Friends in High Places: Putin’s Lifelines and Britain’s Sanction U-Turn

Four years and three months into a "five-day special military operation" that has dragged on as long as the First World War, Vladimir Putin continues to display a troubling resilience. In this episode of Battleground Ukraine, hosts Patrick Bishop and Saul David peel back the diplomatic theatre surrounding Putin’s high-profile summit in Beijing.

While the body language suggests genuine warmth between Putin and Xi Jinping , the hosts expose the stark reality: a deeply unequal partnership where an economically dominant China treats Russia as a junior partner—and an asset to upend the global order.

The team breaks down the geopolitical and economic survival strategies keeping Moscow afloat, from massive natural gas pipeline breakthroughs to unexpected lifelines handed over by Western nations.

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  The Yamal-to-China Pipeline: A deep dive into the resurrected, 50-billion-cubic-meter gas project cutting through Mongolia—a long-term economic fallback that cements Russia's reliance on selling off its natural resources to Asia.

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  The UK's "Shameful" Sanctions Shift: An analysis of Britain's controversial decision to officially loosen strict sanctions on Russian energy imports. Driven by soaring energy costs and blockades in the Strait of Hormuz, the UK's indefinite waiver on refined Russian crude sends a dangerous signal to the Kremlin.

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  G7 Hypocrisy: How the British government managed to sign an unwavering G7 pledge to impose "severe costs" on Russia , while simultaneously backtracking on vital sanctions at home.

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Producer: James Hodgson

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