Quote:
Originally Posted by Edward64
If true, this will be a pivotal moment for China. Either join in as an "ally" with Russia for stay neutral. My guess is they'll stay neutral as the west is more important economically than Russia. And what will Russia do anyway if they refuse.
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This, fundamentally, has been Putin's miscalculation. He clearly thought his disinformation campaigns, and Trump's presidency, had sufficiently weakened Western alliances & resolve, and thus he'd be able to do something like this and get away with it.
Luckily, the resolve was still there, and China wants no part in being cut off from the world as Russia has been. Another 4 years of Trump, and it might have been different. Even if one chooses to believe that Putin does not have kompramat on Trump, it's difficult to see someone who praises Putin
like this, or
publicly chooses to believe Putin over his own intelligence agencies, orchestrating a multi-national response like Biden has. YMMV.