Putin, si and mischievous Kim

Alexander Golts, military observer The New Times

North Korea once again demonstrated that she wanted to spit on the UN resolution and even the threat of the American president: on July 4, Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile, which he calls the intercontinental. It doesn’t matter that, according to Russian control systems, the rocket flew only 500 km (Pyongyang claims to be about a thousand). The main thing is that the DPRK is trying to create a weapon that will not only get the United States, but also any other country on the planet - and it seems that it is not so far from achieving this goal.

At first glance, right now, before our eyes, the long-standing dream of foreign policy romantics will begin to come true: having encountered a general serious threat, the great powers pursue an agreed balanced policy, which was called a “European concert” a couple of centuries ago. Washington did not limit himself to statements about his readiness to take “response measures”, but directly demanded from China to the reason, finally, Kim Jong -un. And, O Miracle, not only Beijing, but also Moscow suddenly filled with historical responsibility and demanded from the DPRK to stop both nuclear and missile tests, even if at the meeting of Putin and Xi Jinping in the Kremlin on July 4 this demand was dressed in a delicate form: they turned to Pyongyan with the “recommendation to introduce moratoriums” to launch. If we keep in mind that it is China and Russia that provide the conditions under which the North Korean economy somehow still keeps up (and thus retains the ability to conduct missile and nuclear development), their persistent “recommendation” should have been action.

However, the devil, as usual, is in detail. The Russian-Chinese statement appeared not just like that, but after Washington performed a number of purely strict actions in relation to the PRC: the US Treasury introduced restrictive measures against two Chinese citizens and the Chinese cargo shipping company Dalian Global Unity SHIPPING-"In connection with the activities of the DPRS in the transport sector." In addition, Washington accused the Dandong Chinese bank of multimillion -dollar transactions with companies participating in the North Korean missile and nuclear program. And finally, the United States decided on large -scale supply of weapons Taiwan, an opponent and competitor of the PRC in East Asia.

As for Moscow, right now, when before the meeting of Trump and Putin in Hamburg a hand is a stone's throw, she desperately needs to demonstrate Washington, which depends on her in international affairs. Not as much as from Beijing, but still.

Russia and China cannot hide its secret admiration for the North Korean dictator, which does what the Russian and Chinese leaders cannot afford. Condemning the DPRK for Blazir and demanding from her compliance with the Oonov resolutions, Moscow and Beijing, as follows from a joint statement, consider its actions ... reasonable

However, facing the need to act in the interests of the United States, Russia and China cannot hide its secret admiration for the North Korean dictator, which does what the Russian and Chinese leaders cannot afford. Convicing the DPRK for Blazir and demanding from her compliance with the Oonov resolutions, Moscow and Beijing, as follows from a joint statement, consider its actions ... reasonable. Otherwise, where did it suddenly come from it that "the fair concern of the DPRK should be respected."

The fact is that Pyongyang’s concern is not very different from those that Russia and China are experiencing. So, in a joint statement, the termination of nuclear and missile tests of the DPRK is linked to the fact that the United States and South Korea will refrain from conducting large -scale joint exercises. At the same time, it is well known: missile launches and nuclear explosions that North Korea are satisfied are a direct violation of the UN resolutions, which cannot be said about the US-Switch-Korean teachings.

In addition, Moscow and Beijing are opposed to the military presence of “non-regional” (read-American) forces in North-East Asia and its increase “under the pretext of countering the DPRK missile and nuclear programs”, as well as against the placement of Thaad missile defense in northeastern Asia. If you call a spade a spade, Russia and China urge the countries of the region to abandon the Military DPRK deterrence attempts and completely put their safety depending on whether Kim Jong -un will be persuaded to moderate his ambitions or not. The North Korean leader, although young, is able to read between the lines. And in the Russian-Chinese statement, he is quite capable of seeing the exact opposite of the demonstration of the unity of mankind before the nuclear threat from the DPRK. Thus, the concert of the great powers has not yet succeeded ...