Elections have consequences. Stolen (Yes, I believe.) elections have disastrous consequences. The world saw Creepy Joe Biden snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Afghanistan and give Putin the go ahead for a minor incursion in Ukraine. Because the United States abandoned the leadership position it had held for 80 plus years, the world was left with a leadership void. Xi and Putin looked around and said, why not me? The U.S. led the world because we were good and moral and generous. We had good partners, like Great Britain, Poland and France. Xi and Putin want to be world leaders to defeat the United States and get what they can out of the nations they bring under their boot heels.

China and Russia are natural leadership partners. Vladimir Putin needs lots of weaponry to defeat Ukraine and Xi Jinping needs oil to get China’s economy roaring after the brutal pandemic shutdown. Xi is coming off a huge success with the Iran/Saudi Arabia peace talks, as the New York Times put it:

When Beijing stepped into the role of mediator this week in the surprise rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, it signaled a new level of ambition for Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, who has sought to burnish his image as a global statesman in an escalating rivalry with the United States.
China’s top diplomat quickly attributed the success of four days of secret talks in reviving diplomatic ties between the two archrivals to Mr. Xi’s leadership, which he said demonstrated “the bearing of a great power.”
By taking credit for striking a peace deal in the Middle East, Mr. Xi is seizing on waning American influence in the region and presenting Chinese leadership as an alternative to a Washington-led order he depicts as driving the world toward a new cold war.

That diplomatic success nine days ago led to Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping’s meet up in Moscow this week:

Frustrated by what it sees as the United States’ determination to thwart its rise as a global superpower, China is pushing ahead with efforts to promote a new international order that has Beijing at its center.
In recent weeks, China has spoken more robustly about the prospect of conflict unless the U.S. changes course and reveled in a major diplomatic victory in the Middle East. Now its leader, Xi Jinping, is in Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, signaling Beijing’s growing embrace of its rising power on the global stage and the potential for it to further deepen conflict with the U.S. and its allies.
Xi’s visit to Russia, his first since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last February, could serve as an even greater show of solidarity after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader Friday, accusing him of being responsible for war crimes in Ukraine. Russia, China and the U.S. are not members of the court.
“I am pleased to once again set foot on the soil of our friendly neighbor Russia,” Xi said in a statement after arriving in Moscow on Monday for the three-day state visit.

Xi and Putin are peace brothers from other mothers. Both men love authoritarianism with a passion. Creepy Joe loves it too, but there is this pesky thing called the Constitution (“Shall not be infringed” is a pain in the backside.) The Socialism brothers have no fear of anyone standing up to them. Even if a former leader doesn’t oppose Xi Jinping, he might still get carried off, ask Hu Jintao:

China's President Xi Jinping sits besides Premier Li Keqiang as former president Hu Jintao is assisted to leave from the closing ceremony of the 20th China's Communist Party's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 22.

Noel Celis—AFP/Getty Images pic.twitter.com/BKYKDuK1JJ

— Jorge (@bohemioe) March 14, 2023

In Russia, they might commit Putincide. Or, just get bad vodka:

Is nato such an enemy? DID THEY ATTACK?
Did putin bomb nato? Cause Ukraine ain't nato.

Boros Nemstov shot dead
Alexander Litvinenko Died radiation poisoning
Anna Politkovskaya murdered
Vladimir Kara-Murza Poisoned 2x
Navalny poisoned

So, I dont trust putins claims about NATO.

— Dare Bear (@DarqenDuck) March 19, 2022

At some point, the peace brothers even cooked together, bonding anyone. Neither of them ever cooked with Biden:

What's Xi and Putin cooking together ???? pic.twitter.com/04ui7rWB9k

— ജിയിൻ mhmd (@jithin_v2) March 14, 2023

In this video of their press meeting, neither Putin or Xi look particularly happy or comfortable, but they both do look alive, as opposed to Joe Biden:

The boys of Lenin are negotiating for peace in Ukraine, great. Not that they will have much luck. They have different goals and needs:

The two leaders are coming into this meeting with slightly different needs. Russia, increasingly isolated diplomatically and in the midst of a major effort on several fronts of the invasion, is likely using this chance to once again push for military support from China and underscore the relationship it still has with a major world power.
China, meanwhile, is focused on maintaining its economic and strategic ties with Russia, without alienating countries in Europe and Africa. As a result, China has stopped short of offering Russia lethal aid and is likely to continue doing so. For China, this meeting is also a chance to burnish its diplomatic credentials, something it signaled in its purported advocacy for “peace talks.”
Given their differing aims, this meeting probably won’t result in concrete military commitments so much as posturing by China and discussions of the two countries’ trade relationship.

No matter. They will both have something to show that Biden could never show. A PULSE.

Featured Image: GovernmentZA/flickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons