CIA Director William Burns said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military campaign in Ukraine had been a “huge strategic failure” and that Moscow could soon become “an economic colony of China”.
“Just think of the impact on Russia’s economic prospects not only in terms of lost manpower and equipment, but also the humiliation suffered by the Russian military, at the exposure of its weaknesses, the long-term damage of sanctions and export controls, and the exodus of more than a thousand Western companies,” Burns said in a speech at Rice University in Houston.
“Consider that at the start of the war, Putin intended to divide and weaken NATO, but in fact NATO is now more united than ever. The bloc has just accepted a new member, Finland, into its ranks, and will most likely accept another, Sweden,” he said.
“And if you look at the real situation, you can see that Russia is becoming more and more dependent on China and in some ways risks becoming an economic colony of China over time, dependent on the export of energy resources. and raw materials to this country,” Burns said, adding that Putin himself was leading Russia in this.
In late 2021, President Joe Biden sent Burns to Moscow in a last-ditch effort to dissuade Putin from starting a war, but the CIA chief returned convinced the Russian president had already made up his mind. According to Burns, Putin is unlikely to learn from his mistakes over the past 14 months.
“He bets he will be able to crush the Ukrainians and wear out the West. He thinks and wants us to think he can make his time work for him,” Burns said in his opening remarks. “He remains convinced that Ukraine is more important to him than to us. I think Putin was as wrong in that bet as he was in his assumptions before the invasion.
In March, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Moscow and signed long-term agreements with Putin giving Chinese companies disproportionate market access in sectors such as finance, technology, agriculture and government. space.
These agreements should increase the use of the Chinese yuan by Russia.
In return, observers say Putin got the edge he needs now, which includes powerful political cover from a Chinese counterpart that avoids outright condemnation of the Russian invasion.
“I think the partnership between Xi Jinping’s China and Vladimir Putin’s Russia is very strong today,” Burns said.
However, Beijing has so far refrained from sending weapons to Moscow for use on the battlefield. China has offered a near-peaceful plan to end the war in Ukraine and distanced itself from Putin’s nuclear rattle.
“This is an important partnership that I think both leaders are committed to. But in any case, it’s not yet an ‘unlimited’ friendship,” Burns summed up.
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