaches jeopardized the integrity of OSCE efforts to promote peaceful settlement in eastern Ukraine.

    Mr. Sajdik, with you vast expertise, don’t you see this? Don’t you realize that all this “frank pledge” and endless lies, in which OSCE mechanisms had a very concrete role to play, trust in European multilateral institutions was critically undermined? When, how, and on whose prompting was the OSCE taken hostage by those ravaging Russophobes – Poles, Balts, and other young Europeans, who no longer even try to conceal their plans to dismember Russia and seize its natural resources? If you do not take it from me, check against the manifest that Ms. Anna Fotyga, ECR MEP from Poland, published recently in “Euractiv”.

    We would also like to draw attention to the role of another body, whose head we wanted but unfortunately could not hear from today. Since the Ukrainian crisis began in 2014, the UN Secretariat has assumed an “ostrich position”. We never heard its representatives express any direct criticism of the Kiev regime even when it waged a real war on its people in eastern regions. By the same token, we never heard them calling on Kiev to engage in a direct dialogue with Donbas, as prescribed by UNSC resolution 2202. Allegedly, UN had no such authority. And what about this unanimously adopted resolution by the Security Council? Isn’t it the authority?

    This being said, from the first days of our special military operation, the Secretariat has followed in the footsteps of Western states in churning out anti-Russian clichés and direct claims against Russia with reference to decisions by the General Assembly. Nonconsensual decisions, for that matter. One of those decisions even contains (contrary to the common sense, UN traditions and proprieties) a reference to the position of the Secretary-General. This is where UN officials ended up in after trying to ignore the violations of the Minsk Agreements and avoid giving assessments that could anger the collective West. Today many are saying that UN must be an intermediary between Russia and Ukraine.

    Taking into account what I just said, do you think we can trust such mediation?

    What are the guarantees that the Secretariat will behave differently this time?

    Mme.President,

    Renunciation of the Minsk Agreements was a tragedy for Ukraine that happened due to criminal policies of Ukrainian leadership who were instigated by the collective West. We are convinced that the Ukrainian people will give an assessment to this crime. The current leader of the country, V.Zelensky, won the election in 2019 by a strong majority, because he had promised national dialogue, protection of the Russian language, and inter-ethnic concord. However when already in office, he embarked on a course towards confrontation with Russia, having completely forgotten all his campaign slogans for the benefit of geopolitical ambitions of the West.

    Colleagues, now I speak to Western membership of the Council. We will not be able to live on as we used to, that’s for sure. Because you already showed enough of your deep-lying Russophobia to prove that this Russophobic stance and your striving to destroy our country, preferably by proxy, is everything that has been guiding you. You are not interested in building up European and Euro-Atlantic security system together with Russia. You want it to be against Russia.

    We no longer have trust in you, and we cannot believe in any of your promises, be it NATO’s non-expansion to the east or your so-called zero intention to interfere in our domestic affairs, or your proclaimed willingness to live in peace as good neighbors. You showed your total intractability and slyness when first you created a neo-Nazi nationalist beehive at our borders and then ripped it.
    We learned the top price to all your values after you turned a blind eye to the formation of a violent Russophobic dictatorship in Ukraine that suppressed every tiniest manifestation of the freedom of speech and political views.

    So far, we have had no reasons to believe that you are capable of disrupting this vicious circle of lies and self-deceit. The more tales you are going to tell today about Russia’s alleged non-compliance with the Minsk Agreements, the more people will see that we had no other option but to protect our country, protect it from you, protect our identity and our future,

    https://russiaun.ru/site/error/lang/en










    1

  11. #6536
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,552
    A paranoid Vladimir Putin fears being poisoned by his entourage and has taken to travelling in a specially-made armoured train because he is scared his presidential plane will be shot out of the sky.
    As the war in Ukraine stretches on the Russian premiere's anxiety has only increased, says a former KGB colleague.
    The whistleblower, who attended spying school with the Russian dictator, says Putin is concerned over a “meat grinder” struggle for power inside his circle.
    Yury Shvets, 71, a contemporary who studied with him at the KGB Institute, said: “It looks like he fears for his life.

    'Paranoid' Putin travels in armoured train and fears poisoning over Kremlin power struggle - World News - Mirror Online
    The next post may be brought to you by my little bitch Spamdreth

  12. #6537
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456
    a specially-made armoured train
    Not a specially made jumbo jet? Primitives.

  13. #6538
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,552
    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Not a specially made jumbo jet? Primitives.
    It's a fair point, he's probably sensible not flying in one of those russian deathtraps.

  14. #6539
    In Uranus
    bsnub's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    30,429
    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Not a specially made jumbo jet? Primitives.
    I think you missed the more salient point, dippy...

    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    because he is scared his presidential plane will be shot out of the sky.

  15. #6540
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Last Online
    Today @ 07:03 PM
    Location
    Where troubles melt like lemon drops
    Posts
    25,222
    The LORD was focused on internal improvements and the continuation of a strong Russia in his speech today

    However this article may be more topical:

    WILL PUTIN ANNOUNCE THE BEGINNING OF A RUSSIAN-CHINESE DEFENSE PACT?

    "Joe Biden made a semi-coherent speech in Kiev and may do an encore on Tuesday in Poland. I am confident he will display the same muddled thoughts and tangled syntax if he gets to a podium. Winston Churchill can rest in peace. Compared to Churchill, Biden’s oratory skills remind one of a chattering, grinning baboon. I wonder if the bookies in Vegas or London are offering odds on how many times he shouts and how many times he whispers in one speech? Got to admit it.

    Which brings me to Putin. He ain’t monkeying around. His much anticipated speech to both houses of the Russian parliament and to the military leadership will stand in stark contrast to the mumblings of Joe Biden. One subject where Biden is likely to break new ground is Russia’s future military alliance with China. Up to now Russia and China have participated in joint-exercises but, like a couple in the early stages of dating, they have not decided to tie the knot and get hitched. Not until now. The courting period may be ending and the dawn of a Russian/Chinese military alliance may be at hand.

    Why do I say this? I am reading the tea leaves of leaks from the Biden team.

    The US has recently begun seeing “disturbing” trendlines in China’s support for Russia’s military and there are signs that Beijing wants to “creep up to the line” of providing lethal military aid to Russia without getting caught, US officials familiar with the intelligence told CNN.

    The officials would not describe in detail what intelligence the US has seen suggesting a recent shift in China’s posture, but said US officials have been concerned enough that they have shared the intelligence with allies and partners at the Munich Security Conference over the last several days.

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the issue when he met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Saturday on the sidelines of the conference, officials said.

    “The Secretary was quite blunt in warning about the implications and consequences of China providing material support to Russia or assisting Russia with systematic sanctions evasion,” a senior State Department official told reporters.

    Vice President Kamala Harris also alluded to China’s support for Russia, during her speech in Munich.

    Would China entertain entering such an alliance? I think it is a distinct possibility.

    I want to direct you to a piece in The Diplomat from March of 2022, 3 Possible Futures for China-Russia Military Cooperation, After the Ukraine war, will China maintain, expand, or scale back its military cooperation with Russia?

    3 Possible Futures for China-Russia Military Cooperation – The Diplomat

    Mr. Waidlich presents three scenarios. Two of those scenarios conclude that China will stick with the status quo or that Russian and Chinese ties could weaken.

    It is his third scenario that caught my eye:

    Future 3: Cooperation Is Markedly Strengthened


    Unlike the two scenarios above, a future of strengthened China-Russia military cooperation may have less to do with the way the Ukraine conflict plays out and more to do with China’sperception of threats in the Indo-Pacific. Such a future would see the United States and its allies increasingly united in their rhetoric and actions aimed at pressuring China over its declared interests in areas such as Taiwan, the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, and disputed islands in the South China Sea. China may find it beneficial to visibly strengthen its military ties with Russia if it believes the chances of an Indo-Pacific conflict are growing and that military cooperation with Russia could enhance its deterrence messaging against the U.S. and its allies.

    Kudos to Mr. Waidlich. China clearly faces increased threats from the U.S. and its European allies. Waidlich goes on to sketch out what he believes a more cooperative relationship would look like:

    Enhanced technical cooperation, to potentially include ongoing Chinese purchases of Russian arms and an expansion of joint development projects on platforms that incorporate key Russian technologies (e.g., submarines). Amid expanded cooperation in this area, China may seek to pressure Russia to reduce its arms sales to countries with which China has territorial disputes, such as India and Vietnam.

    Expanded combined exercises that exhibit greater frequency, scale, and complexity. Combined exercises could continue to feature high-end warfighting like anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare and potentially expand to joint exercises with multiple military services.

    More targeted combined patrols, to include air and maritime patrols around Japan and possibly other U.S. allies — or the United States itself. Chinese military have in recent years demonstrated capabilities to operate at increasingly distant ranges in the Pacific.

    More frequent key leader exchanges, during which leaders articulate shared assessments of the security environment and determination to support each other’s interests. Related readouts would continue to affix blame on the U.S. and its allies for geostrategic instability from Eastern Europe

    I would add one more possibility — a mutual defense pact.

    No more making out in the back seat of the car at the drive in (I know, I date myself with that one). Russia and China could decide to get married and climb into bed.

    The bellicose language that the U.S. routinely hurls at China is taken seriously in Beijing. The American belligerence directed at the Chinese cannot be excused as unintended speech caused by slamming too many whiskeys at the corner bar. It is not just Biden. American politicians, journalists and average citizens speak openly of China as “our enemy.”

    Nearly half of Americans now say China is the greatest enemy of the United States more than double the percentage who said likewise just last year, according to a survey conducted by Gallup.

    Since rift between China and America has widened into a yawning chasm. Have we reached the point where the Chinese leadership are going to acknowledge this fact and take steps to defend themselves?

    The war in Ukraine and the West’s extravagant support to keep the war going, by supplying both funds and weapons, has not gone unnoticed in Beijing. The verbal attacks on China in the wake of the weather/”spy” balloon have added to the already tense relations between Washington and Beijing."


    What do you think? Will Putin comment on Russia’s relations with China?

    https://sonar21.com/will-putin-annou...-defense-pact/
    Last edited by OhOh; 22-02-2023 at 12:42 AM.

  16. #6541
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,552
    Translation: Is the high-heeled war criminal desperately trying to get Chinkystan to validate his illegal invasion of a sovereign country?

    Of course.

    What does chinkystan say?

    "China firmly advocates respecting and safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries," Wang said, according to a statement from China's Foreign Ministry. "This equally applies to the Ukraine issue."

  17. #6542
    Thailand Expat
    panama hat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Last Online
    21-10-2023 @ 08:08 AM
    Location
    Way, Way South of the border now - thank God!
    Posts
    32,680
    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    What does chinkystan say?
    Oh dear . . . Vlad must be sad that his best friend isn't openly backing him


  18. #6543
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,552
    In fairness though, you can't trust the chinkies.

  19. #6544
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,552
    And now the high-heeled war criminal is whining at the Americans for helping Ukraine fight his illegal invasion.

    At this rate he'll outwhine the chinkies.

    Russia summons US ambassador to Moscow to protest ‘expanding’ involvement in Ukraine | The Hill

  20. #6545
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Last Online
    Today @ 07:03 PM
    Location
    Where troubles melt like lemon drops
    Posts
    25,222
    How dangerous is Vladimir Putin?-b1a66c98-9f2d-47a3-bc4f-d65de7f0063c-jpeg

  21. #6546
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,552
    What a stupid cartoon.

    No-one would give a fuck if the chinkies and russians have a defence pact like NATO.

    No-one is invading Russia or chinkystan.

  22. #6547
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456
    Several people give a fuck that the events surrounding the USA's proxy war on Russia via Ukraine have resulted in a strengthening of the Chinese/ Russian diplomatic, economic and security alliance 'arry. It has also highlighted the fact that, these days, US hegemony applies only to the western world plus it's security proxies in Japan & Sth Korea.

  23. #6548
    A Cockless Wonder
    Looper's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:15 PM
    Posts
    15,185
    Ukraine war: China's claim to neutrality fades with Moscow visit

    Vladimir Putin loves a really long table. Images of his meetings are famous, with the Russian leader at one end and the person he is speaking to so far away that you wonder if it is hard for them to hear one other.

