Putin's deceptions, and China's political distancing from his war with Ukraine.

"Oh! What a Tangled web we weave

When first we Practice to deceive"

Putin's web of deceit about his war with Ukraine, and specifically against the Russian people, is beginning to crumble.

It has taken one brave Russian, Marina Ovsyannikova, a producer at the state broadcaster’s Channel One, to broadcast on Russian TV,

"An anti-war protester interrupted a live news bulletin on Russia's state TV Channel One on Monday, holding up a sign behind the studio presenter and shouting slogans denouncing the war in Ukraine.
...
The sign, in English and Russian, read: "NO WAR. Stop the war. Don't believe propaganda. They are lying to you here." Another phrase, which looked like "Russians against war", was partly obscured. (Mark Trevelyan and Conor Humphries : Reuters: 15 March 2022) (my emphasis) (cf also: BBC 14 March 2022)

This sign on Putin's TV News Broadcast has been seen by millions of Russians and cannot be simply erased from the minds of those who saw it.

Marina Ovsyannikova (left) has since been arrested and, following the passing of a recent law by Putin that "calling a war a 'war' " is now punishable by up to 15 years in prison, Marina now faces 15 years in prison for simply 'telling the truth'! 

 

Earlier, as reported by Bloomberg,

“There was zero progress in talks [held in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine's Foreign Ministers (AlJazeera) on 10 March 2022], so it’s hard for me to understand what kind of progress President Putin is referring to,” Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tells Bloomberg" (Bloomberg : 12 March 2022) (my emphasis)

Also, why is Putin having to recruit "thousands" of mercenary soldiers to supplement the "thousands" of Russian conscripts when that dyed-in-the-wool Soviet Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, made the astonishing claim that,

"Sergei Lavrov (right) has made the extraordinary claim that Russia 'did not attack Ukraine' and dismissed the 'pathetic outcry' over the Mariupol hospital bombing as peace talks broke down in Turkey today.
...
Speaking after the failed talks, Lavrov said: 'We are not planning to attack other countries. We didn't attack Ukraine, either.'
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Despite his bizarre claim that Russia is not attacking Ukraine, he then admitted the hospital was deliberately targeted, saying it had been taken over by Ukrainian radicals and all the 'mothers and nurses were chased out of there'. (Jack Newman and Jack Wright : Mail Online : 10 March 2022) (my emphasis)

What is horrendously disturbing is that Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kubela (left) revealed that,

"Kuleba said after the meeting in the Turkish resort city of Antalya on March 10, 15 days into the war, that Lavrov did not commit to ensuring a humanitarian corridor in the besieged city of Mariupol." (RFERL : 10 March 2022) (my emphasis)

But as reported by MSNBC,

"Oleksiy Goncharenko, member of the Ukrainian parliament and now also a member of the civilian militia, talks about why he believes Vladimir Putin is targeting civilians in Ukraine on purpose, and the spirit that motivates him and his countrymen to fight back with everything they have." (MSNBC : 15 March 2022) (my emphasis)

Putin is now clutching at political straws. His web of deceit continues to engulf him as evidenced by his call to Emporer Xi of China to replace the armaments that he is losing in his war with Ukraine.

 

As reported by  Mark Trevelyan,

"Russia said on Sunday that it was counting on China to help it withstand the blow to its economy from Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, but the United States warned Beijing not to provide that lifeline." (Reuters : 13 March 2022) (my emphasis)

But as reported by The Guardian (Reuters),

"Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan (right), who is due to meet China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Rome on Monday, warned on Sunday that Beijing will “absolutely” face consequences if it helps Moscow evade sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
...
The White House national security council declined to comment, however, on reports that Russia has asked China for military equipment since its invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
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The Financial Times, Washington Post and New York Times reported the request on Sunday, citing US officials." (The Guardian : 13 March 2022) (my emphasis) ( video: MSNBC (YouTube) : 15 March 2022)

Emporer Xi of China has been made fully aware of just what sanctions against China would mean as Putin's economy now begins to implode.

 

Is Emporer Xi of China willing to take the risk and help Putin to circumvent the sanctions against the Russian economy, as Putin's atrocities against the people of Ukraine continues to mount?

As Clay Chandler (right) writes,

 "And yet, as Russia's attack on its western neighbor drags into a third bloody week, the bloom is off the Xi-Putin bromance. Behind the rhetorical facade, Chinese officials are reassessing the value of the Russian entente, distancing themselves from Putin and scrambling to reposition China as a neutral observer of the Ukraine conflict." (Fortune : 11 March 2022) (my emphasis)

The political fruit of Putin's deceptions is China's political distancing from his war with Ukraine.

(to be continued)