In addition to Ukraine, the basic priorities of the summit revolved around issues of trade, cooperation, investment and further orientation in various positions, in which they once again intensively emphasized “the multipolar world”.
It was a ceremony with imperial airs, evoking the all-encompassing tsarist power of Peter the Great, the same one Vladimir Putin so admires: Chinese leader Xi Jinping enjoyed such a lavish reception at the Kremlin Palace that even the soldiers opened the doors The huge ones The gilded doors leading to St. George’s Room had a studied contortion of the neck muscles that no one missed. Autocratic pomp and circumstance.
Xi’s visit to Moscow is seen as strategic and transcendental due to the importance of everything around him: critical tensions between both powers with the United States and most member countries of the US Nato; one of them has been invading Ukraine for a year; both face different types of sanctions at international level; both are ambitious leaders who undermine democratic values and human rights. Both strive for a new world order with greater weight in their political, economic and military decisions. As if that wasn’t enough, both countries have territorial conflicts in their respective spheres of influence.
Xi arrived in Moscow after the International Criminal Court announcement (TPI) to issue an arrest warrant for the Russian President accused of war crimes; actually because of the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
A lawsuit filed at the time by Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski, who came to report a group of “200,000 children” in the situation, but eventually the court recognized the kidnapping of 16,000.
This international body, which functions as a kind of “tribunal”, was created thanks to the Treaties of Rome to “judgment persons accused of committing war crimes, aggression and crimes against humanity”. Its jurisdiction is international and TPI 123 countries of the world are complied with.
Only neither Russia nor US or China are part of it (along with other countries like Israel, North Korea, India, Iran, Armenia or Azerbaijan) and it is important not to confuse it with the attached International Court of Justice U.N..
There are those who see in this opinion a moral victory and another opportunity to embarrass both Xi and Putin because the Chinese leader remains on the side of the autocracy bloc and his main ally is now a dictator with an arrest warrant.
The three-day meeting in Moscow had several objectives, one of which was very relevant: to discuss the Chinese dignitary’s 12-point peace proposal on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A warlike occupation that has already exceeded a year and whose Russian indignation China has never condemned, either openly or in the sessions of the General Council of the U.N..
Xi flew with negotiating air from Beijing after a historic mediation between Saudi Arabia and Iran that has gone almost unnoticed by much of the Western media. Although it did not go unnoticed by Washington, given the importance of what was happening, which sees how its Saudi partner is now just a mirage: on March 10, a statement signed by the foreign ministers of China, Israel and Saudi Arabia reported ” the Resumption of diplomatic relations and the reopening of the embassies in Tehran and Riyadh within two months”.
Rumors have swirled since 2021 that Beijing has mediated between the two countries, sworn enemies who have faced each other for control of the Middle East since 1979, and while international eyes are on Ukraine, restoring ties has finally been possible.
For Xi, it represents a very important diplomatic success in the region, which for decades has become a destabilizing flashpoint with numerous confrontations between regional countries and bitter neighborhoods.
Central to China’s Silk Road strategy is the fact that the Middle East is a stable and predictable territory. Since the withdrawal of troops from the Nato Afghanistan, August 30, 2021, much has been happening in the Middle East, but no one expected that the historical conflicts between Shias (Iran) and Sunnis (Saudi Arabia) could be put aside because their opposing interests are also engulfed in wars flow in Syria and Yemen.
disinterest
The twelve peace points proposed by China for both Russia and Ukraine are ambiguous, although they speak of respect for territorial integrity.
Putin, who has been holding the document for several days, told the Chinese leader that “many points of the peace plan can serve as a basis for a peaceful settlement of the conflict” if the West and Kiev are willing to do so.
The Chinese declaration includes: 1) respect for the sovereignty of all countries and their territorial integrity; 2) moving away from the Cold War mentality; 3) respecting countries’ legitimate security concerns; 4) armistice; 5) Beginning of peace talks, since dialogue and negotiations are the only viable solution to solve the crisis; 6) solving the humanitarian crisis to protect civilians and with humanitarian corridors for their evacuation; 7) supporting the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine and stopping attacks on civilian facilities; 8) protecting the safety of nuclear power plants and stopping armed attacks on nuclear power plants; 9) Reduction of strategic risks with an emphasis on avoiding nuclear war; 10) Grain export guarantee; 11) ending unilateral sanctions when problems are left unresolved and even creating new ones, and protecting the stability of industrial and supply chains; and 12) support for post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.
Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity is ambiguous as it is not clear if this includes returning to Ukraine the occupied territories: Crimea since 2014; recently annexed Donbass, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Mariupol and adhered to the Russian Constitution as an integral part of the Russian Federation.
Regarding the delivery of grain thanks to the mediation of Turkey together with the U.N. A corridor has been set up for these and other Ukrainian-made foods that cannot go abroad, as Russian troops control Ukrainian ports on the Azov and Black Seas.
The renewal permits for these exports were agreed every 60 days; On March 19, the security regulations expired and Turkey along with the U.N. renewed every 120 days on average. It is an important pact for the export of wheat and other grains. And it is thanks to the inspection of Turks, Ukrainians, personnel U.N. and Russians that these freighters can leave these ports for the Bosphorus.
