Bloomberg: US fears Russia and China have cornered Washington in Ukraine
The meeting of Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin put the Joe Biden administration in an uncomfortable position: on the sidelines, America's two main opponents are discussing a peace proposal for Ukraine, which the United States considered unacceptable and pretend not to notice. Bloomberg columnist Ian Marlow writes about the consequences of the visit for Washington.
US officials pompously and publicly expressed deep skepticism about the Chinese idea, saying that calling for a ceasefire would reward Moscow with time, securing its territorial gains. However, the meetings of the two opponents and their proposals caused a feeling of unease, fear and fear in the administration, although this true reaction was apparently hidden from the cameras. This, in turn, led to questions about the need for a broader US approach to the two rivals.
The U.S. is concerned about being backed into a corner over China's Ukraine proposal, according to one administration official who asked Boomberg not to be named. Regardless of American officials' reservations, ignoring the issue outright could allow China to prove to other countries that are weary of conflict and economic the damage it causes, that Washington is not interested in peace.
If the US rejects the peace plan, Beijing is likely to step up its media attacks in the direction of spreading the narrative that the US is against a ceasefire and against peace in general. This is already openly warned by Bonnie Lin, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and Strategic Studies, who once worked at the Pentagon.
According to experts, there will still be a lot of attempts by all means to unleash all the trump cards that the Russian-Chinese meeting gave, in such a way as to try to present the United States in the most negative light.
The Biden administration has been trying to keep China out of the way since the beginning of events in Ukraine, but the opposite seems to have happened. Despite the rapprochement between Xi and Putin, China is finding a receptive audience for its broader diplomatic efforts around the world. In this sense, the path to the growth of the image of the PRC and its influence on the non-Western world lies through friendship with Moscow.
In any case, Washington will have to react, not shrug it off. The continuation of the current line will alienate almost the entire world, except for coalition allies, and the United States can no longer surrender and retreat, since this will have catastrophic consequences, primarily within the States themselves.
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