- War Putin and Xi Grow Closer Than Ever in Age of Isolation
The United States has welcomed Xi Jinping's visit to Vladimir Putin with a new aid package for 350 million dollars (327 million euros) in weapons for Ukraine, which includes the type of equipment - ammunition for artillery, anti-radar missiles, systems for mine clearance and explosives for demolition of defenses - that would only need an Armed Forces preparing to launch an offensive. Likewise, 18 European countries, including Spain, have agreed to send one million artillery shells to Ukraine.
This indicates that, no matter how much Putin and Xi represent the scene of the peace proposal in Moscow,the war will continue. This was stated yesterday by US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who said that "the world should not be deceived" by a possible peace plan between Russia and China for Ukraine. The expression was repeated, word for word, by National Security Council spokesman John Kirby at a White House news conference. Washington's fear is that Russia will try to "freeze the conflict on terms that are favorable to it, with no way left to restore Ukraine's sovereignty and integrity."
Kirby recalled that "if President Xi wants to play a constructive role, we encourage him to talk to [Ukrainian] President Zelensky. Because we believe China should hear things directly from the Ukrainians, not the Chinese." Since the war broke out, Xi and Putin have spoken several times, but the Chinese president has never deigned to contact the Ukrainian. And China's decisions "have played the game of Russian propaganda," Kirby said.
Indirectly, China is subsidizing the war on Russia by buying mineral and agricultural raw materials and oil. But what really worries the United States is a possible agreement between Moscow and Beijing under which the great Asian power will give arms to Russia. "We don't know if there's going to be any agreement" in that regard, Kirby said. According to American estimates, Russia has artillery ammunition for about three more months at most, and its only tank factory can produce in twelve months the same amount it loses in Ukraine in one.
So Moscow needs help. It has bought ammunition from North Korea and drones from Iran. But that's not enough. The exhaustion of its offensive in Bajmut, a town smaller than Avilés that, after six months of siege, has not yet managed to take, is an obvious sign of weakness.
In recent days, in fact, the Ukrainians have regained ground on the outskirts of Bakhmut, and have managed to reopen part of the road accesses that Russia had blocked with its artillery. Chinese aid can be decisive for Russian soldiers, who are increasingly moving on the defensive, to maintain their operational capability in Ukraine.
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