On the eve of Putin's visit to China, the Russian defense minister was replaced, and on the same day, China's top brass made a phone call to Moscow.
In the past two days, China and Russia have officially announced that Putin will visit China on the 16th of this month. However, on the eve of Putin's departure, a personnel adjustment was carried out within Russia, and although the vast majority of important official positions did not change, the defense minister was replaced.
You must know that the current Russia-Ukraine conflict is not only not over, but this is the first time in nearly 12 years that Russia has changed its defense minister. It stands to reason that this is not the right time for Russia to change its defense minister, and the choice of a new defense minister has taken all walks of life very unexpected. It is reported that Putin's choice for defense minister this time is Andrei Belousov, but he is a civilian official with no military background.
Former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was transferred to the post of secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, and will also serve as deputy chairman of the Russian military-industrial commission. There are different opinions on Putin's arrangement, and some people believe that this is a "clear ascension and covert descent" of Shoigu and weakening his power in the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Others believe that this is a signal to reuse Shoigu, because the Security Council is the core decision-making body of Russia's military security, and Shoigu's position is able to participate in decision-making with Putin, Medvedev and others. Of course, no matter what Putin's intentions are for Shoigu's adjustments, it is definitely in the interests of Russia.
Not to mention that Shoigu is not only an influential veteran, but also Putin's right-hand man, whom Putin will not marginalize in the absence of major faults. In the same way, Putin's appointment of Belousov, an economist, as defense minister, is by no means arbitrary.
From the perspective of Belousov's background, he has successively served as the director of the Russian Department of Finance and Economy, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development, the first deputy prime minister of the Russian Federal Government, and at the same time, he is also one of the most influential economic advisers around Putin. In addition, his best field is cybernetics, and he has studied the national economy and macroeconomic management during the Soviet period.
Letting him serve as defense minister, first, shows that Putin wants to further optimize the productivity of the national defense industry and lay a solid foundation for the Russian army to fight a protracted war. This applies not only to the current economic situation in Russia, but also to the situation on the front lines of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. For both Russia and Ukraine, the most critical thing at present is not tactics, but the supply of weapons and equipment on the front line.
Second, it is also to pave the way for Russia's future development in advance. Although Russia is a military power, its economy has always been its shortcoming, including in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has also caused it a lot of trouble because of Western economic sanctions. Sooner or later, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will end, and how Russia recovers its economy will be a big problem.
Obviously, Putin has realized that Russia needs to develop its economy more than to develop its defense and military forces. This personnel transfer will not only stimulate Russia's manufacturing industry, but also allow its military production to be based on a planned economy and open up a broader market for its military production.
Putin's move is obviously looking at the problem with a strategic vision, so that it can not only stabilize the situation of the Russian army on the front line, but also provide more sufficient impetus for the front line, and at the same time, it can also avoid Russia's post-war economic collapse and then be stuck by the West. Therefore, Putin's arrangement can be described as killing three birds with one stone.
It is worth mentioning that China understands Putin's move. On the same day that Putin made the personnel transfer, Premier Li Qiang of the Continental Affairs Council also made a phone call to Moscow. In addition to congratulating him on his re-election, Li Qiang also stressed that he would work with Mishustin to make new contributions to enriching Sino-Russian relations and strengthening practical cooperation between the two countries.
The pragmatic cooperation mentioned by Li Qiang here actually mainly refers to the development of more economic and trade cooperation. At present, the total trade volume between China and Russia is not only increasing year by year, but the two countries are also studying the construction of a new channel for payment and settlement to deal with the threat of secondary sanctions by financial institutions.
Obviously, China understands the current difficulties of Russia. Putin's appointment of China as the first country to be visited in his new term of office is not only because the relations between China and Russia are getting hotter and hotter, but also to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with China, which will not only help Russia cope with Western sanctions and the consumption in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but also benefit Russia's future development.
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