The Russian president went to the captured city of Mariupol for the first time since the attack on Ukraine. On Monday he will receive the Chinese president at the Kremlin.
Vienna/Moscow. A high-profile guest was announced for Monday at the Kremlin: Xi Jinping, China’s powerful leader and party leader who was recently confirmed for a third term, wants to strengthen ties with Vladimir Putin in Moscow while at the same time make a name for himself as a Prince of Peace and international string puller on the world stage. Wang Yi, his top foreign policy strategist, recently set the course for a major diplomatic maneuver by Xi during a visit to the Kremlin.
As a mediator, China has recently brought about a rapprochement between archenemies Iran and Saudi Arabia – and as a sign of a new geopolitical reorientation in the region, Salman, the Saudi king, has now invited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Riyadh. It would be a sensation if this visit really happened.
China friendship service
First of all, however, Moscow is worried about the war in Ukraine and an alliance between Russia and China against the West, especially against the US. It is a gesture of friendship for Putin, from which the Chinese president himself benefits most. At the same time, the visit is intended to demonstrate that the Russian president is not as isolated as the West suggests and as the International Criminal Court in The Hague recently underlined with its latest arrest warrant against the Kremlin autocrat.
Outwardly at least, Putin was unimpressed by the fact that his international reach is now significantly restricted. On the ninth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, Putin visited Sevastopol, the strategically important base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which also plays an important role in Ukraine’s war.
The Kremlin chief attracted even more attention with a first trip to Russian-occupied areas. In Mariupol, Putin was hailed as the warlord who seized the Ukrainian coastal city last year after months of bloody fighting in which Russian troops destroyed large parts of the city. Ukrainian units fiercely resisted in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Azov steelworks.
Putin propaganda pictures
The Russian president provided footage for state propaganda. After arriving in the helicopter, he drove through a city whose devastation could not be disguised even by the darkness. He sought contact with representatives – handpicked – of the population that stayed in the city and did not flee like the majority. They demonstratively thanked the President.
“People are starting to return to the city,” said Marat Chusnullin, the Russian deputy prime minister who accompanied Putin. Street lighting and bus services are back in Mariupol. State television also showed Putin’s visit to the Philharmonic. According to Chusnullin, a university building and student residence is also intact.
Kyiv’s dismissive reaction
Putin then went to the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, near the Ukrainian border, where he attended a meeting at a command center for the war in Ukraine. Commander-in-Chief Valery Gerasimov, who was also the Chief of the General Staff, reported on how things were going.
Meanwhile, ironic reactions came from Kiev. “Criminals always return to the crime scene,” wrote Mikhailo Podoliak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky. “The murderer of thousands of families in Mariupol came to admire the ruins of the city and its tombs. cynicism and lack of remorse.”
The Ministry of Defense in Kiev stressed that Putin visited Mariupol in the dead of night – “as befits a thief”. A councilor in exile explained that he avoided seeing the city in daylight. (four/ag.)
AT A GLANCE
Arrest warrant. Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens) supports the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. “Austria will continue to do everything possible to ensure justice for the people of Ukraine,” said the Minister of Justice.
The court in The Hague, Netherlands, issued an arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes in Ukraine on Friday. Investigators blame him for abducting children from occupied Ukrainian territory to Russian territory.
Currently, the arrest warrant has a mainly symbolic meaning. But the international arrest warrant further restricts Putin’s freedom of movement. As soon as he travels to a country that has ratified the treaty, he can be arrested. All contracting states – over 120 – are required to execute arrest warrants. In addition to Russia, the US and China do not recognize the court.
(“Die Presse”, print edition, March 20, 2023)