Is there seriousness in these proposed points for peace? Putin has listened to them and Xi is content to have presented them, knowing that he has not openly condemned the invasion or the killing of Ukrainian civilians. Xi has also offered a phone call with Zelenski without being interested in visiting him in person, as warranted by the delicate situation of a war provoked by his main partner.
More cooperation and gas
Putin, who is all intentional and provocative, manifests in his gestures and actions his personality as a hard-fisted man with an imperialist-tsarist mentality and Leninist-Stalinist actions: In the past few months, 14 Russian magnates have died under strange circumstances, many of them related the energy business. Some even died along with their families.
Putin loves splendor and calibrates his gestures and turns to the millimeter. To the arrest warrant by the TPI The Russian response was all set design: a (Chubber)Putin on a surprise visit to Crimea and then Mariupol is shown driving a car somewhere on Ukrainian roads and then conversing with the residents of devastated Mariupol.
The strangest thing is that the day after this surprise visit, a much thinner Putin, with a more rested and less round face, dressed in an impeccable suit, with his red tie, appeared to greet his dear friend in the Kremlin, Xi.
And while the Chinese leader chose Russia for his first visit after being re-elected to a third term on March 10 and dedicating three days to Putin’s search for peace, the Russian stands in profile to order a new missile attack on Kiev.
“We have many common tasks and goals. The bonds that bind us are getting stronger and stronger. So much so that it is symbolic that you, dear friend, have chosen Russia for your first foreign visit of your new term,” Putin reiterated, locking eyes with a smiling Xi.
China doesn’t quite find its place in the world; The proximity to Russia is inevitably a strategic pact: “We are partners in comprehensive strategic cooperation. This status determines that there should be close ties between our countries.”
Both have patted each other on the back, believing the world is against them, and amidst the animosity they seek to unite. Xi even wished for Putin to be elected (again) next year because his leadership is needed by the Russians.
The 70-year-old Putin has held the posts of President and Prime Minister of the Russian Federation since 2012 and has been in power for 20 years. And in 2024 he could be re-elected for another six years.
The same goes for Xi (a year younger than Putin), who took over all powers in his country since 2013 and became a totem of the Chinese Communist Party, the nation’s top military leader and president. His re-election last March will allow him to govern until 2028, when he will be 75 years old.
For US Xi’s peace plan is a dead letter and a kind of external facelift, but without too much commitment. Antony Blinken himself, US Secretary of State, criticized the meeting: “Xi’s visit to Russia days after an arrest warrant was issued against Putin suggests that China does not feel responsible, pointing the finger at the Kremlin for the atrocities committed in Ukraine to show. “.
In addition to Ukraine, the basic focus of the binational meeting between Russia and China revolved around issues of trade, cooperation, investment and further alignment in various positions in which they once again intensively emphasized the “multipolar world”.
In Xi’s words: “Putin and I expressed serious concerns about the continued strengthening of the military and security ties between the two countries Nato with the countries of Asia and the Pacific. We are both opposed to external military forces undermining peace and stability in the region.”
During his speech, Putin stressed that about two-thirds of trade between Russia and China is conducted in rubles and yuan; He said he supports the use of the yuan in Russia’s trade with countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Russia has insisted for some time on looking for an alternative monetary model to the dollar and wants to achieve this by appreciating the yuan. For China, their deal is more about getting Russian gas and oil cheaply and in bulk. China is willing to finance the construction of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline from Mongolia to Chinese territory so that the gas and oil that the Europeans don’t want can be taken over by the Chinese.
Russia threatens Germany
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that any attempt by Germany to arrest Vladimir Putin by order of the International Criminal Court could trigger World War III.
It is worth noting that this is the first time an arrest warrant has been issued for the chairman of one of the five permanent members of the Security Council U.N..
Medvedev, who was also Prime Minister of Russia for eight years, is the current Vice President of the Russian Security Council and one of those responsible for the invasion of Ukraine.
“Let’s imagine … obviously this situation will never happen, but let’s imagine that it actually happened. The current head of the nuclear state went to a territory, let’s say Germany, and was arrested… What would that be? A declaration of war and we would attack immediately,” Medvedev said.
The former president’s comments come days after German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann told the Bild newspaper that Putin would be arrested if he entered Germany.
The first dilemma, for now, is South Africa, the country that Putin has invited to attend next August’s summit BRICS and is a member of the International Criminal Court.
More pressure and tension
Geostrategist Raúl González has described the International Criminal Court’s order against Vladimir Putin as “a gesture and a new way of applying pressure”.
He says it is “another step by this group of countries to apply pressure, but unfortunately I don’t think it will do much, at least in the short term. He TPI It is based on the countries that signed the Rome Statute in 1998, signed by Russia and then US, but later they withdrew their signature. There is no recognition of this criminal court as such by these countries,” the expert added IDITES OF.
As for Putin’s arrest when he travels abroad, González asks which country would dare arrest someone of Putin’s weight. “I don’t see anyone who would do that.”
Javier Jiménez Olmos, a member of the Peace Observatory, points out that this “will do nothing” in terms of the escalation of the conflict because it will mean “greater internal support” for Putin. Let’s remember what happened when US invaded Iraq: He had not ratified its membership in Iraq TPI and therefore he could not be charged with war crimes.”
The analyst believes this announcement will have no effect and is more likely to come amid the Chinese leader’s visit to Russia. “It’s not effective, nor does it help relieve tension.”