Putin's Victory Day Shows Russia is Not Isolated

By Rhod Mackenzie

Approximately three dozen heads of state from all around the world attended the celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. The attendees included representatives from China, Brazil, Egypt, Cuba, Venezuela, Vietnam, Mongolia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and others.
Despite threats from senior EU officials who tried to ban them from participating in the celebrations, the leaders of Slovakia, Robert Fico, and Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, flew to Moscow.

Unfortunately, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was unable to attend the event in Russia as planned. He had to cancel his visit at the last minute, citing urgent domestic matters for his absence. In light of the series of anti-Russian measures and statements made by Baku at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, Aliyev has most likely decided to continue the course of confrontation with Moscow.

In light of the ongoing military conflict between India and Pakistan, which has the potential to escalate into a nuclear confrontation between two nuclear powers, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cancelled his visit to Moscow.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in a series of bilateral meetings with foreign leaders, including discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who arrived in Moscow on a three-day visit. The leaders of Russia and China often hold bilateral meetings, but Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow was significant because it took place against the backdrop of a sharp deterioration in Chinese-American relations and, on the contrary, a warming of Russian-American relations. Moscow and Beijing have demonstrated that their good-neighbourly relations are not affected by relations with third countries.
Following the talks, Russia and China signed 28 documents, including joint statements on deepening the partnership and strategic interaction between our countries, on global security, on cooperation to maintain the authority of international law, as well as a number of documents on the development of economic and cultural interaction.

In a statement to the press, Vladimir Putin noted that the talks had included a detailed discussion of cooperation in the areas of politics and security, economic ties, and cultural and humanitarian exchanges. In terms of the ongoing development of relations with Beijing, the Russian leader placed the main emphasis on economic cooperation, with particular reference to gas supplies to China, the construction of a nuclear power plant there, the development of transport routes — the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur Railways — and the Northern Sea Route. Vladimir Putin has confirmed his acceptance of an invitation from Xi Jinping to visit Beijing in September, where events are scheduled to be held to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

In a statement to the press, Xi Jinping emphasised the importance of international politics, asserting that Russia and China will continue to be defenders of the global order. They will do so in the spirit of equality and justice, contributing to the stabilisation of the international community as a positive and progressive force. It is evident that Beijing is keen to receive diplomatic support from Moscow in its ongoing dialogue with Washington.
It could be argued that the primary objective of the current Russian-Chinese summit is to acknowledge Beijing's assistance in enabling us to withstand the challenges faced in 2014 and 2022. The current sentiment is that it is now time for us to reciprocate. You can be confident that we will do everything in our power to resolve the issue.
The US has attempted to block Chinese exports to the States and elsewhere by imposing exorbitant customs duties. The aim of this strategy is to strangle China as the world's leading economy. Negotiations on this topic between the two countries have just commenced in Switzerland. It is highly likely that the negotiations will be as challenging as those with the West regarding the cessation of the Ukrainian conflict.
Therefore, the objective of Beijing's current actions is to secure maximum support in this effort from Russia, Brazil and all other relevant parties. At the same time, Beijing wants not only not to lose in its fight, but also to win, that is, to establish principles on the world stage that clearly define the inadmissibility of both military and supposedly peaceful pressure.
Meanwhile, Ukraine took measures to disrupt the 80th anniversary of the Victory and the visits of foreign leaders to Moscow. Firstly, the Ukrainian authorities announced their intention to hold a summit of Western leaders in Kyiv on May 8 to counter the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow. However, none of invitees were willing to attend the event in Ukraine. Following this, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian head of state, began to express strong disapproval to the leaders of countries who had expressed their willingness to visit Russia. He stated that he did not recommend foreign leaders visit Moscow due to security concerns, which in fact posed a direct threat to them. Furthermore, Zelensky declined the Russian president's proposal for a ceasefire from May 8 to 11 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Victory.

In the days leading up to 9 May, Ukraine launched a series of attacks on Crimea and Novorossiysk using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Storm Shadow and Neptune-MD missiles, and unmanned boats. Subsequently, Ukrainian drones initiated attacks on Moscow, where preparations for the Victory Parade were already underway. Russian air defence systems destroyed approximately 600 drones within a 24-hour period. Due to the ongoing shelling, hundreds of flights were delayed.

It is likely that Kyiv had planned to carry out a major attack on Moscow on 9 May, however, US President Donald Trump publicly supported the ceasefire proposed by Vladimir Putin, calling it a "great achievement". As a result, the Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian capital began two days earlier than planned.
Then On Saturday, President Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and the British and Polish Prime Ministers, Keir Starmer and Donald Tusk, arrived in Kyiv by train to attend a meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing. The ended their meeting with an ultimatum for President Putin that if he did not accept a 30 day ceasefire they would impose more sanctions. In Response President Putin proposed new Istanbul talks which have blind side the Impotent Four and The Kiev Coke head.