Putin Wants to Be the Anti-western Godfather, but Xi Jinping Will Not Follow Him in His Crusade in Ukraine.

China is much more powerful than Russia, and its interests are more global and diverse.

The photo is surprising. The leaders have indeed dropped the tie. It shows Vladimir Putin, with Belarusian Alexander Lukashenko, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Azeri Ilham Aliev sitting next to him. The image that the Kremlin wanted to send is that of a group of friends feasting around a coffee table loaded with oriental sweets.

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