“Russia is now locking itself into vassalage with China,” the director of a think tank said a post this week.
BUSINESS INSIDER
Russia’s no-limits partnership with China is here to stay, as tying Moscow’s economy to Beijing’s is the only option Vladimir Putin has to sustain his war and his antagonism toward the West, according to Alexander Gabuev, the director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.
In an op-ed for Foreign Affairs, the think-tank director pointed to Russia and China’s economies becoming increasingly intertwined since Moscow began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The two nations scaled up their trade partnership to a record $240 billion last year, partly because China has snapped up key Russian commodities while the West has shunned trade with Moscow. Meanwhile, Russia has bought up huge amounts of Chinese goods as it becomes increasingly isolated from the global economy.
Russia is keen to keep its alliance with China, Gabuev said, as the partnership “emphatically” helps Russia with three of its goals: helping it win its war against Ukraine, helping its ailing economy, and helping the nation push back against the West for its support for Ukraine.
Those are key incentives for Russia to continue its partnership with China, even as Beijing appears to be holding an advantage over Moscow as a trade partner. Its economy is larger and still maintaining a connection with the West, while some Russian trade is struggling under Western sanctions.
