33 countries are targeting Russia, NATO paratroopers are conducting border exercises, Putin is changing generals on the spot, and he visits China to seek a breakthrough, can China save Russia?
NATO's "Steadfast Defender 2024" military exercise continues, and on May 11-12 in Estonia held paratrooper airborne exercises, Estonia is adjacent to Russia, the purpose of NATO's airborne exercise is reminiscent, and it is unknown whether the next step will be quietly "airborne" to Russia. In response, on May 11, the Russian army announced that it had taken control of 5 settlements in the Kharkiv region, saying that the number of Ukrainian troops killed in action reached 170 and 34 were captured. At the same time as the Russian army was violently attacking Kharkiv, Russian President Putin changed his generals and signed a presidential decree, former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu served as secretary of the Russian Security Council, and also nominated former Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Belousov as Minister of Defense, and the Kremlin also announced that Putin will leave for a visit to China on May 15.
Judging from Putin's two actions, Russia's economic problems cannot be ignored, and if they are not dealt with in time, they may affect the trend of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Belousov, a Ph.D. in economics, focused on the economy during his tenure as first deputy prime minister, and contributed to Russia's efforts to withstand Western sanctions and strengthen its economic resilience. Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Russia's military budget has increased from 3% of GDP to 6.7%, almost reaching the situation in the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
In terms of "open source," Putin has decided that Russian Prime Minister Mishustin will remain in office in order to ensure the sustained development of Sino-Russian relations, and at the same time will personally visit China in a few days. At present, the annual trade volume between China and Russia has exceeded 240 billion US dollars, which is of great significance to the fiscal revenue of the Putin government, and China still has a lot of spare power in energy and investment. It is not difficult to see that the more than 17,000 sanctions imposed by the West on Russia are not painless, and in the face of the siege of 33 countries including NATO and Ukraine, Russia's life is not easy.
The biggest factor in Russia's predicament is still the Ukraine crisis, and a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is of great significance to the peace of the countries and regions concerned. On May 3, Li Hui, the special representative of the Chinese government for Eurasian affairs, visited Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and other countries, and held talks with their diplomatic representatives. China's concrete actions have contributed to the peaceful settlement of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is in stark contrast to the so-called "Ukraine Peace Conference" held by the West.
Putin's visit to China will be an opportunity for a peaceful settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and China's diplomatic mediation and talks between the heads of state of China and Russia are expected to create a new miracle, and the title of "messenger of peace" will be well deserved.