Belt and Road Summit: Honored by China, With a Host of Bilateral Meetings, Putin Is Much Less Isolated Than Western Propaganda Would Have You Believe

For a supposedly isolated, embattled head of state, Russian President Vladimir Putin had an outstanding day in Beijing, were he was treated like the most special guest in the 10-year celebration of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.

The trip is being widely scrutinized as it portrays the trust and the ‘no-limits’ partnership between the two multipolar world leaders.

Putin has on Tuesday (17) had a multitude of bilateral meetings, and is expected to have an important face to face time with Chairman Xi on Wednesday.

Reuters reported:

“In only his second known trip abroad since the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March, Putin and his entourage flew into the Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday morning, according to Reuters video footage. He was greeted by the Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.”

The ICC, created to prosecute war crimes, has accused Putin of ‘illegally deporting’ children from Ukraine.

The 123 member states supposedly are obliged to arrest people under warrants, and transfer them to The Hague for trial.

Neither Kyrgyzstan nor China are members of the ICC, and if we are to be honest, neither is Russia, and neither is the US. Big countries don’t play with UN toy courts.

Watch: Putin is received by Xi

“Xi last saw his ‘dear friend’ in Moscow just days after the warrant was issued. At the time, Xi invited Putin to attend the third Belt and Road forum in Beijing, an international cooperation forum championed by the Chinese leader.

Putin is to attend the forum’s official opening reception hosted by Xi and talk with the leaders of Vietnam, Thailand, Mongolia and Laos on Tuesday, Russian media reported. As the forum’s chief guest, Putin will speak after Xi on Wednesday and will meet with the Chinese president for bilateral talks later that day.”

This is Putin’s third attendance of the Belt and Road Forum, which runs through Wednesday.

“Putin has praised the initiative, saying it is a platform for international cooperation, where ‘no one imposes anything on others’.”

Russia has strengthened its energy ties with China, exporting around 2.0 million barrels of oil per day – more than a third of its total crude oil exports.

Watch: Xi, Putin ahead of 130 heads of state

Putin had many bilateral meetings on the first day at BRI, including some not expected, as we learn in a different Reuters report:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin and his closest ally among European Union leaders, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to bilateral ties amid international tensions over the war in Ukraine.”

Hungary gets most of its crude oil and gas from Russia, and is trying to salvage bilateral contacts, Orban told Putin.

“‘Despite the fact that in today’s geopolitical conditions the opportunities for maintaining contacts and developing relations are very limited, nevertheless, it can only cause satisfaction that our relations with many European countries are maintained and developed. One of these countries is Hungary’, Putin told Orban.”

Hungary is seen as the key potential opponent to a decision due in December, on whether to open EU accession talks with Ukraine, which requires unanimous backing from the bloc’s 27 members.

Brussels is signaling with unlocking billions of euros for Hungary that were frozen over ‘rule-of-law concerns’.

“In an emailed response to Reuters, Orban’s press chief Bertalan Havasi said Orban and Putin had discussed gas and oil shipments and nuclear energy issues. Under a 2014 contract awarded without a tender, the Russian energy giant Rosatom is building a nuclear power plant in Hungary.”

Putin had many other meetings. With Thai Prime Minister Seththa Thavisin;  with Mongolia’s leader, planning a gas pipeline from Russia through Mongolia to China; with Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith; with Pakistan’s acting Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar.

Putin also had time for an interview in which he commented on US President Biden’s crude comments about him.

Sputnik reported:

“Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, commenting on a recent remark of US President Joe Biden about the need to ‘put down’ the Russian leader that the United States need to learn to respect others and be able to find compromises, then no one will need to be suppressed.”

Biden is sure about running for the second presidential term, to unite Europe, and get Putin ‘finally put down where he cannot cause the kind of trouble he’s been causing’.

Putin reacted: “‘They need to learn to respect others and then no one will have to be suppressed. But the desire to suppress someone all the time for some reason or for no reason at all leads to problems. They [US representatives], of course, with their usual brilliance, love and do it well – they smile during protocol events, pat everyone on the shoulder. But respect for other people, for other countries, for other peoples lies elsewhere, lies in taking into account their interests‘, Putin told Pavel Zarubin, a Russian news agency reporter.

‘I believe that Biden is certainly one of the most experienced politicians in the world as a whole – in terms of time spent in the so-called upper echelons of power. He has been in politics for a long time. Of course, a person is experienced and knows what tasks to set for himself, how to achieve them. If they [US] have no other tasks but to build relations with Russia, then in a sense this is not bad’, Putin said, emphasizing that Russia’s interests cannot be suppressed, but will have to be respected.”

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