Chinese-Owned Global Times: Russia Lacks 'National Strength' to Directly Confront NATO

Russia does not have the "national strength" to directly confront NATO, and its invasion of Ukraine could, at best, be a "limited" victory and at worse could result in the end of Vladimir Putin's regime, Hu Xijin, a columnist with Chinese-run outlet Global Times, said in a column published Friday.

"The continent will rely more on the U.S.' protection and become more hostile to Russia. So, Russia's victory will also be limited," Hu said about an outcome in which Russia successfully overthrows the administration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"It's unimaginable that the military conflict will usher in a new era of Russian expansion in Europe in which Putin will seize the former Soviet Union republics and former Warsaw Pact countries one by one.

"Russia's national strength cannot support it to have such a confrontation with NATO, nor can the Russian people," Hu asserted.

Xijing, the former longtime editor in chief of the Global Times, one of China's most outspoken and nationalistic state media outlets, retired in December from that role after he challenged the Women's Tennis Association decision to pull out of China over tennis star Peng Shuai.

Russia's war on Ukraine is in its ninth day. U.N. and Ukrainian officials say no radiation was released from a Russian attack at Europe's biggest nuclear power plant in Ukraine and firefighters have extinguished a blaze at the facility.

Russian forces continued to press a campaign that has brought global condemnation. People across Ukraine have taken up arms and sought shelter. More than 1.2 million people have fled to neighboring countries, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.

If Moscow wins, writes Xijin, "and Putin gains the desired result of Ukraine's neutrality, thus eliminating the hidden danger of the former Soviet republic joining the Western system, it will mean Moscow's success in pushing back Washington's step-by-step suppression since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. It will also be indicative of weakening the U.S. hegemony."

But, "the challenges Russia poses to the U.S. and the West will only be confined to a narrow range."

"A Russian victory can only change the way the U.S. and the West treat Russia and make it more difficult for Washington to exert hegemony in the future, but it cannot overturn the entire international order," he added.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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