The 2018 G-20 Buenos Aires summit came to the end. Leaders of the main world powers once again sounded global problems already known, but did not propose any rational solution, having made a joint photo they left. The main intrigue of this summit consisted in other thing – whether presidents Putin and Trump would meet. Results of the geopolitical totalizator are known to us – they did not meet and even could not communicate normally two minutes near the lavatory to what for some last years the Russian leader has already got used. The American president did not even vouchsafe the Russian counterpart with nothing significant than simple handshake.
The official reason of such cool welcome is caused by aggressive actions of the Russian militarymen in the Strait of Kerch: attack and seizure of the Ukrainian vessel a week before. The summit in Buenos Aires was similar to that held in Australia in November, 2014 in terms of the attitude towards Putin. That time Putin had to run away with shame, without having waited for its end. Let’s remind that summit happened against a background of invasion into Ukraine of active forces of the Russian army and crash of MH17 Boeing. In Buenos Aires the situation was similar, if not to take into account inappropriate jokes of the Russian president about impossibility of the NATO ships’ pass to the Ukrainian ports by the Sea of Azov. Though for recent years Putin has already said more than once about impossibility of what that after took place. It is worth remembering advantage of sanctions or prevention of raising of a retirement age in Russia. But in practice …
It is very important to specify that in realities of the Russian political elite when everything is bad in domestic policy, the negative is hidden under “achievements” in the external policy. And here a such failure! So paid propagandists of federal mass media had to be content only with calculation of number of the summit participants who stood between Putin and Trump. And they really were engaged in it! “Between them four more people, if it is interesting, stood” – that undoubtedly points to a brilliant geopolitical victory of Russia. It is a sarcasm.
There is also good news! Incidentally or intentionally, but at G-20 summit Putin was put near the crown prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad who now is listed among “pariahs” because of his implication in murder of the oppositional journalist Jamal Khashoggi in last October in the territory of the Saudi Embassy in Turkey. They could also talk and perhaps discuss important questions, for example, what it is like to be in isolation. Thereby they pointed to Russia its real place in the modern world once again. It should be taken into account that Saudi Arabia, though is a rich country, but its real influence on world politics is insignificant, even in own region. So diplomatic progress of Putin looks even less significant.
There are many princes and other pretenders to the throne (and after Khashoggi’s case Mohammad has a small chance to receive the crown) in Saudi Arabia. That is a problem! Russia has only one president as official propaganda claims. While he is engaged in the game “Russia-superstate”, Russia will remain further among pariahs and a raw appendage for other countries.
