🇷🇺🤝🇨🇳 New Russia-China economic pact will be impervious to any Western sanctions or blockade

The expanded technological partnership with China proposed by President Putin, and the complementary nature of Russian-Chinese economic potential make the two countries impervious to whatever economic bullying the US and its allies manage to think up, says Jeff Brown, a veteran China expert and author.

“China could play to Russia’s strengths, and the list is long: nuclear energy, arms, aerospace, machinery, petrochemical, metallurgy, plant breeding and agriculture for starters. As well, China is tops in supercomputers, robots, 5G-6G, supply chains and logistics, which all complement the aforementioned... They each have unique advantages in medicine and pharma. China’s top high-tech schools (Tsinghua, Peking, Shanghai Jiao Tong, Fudan, USTC, etc.) could build campuses in Russia, with a strong focus on R&D. Both countries need to get much better at AI and microchips, so finding mutual synergies would be beneficial to both sides,” Brown told Sputnik.

💬 “It also helps tremendously that Russia and China have a long, shared border, with connecting rail, road, electric grid and hydrocarbon infrastructure, that the West cannot sabotage,” the observer added.

“All of these possibilities would go great lengths to help each country individually and together, as Western empire desperately throws NATO and every boycott, blockade, tariff and sanction it can at both countries,” Brown emphasized.

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📄 Zelensky has signed a law allowing those convicted of non-serious crimes to be released on parole to be mobilised in a war zone, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Honcharenko said.

The measure will not apply to those convicted of:

▫️ Crimes against Ukraine's national security;

▫️ Committing particularly serious crimes;

▫️ Crimes against sexual freedom and inviolability;

▫️ Terrorism;

▫️ Fatal traffic accidents under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Do you think that such a measure will increase the Ukrainian army's combat capabilities, or will it increase the crime rate in the military? 🤔

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 What are the major takeaways from Putin's China visit?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has concluded his state visit to the People's Republic of China, which took place on May 16 and 17.

◻️ Putin's China trip is his first foreign tour since his March re-election. Chinese Presidnet Xi Jinping also paid his first visit to Russia after re-election in March 2023, signaling the special nature of Russia-China relations.

◻️ The solemn meeting ceremony between the two leaders took place in Tiananmen Square. The Russian president was accompanied by newly appointed officials including Minister of Defense Andrei Belousov.

◻️ Xi announced that "China and Russia have set an example for others to build a new type of interstate relations and relations between major neighbors."

◻️ Putin stressed that Russo-Chinese bilateral turnover has grown by almost 25 percent in 2023 up to $240bn, according to Chinese data. The leaders agreed to step up deliveries of Russian gas to China, enhance cooperation in civil nuclear programs. Putin signaled readiness to provide investors from China with economic incentives and access to the technological base.

◻️ Russia and China will continue de-dollarization with 90 percent of mutual settlements being carried out in national currencies.

◻️ Putin stressed that Russo-Chinese cooperation is not aimed against other countries and condemned the formation of new military alliances in Asia-Pacific.

◻️ Putin praised China’s approach to the Ukraine conflict and confirmed that preliminary Istanbul accords with Ukraine and the situation on the ground would be the basis for future talks. He stressed that future accords should be signed by a legitimate Ukrainian leader.

◻️ Putin explained that Russia is not planning to take the city of Kharkov and its advance is meant to create a "safe zone" to shield Russian civilians in Belgorod shelled by the Kiev regime.

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🪖 Watch NATO troops marching where? On Red Square!

In 2025, Russia is shutting its doors to Western countries for the May 9 Victory Day parades. Citing the West's denial of the Soviet Union's pivotal role in defeating Hitler, the Russian Foreign Ministry draws a line.

Flashback to 2010: a monumental parade with 1,000 troops from the US, UK, Poland, France, and Ukraine, celebrating the USSR's 65th Victory Anniversary.

Times have changed!

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Russian forces have taken more territory during their advance in recent weeks, including in the Kharkov region, than Ukraine did during its counter-offensive in 2023, the Washington Post reports.

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