Nicaragua receives the first 200,000 doses of a donation of 1 million doses of Sinopharm vaccines. The batch arrived from China with a Nicaraguan delegation headed by Laureano Ortega, who advises President Daniel Ortega on foreign investments, Nicaraguan Minister of Finance Ivan Acosta, and Chinese Foreign Affairs Representative Yu Bo / credit: Kawsachun News

China and Nicaragua: ‘Two Revolutions Working Together’

Nicaragua leapt forward to defend its national self-determination against U.S. global hegemony when it announced earlier this month it had discontinued diplomatic relations with Taiwan and was ready to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative. This move opens up the small Central American country’s economy to the People’s Republic of China, a country of 1.4 billion people that is rapidly edging toward surpassing the United States and becoming the biggest economy in the world.

Russian troops marching in the 2015 Moscow Victory Day Parade / credit: Vitaly V. Kuzmin

Why It’s Unlikely Russia Will Deploy Troops Into Ukraine

Unless Kiev starts a massive military campaign in the Donbass, or engages in a serious provocation against Russia, the Kremlin is unlikely to start a war against Ukraine. And even if a war breaks out, Russia’s actions are expected to be very calculated, limited and carefully coordinated with its Western partners, as part of moves toward a “stable and more predictable relationship” between Moscow and Washington, writes Nikola Mikovic.