Thread by @Kasparov63

Putin has been selling off Russian resources, land, and autonomy cheaply to China for over 15 years. Now it it accelerating because his war on Ukraine & the resulting sanctions have increased Putin's need for Chinese political support, tech, cash, and weapons components. 1/5

https://twitter.com/Beefeater_Fella/status/1802814627148857376

Remember that Putin and his mafia cronies don't care about Russia or Russians at all. They are fodder, especially anywhere outside of Moscow & St. Petersburg. The state is only a front for his mob to pillage. 2/5

Xi needs cheap resources to quell discontent with his own precarious economy. He will try to sign favorable deals & treaties that can still be enforced when Putin falls. And vassal Pu Tin is also useful to Xi for weakening the West. 3/5

Again, this has been going on officially and unofficially for a long time. When I traveled across Russia in 2007 in my opposition campaign, there was already this joke in the East, "Chinese are coming across the border in small groups. 50,000 each!" 4/5

Imperial Russia can and should be allowed to fragment peacefully when Putin & his mafia are gone. The end of empire means allowing self-determination. But deals made with another dictatorship to enrich the dictators cannot be legitimate. 5/5