'Russia under 'crazy' Putin will become minor power; will fail in Kyiv': Chinese official

While Russia and China have strengthened their bilateral cooperation, upped trade cooperation and Moscow's closest ally has remained mute with respect to the ongoing military intervention in Ukraine, an unnamed official on Wednesday labelled Russia's President Vladimir Putin as "crazy".

In a scathing attack against the head of the Russian Federation, one Chinese official who requested anonymity with FT said: “Putin is crazy,” adding that the decision of invasion of Ukraine was, in fact, made by a "very small group of people." The official, in his statement, went on to add that China shouldn't follow in the footsteps of Moscow.

Russian Federation will "emerge from the [Ukraine] conflict a 'minor power,'" the Chinese official was quoted as saying in an interview with the paper. 

Moscow will 'diminish economically and diplomatically'

The official, in his prediction about Russia's economy, stated that it is likely that Moscow will "diminish economically and diplomatically" on the global stage. According to FT, the official was among the handful of Chinese diplomats and officials who have recently expressed distrust in Russia, and more particularly towards Putin himself.

Russia's President hadn't informed Beijing about his intention of launching a full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, at least five Chinese officials told the paper over a span of nine months. Such contradictory statements depict that even as China and Russia organized a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Beijing, there wasn't "no Sino-Russian co-operation, no forbidden zones” as claimed by foreign ministries of the two ally nations. 

Some officials informed the paper that while there was no public statement detailing the conversation that was held between the Russian and the Chinese head of state, Putin only told Xi that Russia “would not rule out taking whatever measures possible if eastern Ukrainian separatists attack Russian territory and cause humanitarian disasters”.

This remark was clouded with ambiguity. This also demonstrates the failure in the Chinese understanding of Russia's intentions, one other official claimed, in a statement to the paper. Immediately in June, the Chinese CPC demoted Le Yucheng, the vice-minister of foreign affairs and the ministry’s top Russian expert after the Russian invasion. “He was held responsible for the intelligence failure on Russia’s invasion," a Chinese official stated. 

Xi, meanwhile, chose a neutral stance of "peace" despite strengthening ties with Russia in face of the ongoing military aggression.

“The road to peace talks will not be smooth, but as long as the efforts are not given up, the prospect of peace will always exist,” Xi had said. “China will continue to uphold an objective and fair stance, work to bring together the international community, and play a constructive role in peacefully resolving the Ukrainian crisis," he said, making China's position clear.