Putin Tries to Gain China’s Support Against the United States

Russian leader Putin (left) is trying to get Chinese leader Xi (right) to support him against the US and NATO in Europe. (Shutterstock)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to enlist the support of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping against what the Kremlin described as “aggressive” anti-Russian rhetoric by the United States.

Putin is also seeking China’s support against US allies NATO over the tensions surrounding Moscow’s military buildup around Ukraine’s borders.

‘Aggressive’ US Rhetoric vs. Russian Military Buildup

Putin’s outreach to China comes amid spiking fears in the West that Russia might launch an all-out military invasion of Ukraine, its pro-Western former Soviet neighbor.

The Russian military buildup around Ukraine is presently estimated at about 100,000 troops. A recent assessment by US intelligence services estimates the number can reach 175,000 by early 2022.

This is when Putin might decide to launch a full-scale attack against Russia’s neighbor. In a tense two-hour video conversation on December 8, Democrat President Biden spoke with Putin.

Biden told Putin while the United States and NATO wouldn’t intervene militarily on Ukraine’s side in the event of a Russian attack, the West is going to impose crippling sanctions against Moscow.

It remains to be seen to what extent Putin has bought Biden’s warning, especially considering the image of weakness in international affairs the Democrat president projected since the highly botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Russian leader Putin appears unmoved by Sleepy Joe’s warnings made during their video conversation on December 8. (Shutterstock)

The news that Putin is openly seeking the support of Chinese President Xi Jinping can spell further international security trouble for the United States and its allies in Europe and Asia.

The fall of 2021 has seen an unprecedented level of military provocations by communist China against US ally Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island republic that Beijing claims as its own territory.

According to the announcement of the Kremlin made on Tuesday, Putin and Xi are going to have a video call on Wednesday to discuss “tensions” in Europe, and the “aggressive rhetoric” of the US and NATO.

The leaders of America’s top global adversaries, Russia and China, are going to talk about “cooperation priorities” and “current global and regional issues.”

New Russian Tank Troop Drills at Ukraine’s Border

Russia and China aren’t bound by a mutual defense military alliance of the NATO type; however, they still have had close military and diplomatic collaboration for years.

A report in early December by the Wall Street Journal revealed China is seeking to build a military base in the tiny Central African country of Equatorial Guinea. This would be the second Chinese military base abroad, and the first Chinese military base on the Atlantic Ocean coast, practically across from the US Atlantic seacoast.

This comes against the backdrop of fresh new military drills with a large detachment of Russian tank troops close to the border of Ukraine, thus stoking more fears of an imminent Russian invasion.

The fresh Russian military drills near the Ukrainian border came after five-day drills of 500 tank crews of T-90A and T-72B3 tanks; these were held at multiple locations in both the Rostov region and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

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