redoubles attacks against Ukrainian counteroffensive

Lula’s words were already answered at the time by the Spanish president Pedro Sanchez and, especially, by the head of state, the king Felipe VIwhich was forceful in defending Ukrainian autonomy.

In any case, the idea of ​​a peace plan that goes through a negotiation – tremendous, the vagueness – does not even come from Lula, but from Xi Jinping. Or, rather, directly, from all the allies of the Kremlin since the first day of the war. China wants to present itself as a mediator because, in this way, it cements its position as a leader of multilateralism. The problem is that he has no one to mediate between because nobody pays attention to him.

[La táctica de la Ucrania ocupada: envenenan a 20 soldados rusos en Melitópol y van 500 bajas]

Lula and Xi met last week, that is, just before the Brazilian president’s visit to Spain. The alliance between the two countries was already strong even in Bolsonaro’s time, but the return of the Workers’ Party to power has made it even more solid.

The two are in turn Putin’s business allies in the BRICS treaty that also includes India and South Africa. To this must be added the traditional even personal ties between Putin and Xi. Throughout the conflict, China has refused to explicitly condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine… although it has also denied it any military aid.

That middle ground, that being and not being, that willingness, as we said, to present himself as a reliable intermediary, has made Xi Jinping call this week Volodimir Zelenskyis supposed to explain his peace plan.

We do not know much about the content of the call and, of course, it has not served for any truce, but we do know that Ukraine celebrated it with great fanfare, posting messages on social networks celebrating the mere fact that it was possible to speak with Xi , that is, that, for a moment, Xi put himself in his place and left Putin’s.

[Rusia lanza una ola de ataques con 23 muertos y Kiev dice estar lista para la contraofensiva]

Putin’s rage

By force, that call has had to lay a burned horn in Moscow. Not only the call, but China’s position since the visit to Putin last month, which left so many sweethearts between the two leaders. Russia was probably counting on Xi to change his negotiated peace policy and decide to do with her country what NATO and the European Union are doing with Ukraine, namely, arm it to the teeth.

It hasn’t been like that. China still does not send weapons to Russia and Russia is running out of time and ammunition. Even in the speech, it seems that Beijing is hardening its position: last Monday, the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations was very severe with the attempt to Sergey Lavrov to justify the invasion of a sovereign country as the supposed fulfillment of the founding mandate of the UN.

“China will not allow such interpretations”replied the diplomat, leaving Lavrov and Russia alone among the great world powers.

Since loneliness is a bad thing, there are those who manage it better and those who manage it worse. Putin is among the latter. The bombardment of Uman, four hundred kilometers from the front, shows his state of nerves and indignation. He delegitimizes his alleged allies and makes it clear that Russia only understands the destruction of the enemy, without intermediate points.

If Xi wants to get on the bandwagon, he’s on time. If not, he will see. He has his army divided into a thousand factions -Gerasimov’s, Shoigu’s, Kadyrov’s, Prigozhin’s, those of the different private armies that function as best they can at the front…- and apparently he also wants to divide his own allies. It doesn’t seem like the most sensible strategy.

the counteroffensive

And it is that, apart from diplomacy, Russia has something to worry about. While eyes are still on Bakhmut because it has been like that for the last few months – there is no news compared to Friday, that is, Russia continues to advance, albeit more slowly, the Ukrainians continue with their scorched earth policy and the road that connects the city with Ivanivske and Chasiv Yar remain under local control despite their shortage of ammunition -, Ukraine continues to prepare a counteroffensive It seems that the southern area of ​​the Dnieper River will take place, specifically the occupied areas of Kherson and Zaporizhia.

If on Thursday, NATO assured that 98% of the combat vehicles promised by the Alliance were already in Ukraine, this Friday we learned that the Leopards sent by Spain are already in Poland, ready to cross the border. Soon Ukraine will have the best material available to try to recover what is rightfully his.

We have already seen the first skirmishes in Oleshki, Tokmak and Nova Kakhovka, but the logical thing is that Ukraine waits for the arrival of Western weapons to better organize its offensive.

In this sense, the Ukrainian defense minister, Alexei Reznikovdeclared this Friday to the agency Reuters that “as soon as God and the weather conditions allow it, and our officers so decide, We will start the attackreferring to the tanks that are on the way as an “iron fist” that will tip the scales in their favor.

Since the start of the conflict, The West has shown some fear of what a cornered Putin might do. It seems that little by little he is losing his fear, with the exceptions mentioned. The proliferation of private armies, internal disputes and the alienation of allies do not point to anything good in the event of a defeat in their “special military operation”. Putin knows it. Time is running out.