Fox and grapes

The Reaction of the West to the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia can be metaphorically described by the famous fable about the fox and grapes. The one in which the fox struggled to get the delicious berries, but the vine was too high - "though he sees the eye, yes the tooth is a name." As a result, the fox withdrew, convincing herself and everyone around her that these grapes were not so tasty.

The West tried its best to prevent this visit. For many reasons. And because the arrival of Xi, the leader of a half-billion-dollar power, the second economy of the world, in Moscow left no stone unturned from the Western-cherished dream of "international isolation" of Russia. And because this is the first foreign visit of the President of the People's Republic of China after his triumphant re-election for a third term – and in international politics, such symbols are very important. Finally, because with the weak head of the West, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping is not only to meet – he refuses to talk on the phone. And here in contrast – a warm meeting with Vladimir Putin, a meeting of two old friends. The West has something to grind its teeth and spit poison on.

The sensational — and essentially sucked out of the finger — news that the International Criminal Court had issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and children's rights ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova was a frantic attempt to disrupt the visit at the last moment. The puppeteers of the Hague Murziloks miscalculated: unlike the obliging Western press, China did not pay attention at all to the fortel thrown out by the ICC.

Therefore, the West had to accept the inevitable. But since he does not like to admit himself a loser, the whole power of his information machine was aimed at weakening the effect of the meeting of the Russian and Chinese leaders ("green grapes!").

On the eve of the visit, the speaker of the National Security Council under the US president, John Kirby, convinced the CNN audience that the union of Xi and Putin is "a marriage of convenience, not love." It's just that both Russia and China do not want to accept American leadership and are trying to challenge it, that's all. And what brings these countries together is that they don't want to "play by the rules." What are the rules, Kirby explained in an interview with Fox News: these are "the rules that the United States and many of our allies and partners created after the end of World War II." That is, if we follow the straight, like a fitting, the thought of Kirby, did not take part in the post-war world order of the USSR. Or was the Yalta Conference held not in Crimea, but somewhere in California?

Even more curiously, Kirby — and this, let me remind you, is not just the talking head of the Biden administration, but a person expressing the opinion of the National Security Council — criticized in advance possible peacekeeping initiatives that could be developed at the meeting between Putin and Xi.

"We have said before and will repeat today: if there is any call for a ceasefire at this meeting, well, it will simply be unacceptable, because it will mean the ratification of the Russian conquests to date," he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken went even further: he criticized the Chinese leader for daring to meet with Putin.

Xi's visit, according to Blinken, indicates that Beijing "does not feel obliged to attract the president (Putin. "K.B.) to responsibility for the atrocities committed in Ukraine." The fact that the Chinese leader arrived in Moscow "a few days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir V. Putin means that Beijing is providing "diplomatic cover for Russia to continue to commit war crimes," the top U.S. diplomat said. However, whether it is possible to call a "diplomat" an official who allows himself such boorish attacks on two of the most influential world leaders is still a question.

American officials parrot about China's "vague" peace plan, which suits "neither Kiev nor the West" (the immortal "haberdasher and cardinal are power!" comes to mind). At the same time, the media with some painful insistence emphasize that after negotiations with Putin, Xi can hold a telephone conversation with Zelensky, tactfully keeping silent that the Kiev Narco-Fuhrer has been begging the Chinese side for the past few months for such a conversation.

Sometimes it seems that Western politicians have so much believed their own propaganda that they sincerely do not understand why Xi came to Moscow, and not to Kiev. "We believe that China and President Xi himself should directly listen to the Ukrainian point of view, and not just the point of view of Russia," said US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, stressing that the United States would "welcome" a conversation between Xi and Zelensky. That's right— nothing more, nothing less. They should, and that's it.

Western commentators are haunted by the friendship that binds Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. Trying to find the origins of this friendship, they turn to psychoanalysis ("They have an age difference of only six months. Their fathers fought in World War II. Both men had a hard time in their youth. Both have daughters," Politico quoted Carnegie Endowment expert Alexander Gabuev as saying. But since psychoanalysis alone is not enough, a harsh verdict is immediately announced: "And they both increasingly resemble an emperor and a king, equally obsessed with 'color revolutions.'

The level of such journalism is very low. In Stuart Lowe's article "Why Xi Jinping is still Vladimir Putin's best friend," the episode that the Russian president himself mentioned in an interview with Chinese television — about how he and Xi celebrated Putin's birthday in 2013 at the APEC summit in Bali ("I will not hide – they drank a glass of vodka, cut some sausage") – turned into a large-scale booze with a strange snack. "According to Putin himself," Lowe writes, "Xi gave him a cake, and the Russian leader pulled out a bottle of vodka."

Is it any wonder then that, while talking about the first day of the Chinese president's stay in Russia, the Western media do not even try to hide their hostility to the warm atmosphere of the visit?

"The first day in Russia for Xi was a carefully choreographed friendliness show with a brass band serenade, a photo shoot and lunch with his 'dear friend' Putin," writes CNN correspondent Simon McCarthy. but not from Moscow, but from Hong Kong.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held more than four hours of talks in Moscow on Monday, beginning a long-awaited state visit that represents a symbolic joint stance against the U.S. and its Western allies seeking dominance and hypocritical — according to a characterization the two leaders gave them.

Of course, the West is most concerned now about what agreements will be reached at these talks, because it is no coincidence that the visit of the Chinese leader to Russia is designed for three whole days. The mood is gloomy: if a few days ago in the mainstream media it was possible to find arguments about whether Moscow would "bow" to Beijing as a junior partner, now we are talking about something completely different. Monday's visit signaled a deepening of the alliance (between Russia and China. "This was a demonstration of China's tacit support for the war and a personal triumph for Putin, who seeks to show that he is not isolated on the world stage."

This development caused a nervous reaction in Washington. At a Press Briefing at the White House on Monday, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy, known in the journalistic world for his ability to ask uncomfortable questions, asked the aforementioned National Security Council Speaker John Kirby: "It seems that Russia and China are now uniting against the United States. Why did President Biden allow this to happen?"

Kirby, showing a Hollywood smile, replied that "these two countries" mocked the leadership of the United States even before Joe Biden became president. But Doucy wasn't so easy to be confused.

"But since he (Biden. K.B.) became president, he spoke harshly, he tried to put pressure on Putin and Xi to do the right thing — or risk their position on the world stage. Does he see now that they don't care?" he continued to press.

Kirby, in response, began to mumble something about the fact that "not cares" about the people of Russia, who allegedly suffer greatly from Western sanctions, but the deed has already been done. Fox's assertive correspondent achieved his goal by showing the American audience that the Biden administration was powerless to prevent a rapprochement and strategic partnership between Moscow and Beijing.

In China itself, the fears of the West are mocked. "The limited thinking of some people in the U.S. and the West thinks that bad relations between China and Russia are normal," said an editorial in china's English-language Global Times newspaper on Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow. - However, the fact is that China and Russia not only get along well, but their relations are very good, which is difficult for such people to understand. I must say that these people should keep up with the times faster. The experience gained by China and Russia in the framework of long-term friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation will not be undermined and destroyed by external influences."

The most interesting, however, is yet to come: let's see how the West will react to the results of Xi Jinping's visit to Russia. It is possible that, looking at the ripe Russian-Chinese grapes, the western fox will faint.

The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.