RUSSIAN leader Vladimir Putin is gearing up for a crucial meeting with fellow authoritarian figures Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un at a grand military parade in China.
But the tyrant seems to be too scared to meet Zelensky, as Moscow ruled out plans for a direct peace summit with the Ukrainian president.
Putin’s attendance comes as Zelensky insists that a meeting with him would be “the most effective way forward” to end the war in Ukraine.
But while US President Donald Trump has pushed to broker a Ukraine-Russia summit, Moscow has rejected any immediate Putin-Zelensky talks.
Putin and Kim will be among 26 foreign leaders to attend next week’s parade in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Not a single foreign leader is expected from the US or Western Europe.
China, Russia, and North Korea have been close allies for years.
Beijing has long been North Korea’s biggest aid and trading partner, which has been hit by crippling- and isolating – Western sanctions.
While Kim has been providing Moscow with troops for his war in Ukraine.
The gathering aims to project a strong image of power and collaboration that could challenge Western nations both through military prowess and economic influence.
In recent years, Beijing’s Communist Party has organized large-scale events to honor its wartime resilience, asserting that China will no longer face subjugation.
The parade on September 3 will feature ground troops marching in formation, armoured columns, aerial echelons and other high-tech fighting gear.
And it will be the first time its military’s new force structure will be fully showcased in the massive parade.
This tightly controlled spectacle will feature a massive display of troops marching in unison through the iconic Tiananmen Square.
The 70-minute parade, which Xi will closely monitor, is expected to be closely watched by analysts and Western powers.
According to Hong Lei, China’s assistant minister of foreign affairs, Putin’s participation underscores the robust China-Russia strategic partnership for a new era, highlighting their unity and solidarity.
The summit could forge a new alliance against the West
Analysis by Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter
As Xi Jinping prepares to welcome Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un to Beijing next week, the leaders aim to affirm the notion that global leadership is shifting away from Western influence.
Especially in the wake of Trump’s sanctions and diplomatic isolation efforts by the West, the so-called “Axis of Evil” meet will seek to undermine the Western-led global system.
The agenda-setting summit will be all about optics and a show of power – one that can deter Western countries through both military might and economics.
China, Russia, and North Korea are close allies.
Beijing has long been Pyongyang’s biggest aid and trading partner, while Kim has been providing the Russian president with troops for his war in Ukraine.
Through a long list of 26 foreign leaders – none of them being from the West – Xi will look to demonstrate he can bring countries from Central Asia and Eastern Europe together.
The timing and setting of the meeting serve as a powerful visual statement of defiance.
It will further embolden Putin, who has already shown signs he does not care what the West thinks, including Donald Trump.
Putin has so far managed to escape Trump’s clutches and drag peace efforts to his will.
The tyrant has stood his ground throughout his war in Ukraine – and is still adamant about the war goals he set on day one when he launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The summit is poised to give him more power – even if it is symbolic – against the West to continue his meatgrinder war.
Not to mention, he has already been supplied thousands of troops by North Korea and backdoor support from China and Iran.
Beijing, which just a few months ago refused to bow down to Trump’s blistering tariffs, will gain more confidence with its non-Western partners.
He added: “Facing an international landscape fraught with both change and turmoil, China and Russia, as founding members of the UN and permanent members of the Security Council, will continue to uphold the authority of the United Nations and international fairness and justice.”
Putin will want to show he is not isolated in the world as the West continues to slam the tyrant for his bloody war.
He will seek more support to justify the cause of his so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine.
All while dragging the peace efforts led by Trump and his European allies.
Trump’s renewed drive to bring the war to a close could bring a once-unthinkable second meeting between Zelensky and Putin to reality.
However, in the days since Trump’s separate meetings with the two leaders, Moscow has been quick to pour cold water on the prospect.
Because the very act of meeting with Zelensky could undermine Putin and the entire rationale for his war in the eyes of Russia.
Orysia Lutsevich, director of Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia program, told CNN that Putin “will have to accept the failure of sitting down with a President he considers a joke from a country that doesn’t exist”.
Undermines Russia’s war aims
When the Russian despot ordered tanks to assault Kyiv in February 2022, his warped justification was based on claims that Ukraine was a fake country run by Nazis.
Zelensky’s Jewish identity makes the claim patently absurd, but for Putin to sit down with him would be a tacit admission of how ludicrous the claim was.
For Vlad to meet Volod for talks, they would be sitting there as two Presidents of legitimate, sovereign nations – something that the Kremlin‘s narrative could not possibly abide.
And so long as Ukraine remains armed and sovereign, concessions to Zelensky would prove Putin’s war goals a failure.
Russia has shown little indication of making major concessions so far, with the handover of vast swathes of Ukrainian territory to Moscow still Putin’s core condition for peace.
But to avoid Trump’s wrath if talks fall through, Putin will want to shift the blame to Zelensky.
