Putin's childhood memories: with whom is the Kremlin trying to be “friends” against the West

Russia has become an outsider in the world. Western countries have nullified political, economic, and cultural cooperation with it. Therefore, Moscow was forced to look for new “friends.”

Political scientist and sociologist from Germany Igor Eidman told 24 Channelthat the Russian authorities realize that no one in the West will deal with Vladimir Putin and his camarilla. Therefore, the Kremlin is trying to compensate for the losses it is experiencing economically and politically in the West.

“Be friends” is not it turns out

For this, Russia has begun to reorient itself to the South and East over the past two years. She is trying to be “friends” with countries from these regions, but, according to him, she is doing it poorly.

The Soviet Union really wanted to be friends with Africa, and Putin probably has childhood memories, and he is trying to compensate for the loss of cooperation with the West by establishing relations with the countries of the African continent, the political scientist noted.

As you know, the friendship of the Soviet Union with the countries of Africa ended, that most of them rudely “threw away” the USSR, did not repay the debts that were allocated to them. Politically, Africa also reoriented itself, which only made cooperation with the Soviet Union unprofitable.

“With today's friendship Putin with Africa there will be the same situation,” Eidman emphasized.

What is the future fate of Gazprom

At the same time, there are countries with which Putin’s cooperation, if not for his own benefit, at least allows the Russian economy to stay afloat . These are China, India, some large Asian countries.

However, fully to compensate for losses, which the Russian economy bears from the loss of Western markets, Moscow cannot. First of all, for gas.

“For decades, the USSR and then Russia were the main suppliers of gas to Europe. Now the European markets are almost completely lost. Gazprom cannot restore these losses and compensate at the expense of other markets. In the near future, Gazprom will not be able to be responsible for its payments and will go bankrupt Since it is a large Russian corporation, this will hit others. sectors of the Russian economy,” the political scientist suggested.

Russia’s cooperation with China: what’s new

• In Russia, prices for Chinese cars have increased significantly. In the first quarter of 2024, the cost of the Chinese GAC car increased by 53%, and Geely models became more expensive by 20.4%. Chery also increased in price – by 13.3%. In general, the demand for new cars from Chinese manufacturers in the third quarter of 2023 increased by 158%
• At the same time, the level of Chinese exports to Russia decreased significantly. So, in March its figure fell by almost 16% compared to March 2023. The total volume of Russian imports also decreased during March. In annual terms there was a reduction of 18%. These processes are related to the effect of Western sanctions against Russia.
• Also, the largest bank in China, ICBC, refused Russian payments. The financial institution has stopped accepting payments in yuan from Russia. Other Chinese banking institutions did the same: China Citic Bank, Industrial Bank, Bank of Taizhou and Bank of China. The restrictions that China has introduced are associated with the risk of new sanctions from the United States.