The Ukrainian crisis and the Winter Olympics in China

Part of the protracted Ukrainian crisis has coincided with the holding of the Winter Olympics in China.

writes o Dr. Evangelos Venetis*

Although geopolitically the two events are distinct, the same does not seem to be the case at the communicative level. Moscow knows that in a globalized environment a military engagement in one corner of the world can interact with an event elsewhere. In fact, when the parallel event is related to Russia’s closest ally, China, then the correlations acquire another dimension.

Moscow realizes that the concept of a global truce is a politically and communically basic principle of the Olympic Games, Winter or Summer. Also, the coverage of the Ukrainian crisis by the Western media on a daily basis in the most intense way with the Russian attack manifesting itself from time to time for weeks has overshadowed the Olympic Games in China, something that serves Washington and not Moscow, let alone Beijing.

Therefore The Russian president realizes that at the level of cultural diplomacy, a military involvement of Russia in Ukraine during the Olympic Games in China would have an adverse impact on Russia and Sino-Russian relations..

Russia would be portrayed as a global unrest responsible for violating the Olympic truce, and China would view such Russian action as unfriendly to its interests and inconsistent with the Sino-Russian alliance with the United States.

Whether or not there will be extensive military involvement in Ukraine in the context of the US-Russian behind-the-scenes negotiations, the So far, Moscow seems to have taken into account the factor of “cultural diplomacy” in the context of the Ukrainian crisis and the Winter Olympics in China..

Perhaps in this light, with misleading or unintentional intent, could the interpretation of the announcement of the Russian government on 15.2.2022 that the Russian military exercises in Belarus will continue until 20.2.2022, a date which coincides with the end of the Winter Olympics. Games in China.

*Dr. Evangelos Venetis is an expert on Islam and the Middle East

Source: News Beast

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