Vladimir Putin’s been attempting to rustle up some friends/allies after essentially making himself a global pariah by invading Ukraine. Even within Russia, elites are hesitant to align themselves with the president/autocrat for fear of eventually being accused of war crimes, and perhaps even worse to Putin, his former strongman image has fallen into tatters with word that he just kinda sat there and silently freaked out as the Wagner mutiny unfolded.
Putin wants to present the image of making nice, it seems, which is why he decided to generously offer grain — to which there were no takers — like a “benevolent overlord” for those countries who were in attendance for the recent “Russia-Africa” summit. Mind you, only 17 out of 54 current African nation heads of state even bothered coming to the event.
However, Putin does have a relatively powerful ally in his corner, but it’s not an ally that most countries would covet. Then again, it’s not totally surprising, since Putin was reported to be scooping up rockets from dictator Kim Jong Un. And he put a ring on it with a from-afar speech during the North Korean celebration of Victory Day in the North:
North Korea’s “firm support” for Russia’s war in Ukraine emboldens the two countries’ determination to cope with Western nations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a speech to North Korean officials on Thursday, according to a report in North Korean state media.
Putin did not go into detail of the nature of Pyongyang’s support in what he called Russia’s “special military operation.” But US officials said last year that North Korea was selling millions of rockets and artillery shells to Russia for use on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Well, the two leaders do share an apparent hatred for the Western world, and the Victory Day event apparently included a parade of intercontinental ballistic missiles, which is quite something. And Putin is probably jealous as well, since his recent Victory Day parades were largely cancelled other than one lonely tank in attendance. Putin recently (and finally) admitted that Russia is making a poor showing in Ukraine, but Putin he also threatened to be shipping ICBMs with nukes to Belarus, and if that’s true, he may have found a willing supplier.
(Via CNN)