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Michael Wild's avatar

As far as I can tell the Xi-Putin summit was a giant nothingburger. We knew the two get on fine and China sits squarely in Russia’s corner. But sits seems the operative word. The most flaccid Ukrainian ally seems to have given more active help than China has given Russia. A post Putin Russia may well reflect how little they got out of China (who happily buys their oil at a steep discount) compared to how well paid they were when they traded with Europe.

I cannot see Putin relinquishing any of his ill-gotten gains voluntarily though I could see him offering a cease fire if he believed he had no prospect of further advances. Whether the Ukrainians would accept one it is another matter. The only thing that would stop this war would be the expulsion of the Russian forces from Ukrainian territory. We ought to give the Ukrainians as much help as they need to achieve this.

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William Farrar's avatar

Russia is not a member of the UN or it's Security Council. That honor belongs to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which was dissolved by Yeltsin. There is nothing in the UN Charter about subsequent states succeeding to the position of former states.

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