The Crisis in Ukraine and the Winter Olympics in China

By Dr. Evangelos Venetis

Part of the protracted crisis in Ukraine has coincided with the holding of the Winter Olympics in China. Although geopolitically the two events are distinct, the same does not seem to be the case at the communicative level. Moscow knows that in a globalized environment a military engagement in one corner of the world can interact and affect an event elsewhere. In fact, when the parallel event is related to Russia’s closest ally, China, then the correlations acquire another dimension.

Moscow realizes that the concept of a global truce is a politically and in terms of communication basic principle of the Winter or Summer Olympic Games. Also, the anti-Russia coverage of the Ukraine Crisis by the Western media on a daily basis has overshadowed the Olympic Games in China, something that serves the interests of Washington and not Moscow, let alone Beijing.

The Russian president therefore realizes that at the level of cultural diplomacy, a Russian military involvement in Ukraine during the Olympic Games in China would have an adverse effect on Russia and Sino-Russian relations.

Russia would have been portrayed as a global unrest responsible for violating the Olympic truce, and China would view such Russian action as unfriendly to its interests and inconsistent with the Sino-Russian alliance with the United States.

Whether or not there is extensive military involvement in Ukraine in the context of the US-Russia behind-the-scenes negotiations, Moscow so far seems to have taken into account the factor of “cultural diplomacy” in the context of the Ukrainian crisis and Winter Olympics in China.

Perhaps in this light, with misleading or unintentional intent, could the interpretation of the announcement of the Russian government on 15.2.2022 that the Russian military exercises in Belarus will continue until 20.2.2022, a date which coincides with the end of the Winter Olympics. Games in China.

Additionally in this light we must see the decision of Vladimir Putin to recognize the independence of Donbass a day after the end of the China Winter Olympics.