Vladimir Putin’s state visit to China this week was a show of strength. It was a chance for the Russian president to prove to the world that he has a powerful ally in his corner.

The Russian leader is widely regarded as a pariah after ordering the invasion of Ukraine. But to China’s President Xi Jinping, he is a key partner in seeking a new world order that is not led by the US.

And Mr Xi made his guest welcome. He rolled out the red carpet, the band played old Red Army songs, and cheering children greeted both leaders as they strolled through Tiananmen Square. There was even a brief hug for the cameras.

Russian and Chinese state media focused heavily on the camaraderie between the two leaders. But in truth, this is no longer a partnership of equals.

MBFC
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  • @[email protected]
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    535 months ago

    He (putin) said that his family were learning Mandarin

    I hope he atleast got a breathmint after kissing that much ass.

    • @CM400
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      175 months ago

      Maybe he’s looking for protection when he gets exiled.

      • @Crack0n7uesday
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        215 months ago

        If you look at the history of Russian leaders, they generally die while holding power. If it looks like Putin is going to loose power, he won’t be exiled…

        • gregorum
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          55 months ago

          He should start practicing the window swan-dive into a cup of polonium tea now. The real trick is hitting the two bullets in the back of your head on the way down!

        • @captainlezbian
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          24 months ago

          May he go the same way Alexander II did.

            • @captainlezbian
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              14 months ago

              He died of a common condition that afflicted world leaders at the time: pissing off anarchists

  • Flying SquidM
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    165 months ago

    They were never equals. Putin wanted the world to think that they were equals. He may have even convinced himself. Xi always knew better. China has enough intelligence on Russia to know that they’re far more powerful.

  • @uebquauntbez
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    65 months ago

    Putin will be Stewart of Western China territory soontm

    • classic
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      125 months ago

      I think I read this comment with a different tone than others…

      • @[email protected]
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        105 months ago

        All you have to read is “joined 8 hours ago”. That was their 5th comment. Just block and move on.

        • classic
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          105 months ago

          tbh, I mostly don’t look at anyone’s profile. I just meet each comment on its own

        • Mkengine
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          5 months ago

          In Sync I see a garbage bin + a person with a ban symbol in the right corner. But I can still see their comment, do you by chance know what these symbols indicate?

          • Aniki 🌱🌿
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            35 months ago

            Deleting messages in activity pub is a process of proliferation so it mostly likely indicates that the post has been deleted from the community and the user is banned. That you still see it means your local instance hasn’t received the federated delete message.