He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.
"Xi Jinping feels that the Russian horde has been defeated. And the very fact of Russia's defeat does not bother China. China sees Russia as a territory for absorption. It is worried that if Russia is defeated, the likelihood of Putin losing power increases. Beijing sees Putin as the leader of a pro-Chinese party in Russia. In the event of an obvious crushing defeat for Russia and Putin's loss of power, whatever government comes to power will not be as pleasing to China. And one of the charges that will be brought against former President Putin is that he betrayed Russia's economic and geopolitical interests in the Far East," Piontkovsky explained.
Andrey Piontkovsky added that China's strategy is to ensure a so-called soft defeat for Russia. A defeat that Putin would be able to sell to his core people as an honorable draw. Something like the option of returning to the borders of February 23, 2022.
"Xi Jinping and Putin will impose some restrictions on Ukraine's sovereignty, but this is long gone. The truth about the horrific crimes of Russian aggression against humanity has been revealed, and these are already official characteristics of the leading Western powers, and the first proceedings have already been launched. A special tribunal is being prepared for the military and political leadership to consider the crimes of the Russian Federation as aggression against an independent state," Piontkovsky said.
ISW suggests that the topic of the talks between the leaders of Russia and China will be Xi Jinping's mediation in the war in Ukraine and ways to evade sanctions.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry doubts that China will make a decision to supply Russia with weapons during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow on March 20 to 22.