I don't see that happening anytime soon as long as Xi is in the picture. Putin is not on equal footing with Xi since the Ukraine war started. Putin is the weaker partner in this relationship because Putin depends on China to keep them afloat. I recently heard that the Russian budget is hemorrhaging cash. Their sovereign wealth fund is being fast depleted just to fill the financial gaps and is soon to be gone - possibly in 6 months.
Moscow was recently put on an internet lockdown so that the Muscovites can't find out what is actually happening in the country with the Ukrainian hits on oil infrastructure and ports. Then there is the numbers of losses occuring on the front that are enormous. Sadly many Russian soldiers froze to death this winter because they simply were not outfitted properly. There is a lot of corruption in the Russian military. It has always been that way. Officers and commanders often sell the supplies meant for the troops. Russian soldiers have always been expendable to those in charge. I think its in their DNA. My mother's family is from Russia.
Putin I think is not sure how to extricate himself from the situation without losing his legitimacy among Russians. It is always difficult when negotiating a deal to end a conflict where it can be sold to the home crowd in such a way as to not cause the people to revolt when they finally find out what it has cost them. The Iranian regime is faced with the same problem - how to make capitulation sound like a win to remain in power.
I really do think that Xi convinced Putin to move forward with invading the Ukraine in the first place. Xi wanted to use the war to tie the US down somewhere other than the West Pacific. Xi has done the same thing with Iran - keep the US entrenched in the ME. So, China will continue to supply Iran with materials and weapons to prolong the conflict - otherwise the Iranian regime would have already collapsed.
I don't see that happening anytime soon as long as Xi is in the picture. Putin is not on equal footing with Xi since the Ukraine war started. Putin is the weaker partner in this relationship because Putin depends on China to keep them afloat. I recently heard that the Russian budget is hemorrhaging cash. Their sovereign wealth fund is being fast depleted just to fill the financial gaps and is soon to be gone - possibly in 6 months.
Moscow was recently put on an internet lockdown so that the Muscovites can't find out what is actually happening in the country with the Ukrainian hits on oil infrastructure and ports. Then there is the numbers of losses occuring on the front that are enormous. Sadly many Russian soldiers froze to death this winter because they simply were not outfitted properly. There is a lot of corruption in the Russian military. It has always been that way. Officers and commanders often sell the supplies meant for the troops. Russian soldiers have always been expendable to those in charge. I think its in their DNA. My mother's family is from Russia.
Putin I think is not sure how to extricate himself from the situation without losing his legitimacy among Russians. It is always difficult when negotiating a deal to end a conflict where it can be sold to the home crowd in such a way as to not cause the people to revolt when they finally find out what it has cost them. The Iranian regime is faced with the same problem - how to make capitulation sound like a win to remain in power.
I really do think that Xi convinced Putin to move forward with invading the Ukraine in the first place. Xi wanted to use the war to tie the US down somewhere other than the West Pacific. Xi has done the same thing with Iran - keep the US entrenched in the ME. So, China will continue to supply Iran with materials and weapons to prolong the conflict - otherwise the Iranian regime would have already collapsed.