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Was going to be an informal meeting. The last of a year, at least, turbulent. However, the summit that Russian President Vladimir Putin held this week in St. Petersburg has ended up becoming a desperate attempt to short-cut their post-Soviet allies in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
For two days, the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan have met numerous times to discuss “a wide variety of topics“. But above all to talk about Ukraine, an issue that has forced some of the leaders of these countries to stand up to Moscow.
Thus, to return his loyalty, or at least to thank him for attending the summit at a time when he is practically isolated from the international community, Putin has presented each of his eight guests with a golden ring.
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This was explained by the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, to the Russian news agency TASS, where you have specified that it is a New Year’s gift. “There is no need to focus on the rings, they are just a gift to celebrate the new year, there is nothing special,” the Russian official said on Tuesday.
the rings of power
It has done so after the social networks, in general, and many Telegram channels related to the Kremlin, specifically, have begun to nickname the rings that the CIS leaders have received as “the rings of power“. A comparison with those in the universe of J.R.R. Tolkien, Sauron forged for elves, dwarves and humansgiving them a longer life in exchange for being totally corrupted by power.
In fact, some remember, such as the leaders of the international organization created after the dissolution of the USSR, there were nine alliances who gave themselves up to corrupt and dominate men in the Lord of the Rings novels.
Saving the distances, Putin’s rings have a much more mundane message: several of them are inscribed “happy 2023” and the emblem of the CIS. This has been confirmed by both TASS such as the Telegram channel close to the Belarusian press service Pul Pervogo, which has shared images of the different gifts.
Because apparently, these were delivered on Monday and, probably, their existence would not have been known if the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenkohe would not have decided to wear it during the summit. has been the only one. He is also the only one who has openly supported the invasion of Ukraine and has even formed a joint military grouping on the Ukrainian border.
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Others, however, maintain a tense relationship with Putin. This is the case of the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinian, who a few months ago refused to sign the final declaration of the summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (OTSC) led by Russia. The reason? That Moscow has not given him sufficient support during his conflict with Azerbaijan, including the 2020 war for control of the Armenian enclave of Nagorno Karabakh.
The curious thing is that it seems not even Putin will wear the ringas announced by his spokesman.