    It was not like that when he met China's top foreign policy official, Wang Yi.

    How dangerous is Vladimir Putin?-scc-png

    There they were, sitting within handshake distance, with an oval shaped table in the middle.

    It could be that the proximity was achieved by seating placement at a previously-used table, with the Chinese delegation directly across the middle rather than at the long ends but the effect was the same.

    When the footage was released, it appeared to be a deliberately symbolic move to show that he felt safe enough to be that close to the representative of such an important friend.

    Of course, it hasn't always been that way. Decades ago, Beijing's network of underground fallout shelters were designed to protect the citizens of the Chinese capital from a nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

    Yet now Xi Jinping's administration sees Russia as a front-line enemy of US influence. A nation which - like North Korea - may be considered an international pariah but which serves a useful geopolitical purpose.

    The Chinese Government didn't even seem that embarrassed when President Putin returned home from attending Beijing Winter Olympics, having proclaimed a new "no limits" relationship with China and, within weeks, launched the invasion of Ukraine.

    Many have asked whether Mr Xi was warned about the imminent war when he sat next to his Russian counterpart who must have been considering barely anything else at the time.

    China is walking along a very delicate path in its dealings with Russia over Ukraine. Mr Xi may feel like he's confidently striding down the track, but some think that the path is crumbling at the edges, with Beijing's claim to neutrality increasingly difficult to stand up.

    Wang Yi comes out of meetings proclaiming that China and Russia are together promoting "peace and stability".

    In other parts of the world, it will seem ludicrous to use expressions like "peace and stability" on a trip to Russia almost one year before the first anniversary of that country's invasion of Ukraine.

    Beijing knows this and yet decided to press ahead nevertheless, in the full knowledge that it will take a hit reputationally because it has calculated that is more important to offer significant moral support to Vladimir Putin at this time.

    When Wang Yi met Sergei Lavrov he said, "I am ready to exchange views with you my dear friend, on issues of mutual interest and I look forward to reaching new agreements".

    Russia's Foreign Minister said the two were showing solidarity and defending each other's interests despite "high turbulence on the world stage", as if this turbulence was something floating in the ether rather than chaos of his own government's making.
    Media caption,

    Watch: Putin and Biden's speeches compared in under a minute

    Earlier this week in Beijing, China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned that the conflict in Ukraine could spiral out of control if certain countries keep pouring fuel on the fire.

    He was referring to the US, a country which is openly giving military assistance to the Ukrainian army but which has warned China not to provide Russia with weapons and ammunition.

    Analysts are now asking what options China might consider if it looks like President Putin is facing a humiliating battlefield defeat.

    Researchers in America say that Beijing is already supplying Russia with dual use equipment, technology which can appear to be civilian, but which can also, for example, be used to repair jet fighters.

    It has also not tried to hide the fact that it is buying up Russian oil and gas to make up for markets its neighbour lost due to sanctions which followed the invasion.

    What support is China giving Russia?
    Why so many Russians turn a blind eye to war

    And Vladimir Putin confirmed in his meeting with Wang Yi that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will soon travel to Moscow. It is thought this might happen in the coming months.

    In a way, the Kremlin is doing China's dirty work. It is draining Western military resources and putting pressure on Nato and if Russia's economy tanks because of it, does that really matter to Beijing? It will just need more Chinese products for the recovery afterwards.

    The problem is that Western countries have been quite united, Russia doesn't appear able to win and, increasingly, China is being seen standing side by side with a bully who forced a bloody, prolonged, war on Europe.

    China has to be careful not to bite off more than it can handle, but the rest of the world also won't want Asia's giant dragged into this war to a greater extent than it already is.

    Ukraine war: China'''s claim to neutrality fades with Moscow visit - BBC News

  24. #6549
    In Uranus
    bsnub's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    30,429
    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    It has also highlighted the fact that, these days, US hegemony applies only to the western world plus it's security proxies in Japan & Sth Korea.

  25. #6550
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456


    Yep- that's exactly what the Chinese, Indians, Saffas and Brazilians did when the Amerkins came and tried to panhandle them into taking sides in this European war.

Page 262 of 265 FirstFirst ... 162212252254255256257258259260261262263264265 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •