Putin The Winner So Far

 

By Louis Petrone

 

Putin invades Ukraine. He says it is neither him nor Russia. He lies. The world knows he lies. He gets away with it.

 

 

I suspect Putin’s move into Ukraine was the beginning of a new cold war. What has transpired since suggests it. Recently, former Russian President Gorbachev said the world was on the brink of a new cold war. He even went so far as to say the cold war may already have begun.

 

 

The United States and several other nations imposed severe sanctions on Russia for the Ukraine invasion. Russia hurt. Its economy was in trouble. Putin reacted.

 

 

In May, Putin announced a signed agreement with China. Russia will build a new gas line from Russia into China. China will buy gas from Russia for 40 years. This agreement came at a time when Putin was being threatened with a cutback in gas purchases from certain European nations.

 

 

Putin did not flinch. Even though gas exports make up 75 percent of Russia’s exports. He merely went and made a deal with the country no one thought it possible to make such a deal. China.

 

 

A major Asian meeting was conducted in China last week. Every one there. Including Putin and Obama. Putin announces a second big gas deal with China. This one a 30 year deal whereby Russia builds a second gas line into China and China agrees to buy $400 billion worth of gas over 30 years. This second agreement will make China Russia’s biggest gas customer. Bigger than all the European nations combined that Russia now supplies.

 

 

Immediately, Putin was the man of the hour at the Asia meeting.

 

 

Putin makes another announcement during the time of the meeting.

 

 

The sanctions are having a crippling effect on the Russian economy. Russia announced that Chinese lenders have agreed to provide Russia’s state Sberbank $2 billion in financing. The money is intended to make up for the European financing cut off by sanctions.

 

 

Now comes another announcement last week. Russia and Iran have signed a new partnership agreement to build eight nuclear reactors for Iran. This announcement came days before the Nov. 24 deadline for an Iranian decision regarding a nuclear pact with the United States and five European countries. While Obama’s people were negotiating for a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear efforts, Putin arranges to build eight new nuclear reactors for Iran.

 

 

Putin is doing well on the world stage. In six months, he has come up with the major deals mentioned.

 

 

What has Obama accomplished? Obama came out of the Asia meetings with an agreement with China to curb fossil fuels. The world’s two biggest polluters are the United States and China. 

 

 

Per the agreement, the United States has to show performance results four years before China. This is not a you show me yours and I will show you mine situation. Additionally from what I have been able to garner, the agreement does not contain binding language. It is phrased in what the parties intend to do.

 

 

Concededly, the sanctions are working. However, Putin has refused to buckle under. Instead, he has come out swinging and accomplished several big things. Obama has the sanctions and a wishy washy environmental agreement with China to show for his efforts.

 

 

If this were a heavyweight championship boxing match, Putin thus far is decidedly the winner. It is time for Obama to get up off the canvas and come out swinging.

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