Days after being dismissed from his post as defense minister, which he held for more than a decade, Sergei Shoigu faced delays entering Chinese government buildings. This was reportedly because security staff were dissatisfied with his clearance.
Shoigu has been instrumental in spearheading President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in his role since 2012, but on Sunday May 12th he was replaced by Andrei Belosov, an economist with little military experience. The allocation surprised many people.
Mr. Shoigu has now been appointed Secretary of Russia’s Security Council, a job that, while still important, is seen by many as a step down from the high-profile role he held as one of the faces of the war started by President Vladimir Putin. I see it as a demotion.
But Russian newspapers say that just joining a delegation of officials accompanying Putin on his state visit to China, where he met with ally Xi Jinping on Thursday, is not enough for Shoigu to automatically ascend to China’s political power. Russian newspapers reported that there was no such thing. Kommersant.
Vyacheslav Prokofiev/Getty Images
The paper’s special correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov said the trip’s organizers were not satisfied with Shoigu’s permit to enter the building.
“They did not want Mr. Shoigu to enter the People’s Duma at all,” Korsennikov wrote. “The organizers were not happy with anything.
“The Secretary of the Security Council had to wait more than a minute or two before the issue was finally resolved in his favor,” the journalist wrote, adding that while he was standing, “at least 10 Colleagues” were allowed entry, it added.
Kolesnikov said that when Shoigu was finally allowed into the country, he sat to Putin’s left during the meeting, while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sat to his right.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian state media that the meeting was the most important meeting of the trip, but Kolesnikov said in an article that Shoigu “did not attend the expanded talks at all. There wasn’t. Does this mean anything?”
newsweek has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.
After taking office for a fifth term, Putin’s move to appoint a new defense minister has fueled speculation that he wants to align the country’s economy more closely with the war effort.
Russia’s independent news agency The Bell said Putin’s appointment of Shoigu to replace Belosov was “very symbolic” and showed that defense spending was a top priority. “The Kremlin is betting on a war of attrition, and it is not only the soldiers who win this kind of war, but also the economic managers,” The Bell said.
Shoigu took over the role of Nikolai Patrushev, the former head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), who Putin appointed as Kremlin aide.
rare knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, finding common ground and finding connections.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, finding common ground and finding connections.
