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Putin flies to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping. They sit across in Xi’s office.
Putin — Things are not going as well as I thought.
Xi nods slowly.
Putin — I underestimated the West and… Ukrainians also. I thought they would just pee in their pants when they saw our army gather around them.
They didn’t.
I should’ve known better, since they have been fighting hard against us in the East for years now.
For the first time… I’m beginning to doubt that we can beat them.
I didn’t think the West would care that much… but they do.
I thought the Far Right was stronger… Trump got 74 million votes in 2020… but the Far Right turned out to be a loud minority with little real clout.
Same as in Europe.
The Germans surprised me, also… I thought they would resist Biden.
(pause)
Jinping… I have thought of using nuclear weapons.
Xi — That’s a bad idea.
Putin — Why?
Xi — It would piss off the West… and I would find it hard to convince the central committee to continue to help you evade sanctions. Vladimir… China is not self sufficient… not yet… and hard as we try we may never be. The West is creative. In spite of all their problems, they keep inventing… and they come up with stuff that we need.
We’re inventive, too, of course, and no nation, ever, has developed as much as we have in just 40 years. But we didn’t do it alone.
Putin — You think I made a mistake in invading…
