A long-term war is not the best option for Beijing.
Beijing can give Russia weapons and help defeat or put pressure on Putin by forcing him to compromise, but he is unlikely to do anything at all.
Any hopes that President Joe Biden will be able to persuade Chinese leader Xi Jinping to help stop the war in Ukraine will have to be postponed. China wants the conflict to end quickly. But he will not use his influence to bring the world closer.
Bloomberg writes about this, adding that last Friday during a telephone conversation, the leaders of the United States and China seem to have spoken and not heard from each other. A White House statement after him said Biden had focused on Ukraine and warned Beijing of the consequences if China decided to provide “material assistance” to Russia. At the same time, the Chinese conclusions mention Ukraine only by force. The statement focused on Biden's commitment to the “United China” policy, as well as his desire not to start a new Cold War with Beijing.
It is not at all that China, according to some officials in Beijing, benefits from standing aside while the United States and Russia exhaust each other. In fact, every day of the war in Ukraine results in Chinese losses. The only question is how much damage it does and how fast.
China has found itself in this predicament, in part because of a joint Russian-Chinese strategic partnership statement signed on 4 February. At the time, many in Beijing saw the document as a geopolitical ploy. Russia as a quasi-ally would be a Chinese strategic achievement. Moreover, tensions in Moscow's relations with Washington should divert attention from the Indo-Pacific region, giving Beijing more leeway. Now the bad deeds of the Russian army on the battlefield and the combined reaction of the United States and its allies to the invasion have dashed all those expectations. Instead of a lightning victory, Putin risks humiliating defeat or getting stuck while Western sanctions destroy Russia's economy. The second would be the embodiment of China's worst nightmare. The strategic consequences for Beijing from such a scenario are unthinkable. Undoubtedly, Putin understands this. Maybe that's why he's trying so hard to drag China into the conflict by asking for military help.
Read also: How Russia's war against Ukraine divided Asia
A long war is not the best option for China. If Russia got stuck under the pressure of sanctions, it would give Beijing time to reconsider its strategy. But a depleted Russia would increase pressure on China to demand more help. Open support for Putin could turn the situation in Russia's favor. But the risk of such an act is too high. The fact is that China is working on a different schedule than Russia. Unlike Putin , Xi Jinping is convinced that the current world order, however unpleasant, still leaves much room for China in its struggle for power and influence. If tensions with the United States can be controlled long enough to avoid a premature clash, then theoretically time is on the Chinese side.
See the special topic: Erdogan announced talks with Zelensky and Putin The Turkish president intends to meet with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia in the coming days. Hungary will not allow arms to be supplied to Ukraine through its territory – Foreign Minister The country will also continue to buy oil and gas from Russia. Lavrov said that Russia had declared a “hybrid war” He is confident that the West wants to “break, destroy, stifle the Russian economy and Russia as a whole.” Hans Zimmer showed a video from Lviv during a concert in London In the video, a Lviv pianist plays to the sound of sirens. Two deputies and the former mayor of Izyum are cooperating with the Russian occupiers – the head of the Izyum city council has been under blockade for more than two weeks, and the northern part of the city is occupied by Russian invaders.
