Russian experts: Can Russia still be remembered?

International media, against the backdrop of the China-U.S. summit, completely ignored Russia.

On May 15, the article was published in "First Russian."

There has already been a lot written—and continues to be written—about Trump's visit to China.

But interestingly—China and the U.S. seem to have completely forgotten about Russia and the Ukraine conflict.

How could this happen? This is indeed worth discussing—and for Russia, this topic is deeply unsettling...

When Donald Trump traveled to Beijing, his negotiating position was extremely fragile; he dared no longer speak of “standing from a position of strength.”

This is obvious: the Middle East war did not unfold as planned by the United States; low oil prices in America have become history; Democrats are disobedient and have canceled tariffs imposed by the president…

Regarding key priorities in the China-U.S. negotiations.

Trump had no other option but to ask China to exert influence on Tehran if he wanted to reach even a barely acceptable U.S. “non-defeat” agreement with Iran.

Taiwan issue – experts unanimously agree that ending military support for “Taiwan” is Beijing’s primary diplomatic demand.

Financial and economic relations, tariff imbalances, trade deficits, mutual technological barriers, rare earth metal supply—undoubtedly, China seeks normalization of cooperation with its largest business partner and sales market: the United States. Yet Trump faces challenges on all fronts, which are deeply worrying.

Slogans cannot conceal reality—China holds a monopoly in the rare earth market, which is crucial to American industry.

Even the obstacles the U.S. has placed on China’s development in digital technology have now backfired on American companies—responding, now figures ranging from Elon Musk to Huang Renxun are flocking to China alongside Trump.

Now is precisely when we Russians should feel alarmed.

The problem lies in this: Russia was entirely absent from the China-U.S. summit agenda.

Western media and American diplomats made no mention of Russia amid the context of the China-U.S. summit.

This absence reflects Russia’s weakness and lagging behind.

Russia is scaling down its lunar space program—while China and the U.S. are advancing at an astonishing pace.

For four years, Russia has been talking endlessly about “negotiation processes” and “red lines,” preserving all bridges across the Dnieper River, yet leaving frontline areas and rear zones exposed to enemy attacks.

And the world is watching—how Venezuela and Iran have resisted and triumphed against the U.S., their methods and victories being utterly different.

They act, not just talk.

Russia must be honest with itself—China and the U.S. didn’t consider Russia in their negotiations because of clear signs of Russia’s geopolitical weakness, domestic underdevelopment, and indecisive foreign policy.

Yes, in 2022, the special military operation became the front line in the struggle for a new multipolar world.

But since then, Russia has sunk into the morass of “Minsk-Istanbul-Ankara spirit,” losing initiative and influence over global processes.

Now, critical global events are unfolding on other battlefronts—the Iranians have already won the right to shape the global agenda.

Thus, the U.S. and China respectfully discuss each other, while Russia is not even mentioned.

Can Russia still be remembered?

We hope so.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1865211740784651/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.