Did you miss the latest events on the tensions in Ukraine? Do not panic, 20 minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Who did what ? Who said what? Where are we ? The answer below:
news of the day
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping openly challenge President Joe Biden by displaying strategic convergences that are here to stay. The Russian and Chinese heads of state took advantage of the opening of the Beijing Olympics on Friday to parade against their common rival, imposing on Washington the management of a double front.
#Beijing: Opening ceremony of the XXIV Winter Olympic Games https://t.co/lRmv6xHCcL pic.twitter.com/StEBvZqTUr
— President of Russia (@KremlinRussia_E) February 4, 2022
Chinese official media insisted on the “personal” relationship that unites them. Since 2013, they “have met about thirty times on various occasions, which is rare in world diplomacy”, wrote the state media Global Times on Thursday. “The two enjoyed some intimate moments with vodka, caviar and Russian ice cream, celebrating their respective birthdays.”
sentence of the day
Westerners only made it worse”
The Turkish president took down Western diplomacy on Friday. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who offered to mediate in the Ukrainian crisis, accused the West on Friday of “worsening” the situation between Moscow and Kiev.
“I say it openly, unfortunately Westerners have so far not provided any help in resolving the conflict,” he told CNN Türk on the plane bringing him back from Kiev. The strongman from Ankara judged the role of US President Joe Biden harshly, saying that “Biden has so far been unable to show a positive approach in this process”. A new thorn in the side of the American leader.
The trend of the day
The roles of the actors in the crisis in Ukraine are stabilizing and Putin has found a weighty ally. Emmanuel Macron is establishing himself as European mediator, assisted by the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who is struggling to prove his legitimacy. The French president is due to visit Russia on Monday and Ukraine the next day.
On the Russian side, Vladimir Putin is taking care of his alliances and displaying a united front with China, forcing United States President Joe Biden to manage a double front. “The Ukrainian crisis has made it possible to increase the relative importance of Russia vis-à-vis China. Xi could not provoke Biden or Europe in this way,” says Admiral Pascal Ausseur, director of the Mediterranean Foundation for Strategic Studies (FMES).
“And Putin has shown Xi that he knows how to take geopolitical and military risks. Beijing must have appreciated the demonstration. “Let’s not forget that Obama told Putin that Russia was only a regional power. He wants to show that Russia plays a central role and he succeeds in doing so,” recalls Pascal Ausseur.