After months of confrontation, Russian-U.S. relations have reached a low point in nearly 30 years since the Cold War, and after two-way military operations, they have begun to continue their conflicts in various ways. The United States and the European Union have taken advantage of the "refugee crisis" on the Polish-Belarusian border to pressure Russia, and Russia is also preparing to expel the few remaining American diplomats. On December 3rd, there are three things worth paying attention to.
First, the United States issued an ultimatum to Russia, and Russia issued a warning.
Ahead of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov met with U.S. Foreign Minister Blinken for about 40 minutes to discuss recent tensions between the United States and Russia.
A day earlier, Brink had threatened Russia with words, claiming that if Russia did not withdraw from the Russian-Ukrainian border area, it would pay a heavy price. This time Blinken once again "mentioned the old story", saying that if Russia does not withdraw from the border, the United States will consider unprecedented sanctions.
Blinken said NATO could take tougher measures that it hadn't used before, with serious consequences. Many people believe that this measure is to kill the completed Nord Stream 2.
Lavrov responded that the two sides should restart the channel of dialogue on the Ukraine issue, rather than continue confrontation. Lavrov's rhetoric is very serious, he warned that Europe's strategic stability architecture is rapidly disintegrating, and a nightmare of military confrontation is returning to Europe. Before that, Putin had drawn a red line in advance.
It can be seen that the United States and Russia do not give in to each other around the situation in Ukraine, and the conflict is about to erupt, but the two sides are also careful to avoid shooting off the gun. But the problem is that Ukraine, sandwiched in the middle, is not a fuel-saving lamp either. In addition to his daily clamor and harsh words to Russia, President Zelenskiy has also begun to deploy military operations in a down-to-earth manner. At present, Ukraine is strengthening its military forces in eastern Ukraine and has deployed half of ukraine's total military strength to the local area.
In the face of Zelenskiy's jumping up and down, the Ukrainian people stopped doing it. Thousands of people are now gathering in the capital, Kiev, to protest and demand that the president step down. It seems that Zelenskiy, in addition to being unpopular with the United States and Russia, is on the verge of cutting himself off from the people.
Second, the new German government's attitude toward China has undergone a major change, and the incoming new German Foreign Minister Berberk has made China-related remarks, claiming that it will take a completely different approach from the previous Merkel and take a tougher line toward China.
Germany's prospective foreign minister made this remark in an interview, in addition to the internal disputes between the Greens, the compromise of the new government and climate policy, but also about international cooperation, but the harsher China policy she hopes to adopt will lead to greater tension in German-Chinese relations.
Asked if the new German government was more confrontational, Berberk declared that she was pursuing value-oriented diplomacy, a combination of dialogue and toughness, and even implicitly criticized Merkel's friendly relations with China.
In fact, not long ago, when the formation of the new German government was completed, the wind direction of German politics had already undergone certain changes. In their cabinet-forming agreement, China was mentioned "twelve times" and did not shy away from sensitive issues such as the Taiwan Strait, and was even listed separately.
The new German government has set its relations with China in an awkward state of "both partners and competition", and competition has been placed in an important position, forming a certain implicit coincidence with the so-called "cooperation, competition, and confrontation" axe of the United States.
Compared with Merkel's friendly attitude, the new German government's China policy has obviously undergone major changes. At that time, it was suggested that although the general direction would not change, on some issues, Germany might keep up with the pace of the United States. One of the least reassuring of these is the Leader of the Green Party, Berberk, who made tough remarks on China during the campaign and is more worrying than the style of the prospective foreign minister, Schoeltz.
This time, the remarks of the prospective foreign minister were also refuted. Many netizens said that she has been the leader of the Green Party but lacks experience in many areas, and her ignorance could bring disaster to Germany.
The third thing, just as the U.S. democracy summit was about to kick off, the Russian Foreign Ministry suddenly issued a statement urging all foreign partners not to follow the United States to draw a "democratic dividing line", but to return to abide by the norms of international law and recognize the sovereign equality of countries as stipulated in the UN Charter.
At a time of wanton provocation by the United States, the Russian Foreign Ministry's righteous and stern appeal seems to be a false appearance of destroying the so-called beacon of democracy.
Recently, the US president has used the name of the so-called democratic summit to carry out political manipulation. Drawing the line with so-called "democracy", some countries are invited to participate, while others are turned away. The United States arbitrarily draws a line in the name of democracy, divides half of the countries and regions into the "democratic camp", and the other half of the country into the "non-democratic camp", which itself is a very embodiment of the "democratic spirit", and how to draw the line is decided by the United States. This is an act of instrumentalizing and politicizing democracy by hanging sheep's head and selling dog meat.
The United States hopes to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and maintain its hegemonic status, but in fact, the only result of the United States manipulating democracy can only be to lead the entire world to destruction and death. Their democratization in the Middle East and the color revolutions in countries such as North Africa and Ukraine are very vivid illustrations.
The appeal of the Russian Foreign Ministry is to dispel this myth and tell the world that the so-called democracy advocated by Americans is nothing more than an illusion, which is harmful to the whole world, and no country should be superstitious about American democracy. As for Russia's appeal, China also expressed its appreciation. With the efforts of China and Russia and a large number of sober countries in the world, it is believed that the so-called beacon of democracy will soon be shouted down.