The world is not being fooled by Putin and Xi Jinping.

And so, for his three day visit to Moscow, the “Bromance” between China’s President Xi Jinping and Putin has caught the attention of the world audience.

As reported by Helen Davidson and Justin McCurry,

“Xi’s trip to Moscow has been viewed as a major boost for his strategic partner Putin, who is subject to an international criminal court warrant over accusations of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children. The Chinese leader is expected to continue to position himself as a potential peacemaker in the Ukraine war during his two-day visit to Russia – his first state visit since the invasion.” (The Guardian : 21 March 2023) (my emphasis) 

Jennifer Jett : NBC News : 20 March 2023

As Jennifer Jett also writes,

“Frustrated by what it sees as the U.S.’s determination to thwart its rise as a global superpower, China is pushing ahead with efforts to promote a new international order that has Beijing at its center.
…..
Now its leader, Xi Jinping, is in Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, signaling Beijing’s growing embrace of its rising power on the global stage and the potential for it to further deepen conflict with the U.S. and its allies.” (NBC News : 20 March 2023) (my emphasis)

This internationally public “bromance” between Putin and Xi is taking place against the backdrop of, as reported by Richard Ashmorex and Tom Watling,

“Ukraine’s military has reported it carried out an audacious attack on Russian cruise missiles being transported by rail through the illegally annexed Ukrainian Crimea peninsula last night. Dramatic footage posted online (Anton Gerashchenko ) shows an explosion reportedly close to the Crimean town of Dzhankoi in the northern part of the region which has been under occupation by Russian forces since 2014.” (Express : 21 March 2023) (my emphasis)

Anton Gerashchenko : Twitter : 20 March 2023

Added to which,  as reported by Jessie Yeung (left),

“Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) is making a surprise trip to Ukraine on Tuesday to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – a day after Chinese leader Xi Jinping met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
…..

His trip is the first time a Japanese prime minister has visited a country or region with ongoing fighting since World War II, NHK reported. It will also be the first visit to Ukraine by an Asian member of the G7 grouping and the first by a US ally in the region.” (CNN News : 21 March 2023) (my emphasis)

And if this were not enough to somewhat ‘sour’ the expectations of Putin and Xi Jinping during their ‘bromance’ meetings today, Lili Bayer reports that,

“Turkey and Hungary announced Friday that they will sign off on Finland’s NATO membership — removing the biggest barrier to Finland’s joining the alliance but leaving Sweden’s bid languishing.

“We have decided to initiate the ratification process in our parliament,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a press conference in Istanbul alongside his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö.” (Politico : 17 March 2023) (my emphasis) (left: Sauli Niinistö and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan)

Now recall that in my last blog entry (15 March 2023) I reported that,

“Media in Finland have reported that Prime Minister Sanna Marin is prepared to discuss providing U.S.-made fighter jets to Ukraine. Marin, who visited Kyiv on March 10, said Helsinki plans to purchase 64 modern F-35A fighters to replace 62 Hornet fighters. The Hornets could be provided to Ukraine, Marin has said, although she noted that discussions are at a preliminary stage.” (RFERL : 11 March 2023) (my emphasis)   

We now also hear from James Gregory (right) that,

“More than a dozen European Union member states have agreed to supply Ukraine with at least one million artillery shells over the next year.

The plan, worth €2bn in total, was agreed in Brussels on Monday.

Ukraine had told the EU it needed 350,000 shells a month to hold back advancing Russian troops and launch a counter-offensive this year.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hailed the “game-changing decision” from the EU.” (BBC News : 20 March 2023) 

This ” game changing decision” by the EU is followed closely on the heels, as reported by Danielle Ong,

“The International Criminal Court (ICC) last week issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and children’s rights commissioner Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova over alleged war crimes involving the forced deportation and adoption of Ukrainian children.

In a news release, the ICC said both Putin and Lvova-Belova are “allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.“

Piotr Hofmanski : ICC : Youtube : 19 March 2023

Whilst Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova (left) may dismiss this ‘international’ arrest warrant out of hand, let us remind ourselves that they now infamously share allegations of ‘war crimes’ with the Nazi ‘war criminals’ at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946. (cf: Wikipedia) 

Contrary to their expectations, the world is not being fooled by Putin and Xi Jinping.   

(to be continued)