US-Russia, all-out efforts to ‘make friends’ in the Ukrainian war Biden emphasizes ‘freedom protection’ at the top of B9… Putin’s treatment of the Chinese king at the head of state level pointed out that “both sides’ actions make it difficult for diplomatic negotiations and encourage prolonging the war”
Biden “continues supporting Ukraine” U.S. President Joe Biden attended the “Bucharest Nine (B9),” a security consultative body of nine countries in Eastern Europe held in Warsaw, Poland on the 22nd. He expressed his intention to protect Eastern Europe and continue to support Ukraine. In particular, he emphasized that defending freedom is against Russia, saying, “There is no higher goal than freedom.” Warsaw = AP Newsis
In the first year of the war in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are concentrating their efforts on “making friends” to secure the legitimacy of the war and lead the market to an advantage. Paradoxically, it is pointed out that such a move by both sides makes diplomatic breakthroughs such as peace negotiations difficult and encourages the prolongation of the war.
In particular, China, which seemed to keep a distance from itself over the past year, has shown a willingness to stand closer to Russia and stand up to the United States, making the competition for supremacy among the great powers surrounding Ukraine even more complicated. CNN diagnosed that China is supporting Russia aiming at weakening US military capabilities, cracking the West, and weakening President Biden’s position.
● Biden meets Eastern European leaders and emphasizes “freedom”
President Biden met with the leaders of the Bucharest Nine (B9), a security consultative body of nine Eastern European countries, including Poland and the Czech Republic, in Warsaw, Poland on the 22nd and said, “B9 is the forefront of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO NATO) defense system,” protecting not only Ukraine but also Eastern Europe. expressed his will to do so. He referred to NATO’s collective defense regulations, ‘Article 5 of the Treaty,’ and also called it “the sacred promise of the United States.”
“I will continue to support Ukraine as long as it defends freedom,” he said of Ukraine, which he visited two days ago. On Twitter, he stressed that “defending freedom” is to stand up to Russia, saying, “There is no word, noble goal, or lofty aspiration more precious than freedom.” B9 was formed in Bucharest, Romania in 2015, the year after Russia forcibly annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Suffering from the oppression of the former Soviet Union, they share a common fear that they could be next to Ukraine.
It has also intensified pressure on China, which is in close contact with Russia. On the 22nd, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Crettenbrink said, “China is getting closer to providing lethal weapons (to Russia). We will not hesitate to target Chinese companies and individuals that violate US sanctions.”
CNN said, “The biggest challenge in the second year of war is the procurement of ammunition.” However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed for Western support for fighter jets, saying that “peace negotiations are impossible without the recapture of the entire territory,” making it difficult to end the war through diplomatic solutions.
● Putin, a warm welcome from the King… Appeared in Patriotic Concert
Putin, right in front of the king of China… Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured above, left in the back row) from a distance during Macron’s visit to France stressed cooperation between the two countries at a meeting with Wang Yi, a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (left in the front row), at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow on the 22nd. On this day, President Putin welcomed the king with open arms and sat down close to him at the ministerial level. Putin met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the same location in February last year, but he sat farther away (pictured below). Moscow = AP Newsis
On the 22nd, President Putin paid a courtesy visit to Wang Yi, a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Political Bureau, China’s diplomatic headquarters at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow, and said, “We are waiting for the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Cooperation between the two countries is very important for the stability of the international situation,” he stressed. Commissioner Wang also aimed at the United States, saying, “The two countries do not accept interference from third parties, and even more do not accept threats from third parties.”
President Putin not only welcomed the deputy prime minister with open arms, but also sat close to him and treated him as the head of state. In February of last year, just before the invasion of Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who visited Moscow to ask for peace, sat at two ends of a five-meter oval table. This is why the British BBC commented that it was an “intentional and symbolic act.”
North Korea also helped Russia in the first year of the war. On the 23rd, KCNA published an article under the name of international affairs critic Kim Yu-chul, blaming the US for the “evil empire”, blaming the war on “the hegemonism of the US and the West.”
Around the 24th, Ukraine showed its wariness about the peace negotiations proposed by China, which is openly in close contact with Russia. “I don’t know if there is such a thing in China, but in Europe there is a saying that ‘the devil hides in the details’,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleva.
President Putin also attended the ‘Patriotic Concert’ held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on the 22nd. When he said, “I am proud that Russian soldiers fought heroically,” tens of thousands of spectators chanted “Putin” and “Russia”. Analysts say that this is a typical propaganda campaign aimed at pacifying domestic public opinion tired of the protracted war.
Washington = Correspondent Moon Byung-ki weappon@donga.com
Beijing = Correspondent Kim Ki-yong kky@donga.com
