If a nation is demolishing the infrastructure of another nation to bend it to its will, this action should be described with one word: disgrace. That is what Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently deems Russians worthy of.
In reality, the country has also seen its share of heartache. Russians were the victims of Nazis for years; they know what is just, and what is unjust! If only they could see the whole picture in Ukraine. Imagine yourself without electricity and water for 24 hours... 48 hours? Three days? No decent person in Russia would accept the persecution that their Ukrainian cousins have been subjected to for the last eight months.
European people, who supposedly know the whole situation in Ukraine, are behaving no differently than the Russians in their inaction. Their national leaders and the bureaucrats of the European Union are still shamelessly weighing ways to get Russian gas, without any scruples. They think that paying an extra toll for the Russian gas in the form of military assistance to Ukraine would clear their conscience. Meanwhile, they are negotiating a common response to the energy crisis that is fast approaching while they are seeking to strike individual deals with Russia.
As they say: An image is better than one thousand words..
— Hakkı Öcal (@hakkiocal) November 4, 2022
Russia, meanwhile, trying to take advantage of the self-centeredness of Europeans, seeks acceptable alternatives rather than cutting secret deals with them. For example, Putin promises to create an alternative gas hub in Türkiye’s Thrace region.
Thrace is a geographical region in Southeastern Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece and Türkiye, and is bordered by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. According to ancient mythology, Thrax, the son of the ancient Greek war god Ares, was said to reside in Thrace. Not in Türkiye’s Thrace region but on its Greek side, Greece agreed with the United States on the creation of five naval bases under the Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA), signed between the two countries – a chaotic situation the mythological son of the war god Ares would clearly approve of. The prospective Russian energy hub for Europe will be built a few miles away from the U.S. bases that, according to U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, are going to be “the bedrock of our defense cooperation.”
Whatever they are, those U.S. bases will be overlooking the Russian gas hub, which, according to Putin, will be a safe and easy haven of energy for European countries. However, there is an easier energy hub in Europe that has already been built and with a little maintenance will be in working condition again, namely the Nord Stream pipeline. If Putin stops this nonsense in Ukraine, he’ll restart using the hubs and pipes that are already there, and the Europeans will get their Russian gas without any pressure from the U.S.
Europeans have been very happy customers for a long time despite the exorbitant prices Russians have been charging them. Europeans are rich enough to be happy partners of Russia. This balance could also save Russia's ties with another partner who is now doubting the inhumanity in Ukraine: China.
Yes, the Chinese have been supporting Russia since Feb. 24, but they have never declared it openly. And according to well-informed Russian experts, they are declaring it less and less behind closed doors. Chinese President Xi Jinping met Putin at the summit of the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Uzbekistan. They smiled and shook hands, but they did not look like good friends. The two leaders did not have the cozy relationship they had displayed weeks after the Russian occupation of Ukraine, during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Moreover, Putin publicly acknowledged that Xi asked him questions and expressed concerns about the course of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. He simply promised to better explain “our position on this issue” to a stone-faced Xi; yet he further escalated the Russian operations in Ukraine, announcing the mobilization of reservists and increasing his efforts to salvage Russia’s position that has fallen apart in the face of Ukrainian’s successful counter-offensive.
Neville Chamberlain, British prime minister in 1937, had said that, “There are no winners in war but losers.” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan added to this the fact that “in a fair peace there will have no losers.” Putin should see that the ammunition and military equipment the Europeans are sending to Ukraine to appease the U.S. in the face of the gas they keep buying from Russia and the money and the arms U.S. President Joe Biden keeps heaping on Ukraine makes this proxy U.S.-Russian War difficult to win.
The “mighty Russia” may lose this war, which is likely what makes Xi shudder because that proxy war had been declared to clear the way for Beijing.
Xi must realize Biden’s White House is repeating what former President George Bush's team did earlier. He must have read Biden’s 48-page National Strategy document. The Chinese understand what the globalist neo-cons mean when they say, “the liberal international order described as a set of global, rule-based, structured relationships based on political liberalism.” In other words, there is no room for old-school leaders. The RAND corporation explains better than the Coen Brothers’ movie why Russia and China, though distinct, represent challenges to U.S. national security:
“Russia is not a peer or near-peer competitor but rather a well-armed rogue state that seeks to subvert an international order it can never hope to dominate. In contrast, China is a peer competitor that wants to shape an international order that it can aspire to dominate. Both countries seek to alter the status quo.”
According to the RAND corporation, from the U.S. perspective, Russia has already attacked neighboring states, annexed conquered territory and supported insurgent forces seeking to detach yet more territory; China is about to do the same. That China is trying to influence neighboring states and territories with “more-positive measures like trade, investment and development assistance” does not make it any less dangerous. China is “only a less immediate threat but a much greater long-term challenge,” the RAND corporation says.
From China’s perspective, Russia should wake up from this imperialistic dream, pull itself together immediately and leave Ukraine alone. If you read Chinese commentaries carefully you see that Putin should let the Ukrainians and ethnic Russians solve the Donbass issue among themselves. That is good for everybody; people in Ukraine and China and anybody in between will benefit.
In short, Russia should not give China a cold because if China sneezes, the world will call out sick.
