From Pepe Escobar
what just happened Moscow it is nothing short of a new one And bigwhich is in there by the way Crimea. But unlike the momentous meeting of the American President Franklin D Rooseveltthe Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Crimea headed by USSR [1945marksthefirsttimeinpossiblyfivecenturiesthatnopoliticalleaderhasleft[1945istdiesdasersteMalseitmöglicherweisefünfJahrhundertendasskeinpolitischerFühreraustrittwest sets the global agenda.
You are the Chinese President Xi Jinpingand the Russian President, Wladimir Putin, those who are now running the multilateral and multipolar show. Western masterminds can flaunt their whiny routines all they want: nothing will change the spectacular visuals and underlying substance of this evolving world order, especially for the Global South.
What Xi and Putin intend was spelled out ahead of their summit in two statements written by the presidents themselves. Putin’s vision was presented like a highly synchronized Russian ballet people’s newspaper In Chinafocusing on a “forward-looking partnership,” while Xi’s was published in the Russian newspaper and the website RIA Novostiwhich focuses on a new chapter on cooperation and common development.
Since the summit began, speeches by Xi and Putin have led most of the summit members Nato in a hysterical frenzy of anger and envy: the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria ZakharovaHe captured the mood perfectly when he commented that the West was “frothing at the mouth”.
The front page of the Russian Gazette on Monday was legendary: Putin on tour Mariupol free from Nazis, chatting with local residents, alongside Xi’s comment. That was Moscow’s answer to the maneuver in a nutshell MQ-9 Reaper from Washington and to the antics of the kangaroo court that International Criminal Court (ICC) . foam at the mouth as much as you like; NATO is about to be completely humiliated Ukraine.
At their first “informal” meeting, Xi and Putin spoke to each other for no less than four and a half hours. In the end, Putin personally escorted Xi to his limousine. That conversation was the real deal: drawing the boundaries of multipolarity beginning with a solution for Ukraine.
Not surprisingly, the Sherpas gave very few leaks, but there was a fairly significant one in their “in-depth exchanges” on Ukraine. Putin politely stressed that he respects China’s position, which is reflected in the 12-point conflict resolution plan. Beijing, which was rejected outright by Washington. But the Russian position remains adamant: demilitarization, Ukrainian neutrality and consecration of the new facts on the ground.
At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry completely ruled out a role for the USAHe Great Britain, France And Germany in future negotiations with Ukraine: neutral mediators will not be considered.
A multipolar patchwork quilt
The next day was about business: from energy to “military-technical” cooperation to improving the efficiency of the trade and economic corridors passing through Eurasian.
Russia already ranks first as a supplier of natural gas to China, surpassing Turkmenistan And Qatarmost of it through the gas pipeline Power of Siberia of 3,000 km that stretches from Siberia in Northeast China Province Heilongjiangpublished December 2019. Negotiations on Power of Siberia II, gas pipeline through MongoliaThey move fast.
Sino-Russian high-tech cooperation set to skyrocket: 79 projects worth more than $165 billion. Everything from liquefied natural gas (LNG) to aircraft construction, machine tool construction, space exploration, agribusiness to improved economic corridors.
The Chinese President specifically said he wanted to link the projects of the New Silk Road for the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEA). This interpolation BRI–EAEU it’s a natural progression. China has already signed an economic cooperation agreement with the EAEU. The ideas of Russian macroeconomic super-strategist Sergei Glazyev are finally paying off.
Last but not least, there will be a new push towards mutual agreements in and between national currencies Asia And AfricaAnd Latin America. For practical reasons, Putin has confirmed the role of the Chinese yuan as the new preferred trading currency, while complex discussions continue on a new gold- and/or commodity-backed reserve currency.
This joint economic/trade offensive follows on from the concerted diplomatic offensive between Russia and China to reshape large parts of West Asia and Africa.
Chinese diplomacy works like the matryoshka (Russian stacking dolls) in terms of delivering subtle messages. It is far from coincidence that Xi’s trip to Moscow coincides exactly with the 20th anniversary of the US “Shock and Awe” and illegal invasion, occupation and destruction Iraq.
In parallel, more than 40 delegations from Africa arrived in Moscow a day before Xi to attend a parliamentary conference “Russia-Africa in the Multipolar World” in preparation for the second Russia-Africa summit next July.
The environment of duma It looked like old times Unaligned movement (NAM) when most of Africa had very close anti-imperialist ties with the USSR.
Putin chose this very moment to write off more than $20 billion in African debt.
In West AsiaRussia and China act completely synchronously.
West Asia
The rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran was actually pushed by Russia Baghdad And Oman: These negotiations led to the signing of the agreement in Beijing. Moscow is also coordinating rapprochement talks between them Syria And Turkey. Russian diplomacy with Iran, which now has strategic partnership status, remains on a separate path.
Diplomatic sources confirm that Chinese intelligence, through its own investigations, is now absolutely certain that Putin is well liked in Russia and even within the country’s political elites. That means regime change conspiracies are out of the question. This was central to Xi’s decision and zhongnanhai (China’s headquarters for state and party officials) to “bet” on Putin as a trusted partner in the coming years, given that he could run and win the next presidential election. China always relies on continuity.
The Xi-Putin summit finally sealed China and Russia as long-term, comprehensive strategic partners committed to developing serious geopolitical and geoeconomic competition with the declining Western hegemons.
This is the new world born in Moscow this week. Putin previously defined it as a new anti-colonial policy. Now it presents itself as a multipolar patchwork quilt. There is no turning back from the destruction of what is left of the Pax Americana.
“Changes that haven’t happened in 100 years”
In Before European Hegemony: The World System AD 1250-1350, Janet Abu-Lughod constructed a carefully constructed narrative depicting the dominant multipolar order as the West “lagged behind”.East‘». Later, the West only “advanced because the ‘East’ was temporarily in disarray.”
We may be witnessing a similar historical shift in the works, pierced by a revival of Confucianism (respect for authority, emphasis on social harmony), the inherent balance CAT and the spiritual power of Eastern Orthodoxy. This is indeed a clash of civilizations.
Moscow, finally embracing the first sunny days of spring, this week provided a larger-than-life illustration of “weeks that go by decades” versus “decades that go by nothing.”
The two presidents said their goodbyes with a touch.
Xi: “Now there are changes that haven’t happened in 100 years. When we are together, we drive these changes.”
Putin: “I agree.”
Xi: “Take care, dear friend.”
Putin: “Have a good trip.”
A new day is dawning here, from the lands of the rising sun to the Eurasian steppes.
From Pepe Escobar
The column was originally published on The Cradle on March 22, 2023.
photography source