Countries where the war can be different than in the West. Why?
- Frank Gardner
- BBC military columnist
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Photographer, Getty Images
20 days before the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Putin flew to the opening of the Beijing Olympics and a meeting with Xi Jinping
“Ukraine and its allies, including London, have been threatening Russia for the last 12 years.
These are the words of Yevgeny Popov, Russian State Duma deputy and influential TV presenter, who was interviewed by the BBC’s Ukrainecast podcast.
“Of course Ukraine, security plans with regards to this are a direct threat to the citizens of Russia,” he said.
For a resident of Western countries, the views expressed by the Popovs are amazing. The Kremlin differs greatly from the vision of the situation in the West.
To the ears of Europeans and the rest of the West, the representatives are not simply incomprehensible, but have the right to disregard protected documented evidence.
And yet, these things are believed not only by the importers of the Kremlin and many Russians in general, but also by some other parts of the world.
After Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, the UN General Assembly held an emergency vote on the direct manifestation of Russian aggression. The resolution was supported by 141 of the 193 UN member states.
Including states that chose to refrain from hostility towards Russia, including major powers such as China, India and South Africa. Therefore, Western leaders should not be under the illusion that absolutely the entire world is fully prepared to lay the blame for the catastrophic war in Ukraine on Russia.
So why are so many countries hesitant to make a hard dependency on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
There are many reasons: from concern about the danger and danger to the health of the population of Western Europe. There are cases in every country to refrain from a public execution in Russia and not to refuse President Putin.
Cooperation without borders
Let’s start with China, the world’s most populous country with over 1.4 billion people. Most of them draw news about Ukraine because of the lack of a mass population – just like most of the inhabitants of Russia.
During the Winter Olympics in Beijing, not arrested before the invasion of Ukraine, a high-ranking guest, Vladimir Putin, arrived in China. There are no borders in the official message about the possibilities of cooperation between the two states.
Did Putin then warn his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping of an impending full-scale attack on Ukraine? Absolutely not, says China. However, it is rather difficult to imagine that even a hint was not uttered – to an extremely important neighbor.
Why is a Chinese blogger from Odessa called a traitor in his homeland?
China and Russia often face statistical challenges, but today they are partners that share contempt, if not hostility, towards the West and democratic values.
Therefore, China and Russia consider their enemy the unification of NATO, and the view of the world of the governments of the two countries, owned and their citizens. As a result, most of the people of China and Russia simply did not exceed the limits of disgust and horror of people who are acute in relation to the West to spread to the Russian attack in Ukraine and to the accidents with American citizens.
India and hunting have their reasons for not wanting trouble with Russia. India gets most of its crime from Moscow, and after a recent border conflict with China over a disputed region in the Himalayas.
As a child, Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was a harsh critic of the West and especially the United States, was recently removed from office. Its support includes trade routes in the northern regions.
Imran Khan came to visit Moscow on February 23, when Russia’s relations with the West were already strained over Ukraine. The second day of his trip fell on February 24, when Russian troops began their invasion of Ukraine and were already shelling Ukrainian cities.
Both India and the detainees led the vote on a UN condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
“Hypocrisy and double standards”
In some countries, especially those with a Muslim majority, hypocrisy and double standards towards the US and the West are widespread and condemned.
In 2003, the US and UK did not ask for permission from the UN and did not take into account the opinion of most countries of the world, which began on dubious grounds, the Invasion of Iraq. Years of devastating war followed.
Now Washington and London are also facing criticism for supplying Saudi Arabia, which is prolonging the civil war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia strikes as it awaits official assessments of Yemen at war with Shia rebels. The war in Yemen has been going on since 2014 and has led to an extremely French humanitarian situation.
As for the countries of Africa, many of them have, often historical, reasons not to condemn Russia, as happens in the West.
In Soviet times, Moscow flooded the continent of necessity from the Sahara to the Cape of Good Hope to respond to US and Western influence. And in some particles, the hostility that the legacy of Western European colonization of the 19th-20th centuries leaves is still felt.
Photographer, Getty Images
Protest in Mali against French troops who were replaced by Russian mercenaries
When France sent its big soldier to Mali in 2013 to take over the country with al-Qaeda fighters, the French did not meet with cases there. Now that the realm of the country’s French air force has taken its place among the mercenaries from the Wagner group, serviced by the Kremlin.
What is the position of the countries of the Middle East? It is not surprising that Syria supported Russian aggression, as did North Korea, Belarus and Eritrea. The president of the study, Bashar al-Assad, has on many occasions brought survival to Russia after he was nearly toppled by Islamic State militants in 2015.
But even such longtime partners of the West as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – although they support the UN resolution – do not particularly criticize Moscow.
The worthy ruler of the UAE, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayed, maintains good relations with Putin: tomorrow the UAE ambassador in Moscow even went hunting with the Russian president.
In addition, the President does not matter what is between the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed and bn Salman and Joe USA.
Earlier in 2018, when world leaders gathered in Buenos Aires for a G20 summit – just weeks after the West accused a Saudi prince of brutal contract champion journalist Jamal Khashoggi – most pointedly ignored Ibn Salman.
Putin warmly greeted the prince with a “give” gesture – slapping his open palm. It is unlikely that the leader of Saudi Arabia will forget this.
Vladimir Putin welcomes the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
All this does not mean that the aforementioned countries are often invaded – except for Belarus. On March 2, the UN of the entire state voted for him, including five of Russia.
However, such arguments suggest that the West cannot take for granted that the whole world feels the same way about Putin, sanctions and supplies to prevent violence.
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