VLADIMIR Putin relished a red carpet reception in China ahead of a meeting of the “Axis of Evil” – including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
But Vlad’s field trip didn’t bring a let up in his campaign of misery against Ukraine, with bombs battering civilian and naval targets overnight.
APPutin strolls along the red carpet for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China[/caption]
EPAPutin is greeted by Russian representatives to China[/caption]
Meanwhile, Russia launched a hellish blitz at Pavlohrad, Ukraine, overnightEast2West
Putin trotted off his presidential plane and strolled down the carpet for his longest foreign trip in more than a decade at the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin.
China’s President Xi Jinping is hosting talks between the leaders of China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.
Next week, they will be joined by others including North Korea’s Kim – to complete the “Axis of Evil” – for a massive parade.
Kim, in China for the first time in six years, will sit with Putin and Xi as they preside over the show of military might in Tiananmen Square on Wednesday.
Putin will be chuffed to find himself among friends as global fury at his refusal to end the war in Ukraine grows.
As the Russian arrived today, Xi was busy in head-to-heads with a roster of leaders, including Putin’s main pal Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi touched down in China for the first time since 2018 – teeing up a meeting between the world’s two most populous countries.
Putin will take the opportunity in Beijing to pull his anti-West cronies in closer and strengthen his hand against Europe.
He will be looking to weasel more trade deals with Beijing and other Asian states to prop up his struggling economy and fuel the war.
Meanwhile, bombs continued to rain down on Ukraine – with drone strikes on a port in Odesa, a plant in Pavlohrad and civilian sites.
A cargo ship was blasted and two railway stations – one at the port – were set ablaze by strikes.
The Pavlohrad Chemical Plant was pounded for second successive night.
A 74-year-old was killed in the Kherson region and four others wounded.
Russia‘s war machine shows no sign of winding down the bloodshed, as President Trump has demanded, instead smacking Ukraine with deadly strikes most nights this week.
One of Putin’s top generals, Valery Gerasimov, vowed: “The execution of the special military operation tasks by the Joint Group of Forces will continue through offensive actions.
“We will today clarify the tasks for the troop groups in the operational directions for the autumn period.”
He boasted that the army “continues its uninterrupted offensive along virtually the entire frontline“.
East2WestA firefighter tackles a blaze sparked by a Russian drone attack which disrupted power in Chornomorsk, Odesa region[/caption]
A firefighter at the site of an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, overnight on Friday
Trump appears to have abandoned his two-week deadline by when heavy sanctions were going to be imposed on Russia if it didn’t play ball.
Now, he has taken to comparing the warring nations to squabbling children in the playground who aren’t ready for talks.
He said: “You have a child, and there’s another child in the lot, in the playground, and they hate each other, and they start swinging, swinging and swinging, and you want them to stop, and they keep going.
“After a little while, they’re very happy to stop. It’s almost that way.
“Sometimes they have to fight for a little bit before you can get them to stop.
“But this has been going on for a long time. A lot of people are dead.”
Zelensky, however, continues to insist that a meeting with Putin would be “the most effective way forward” to end the war in Ukraine.
APKim Jong Un is travelling to China for the first time in six years[/caption]
East2WestRussia’s Vladimir Putin arriving in Tianjin for the security summit[/caption]
AlamyNarendra Modi of India shakes hand with Xi Jinping of China[/caption]
Back at the SCO summit, Xi told Modi: “The world today is swept by once-in-a-century transformations. The international situation is both fluid and chaotic.
“It is the right choice for both sides to be friends who have good neighbourly and amicable ties, partners who enable each other’s success, and to have the dragon and the elephant dance together.
“As long as they adhere to the overall direction of being partners rather than rivals.
“China-India relations can maintain stability and move forward over the long run.”
The summit could forge a new alliance against the West
Analysis by Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter
AS Xi Jinping prepares to host Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un next week in Beijing, the leaders will look to reinforce the idea that the world is no longer being led by the powers in the West.
The timing and setting of the meeting serve as a powerful visual statement of defiance.
Especially in the wake of Trump’s sanctions and diplomatic isolation efforts by the West, the so-called “Axis of Evil” meet will seek to undermine the Western-led global system.
The agenda-setting summit will be all about optics and a show of power – one that can deter Western countries through both military might and economics.
China, Russia, and North Korea are close allies.
Beijing has long been Pyongyang’s biggest aid and trading partner, while Kim has been providing the Russian president with troops for his war in Ukraine.
Through a long list of 26 foreign leaders – none of them being from the West – Xi will look to demonstrate he can bring countries from Central Asia and Eastern Europe together.
It will further embolden Putin, who has already shown signs he does not care what the West thinks, including Donald Trump.
Putin has so far managed to escape Trump’s clutches and drag peace efforts to his will.
The tyrant has stood his ground throughout the war in Ukraine – and is still adamant about the the goals he set on day one when he launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The summit is poised to give him more power – even if it is symbolic – against the West to continue his meatgrinder war.
Not to mention, he has already been supplied thousands of troops by North Korea and backdoor support from China and Iran.
Beijing, which just a few months ago refused to bow down to Trump’s blistering tariffs, will gain more confidence to lead his allies in unity against the West.