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Putin’s Remarks On Europe
From Vladimir Putin's speech held at the signing ceremony of treaties on accession of Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to Russia:
Western countries have been saying for centuries that they bring freedom and democracy to other nations. Nothing could be further from the truth. Instead of bringing democracy they suppressed and exploited, and instead of giving freedom they enslaved and oppressed. The unipolar world is inherently anti-democratic and unfree; it is false and hypocritical through and through.
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Recall that during WWII the United States and Britain reduced Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne and many other German cities to rubble, without the least military necessity. It was done ostentatiously and, to repeat, without any military necessity. They had only one goal, as with the nuclear bombing of Japanese cities: to intimidate our country and the rest of the world.
The United States left a deep scar in the memory of the people of Korea and Vietnam with their carpet bombings and use of napalm and chemical weapons.
It actually continues to occupy Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea and other countries, which they cynically refer to as equals and allies. Look now, what kind of alliance is that? The whole world knows that the top officials in these countries are being spied on and that their offices and homes are bugged. It is a disgrace, a disgrace for those who do this and for those who, like slaves, silently and meekly swallow this arrogant behaviour.
They call the orders and threats they make to their vassals Euro-Atlantic solidarity, and the creation of biological weapons and the use of human test subjects, including in Ukraine, noble medical research.
It is their destructive policies, wars and plunder that have unleashed today’s massive wave of migrants. Millions of people endure hardships and humiliation or die by the thousands trying to reach Europe.
They are exporting grain from Ukraine now. Where are they taking it under the guise of ensuring the food security of the poorest countries? Where is it going? They are taking it to the self-same European countries. Only five percent has been delivered to the poorest countries. More cheating and naked deception again.
In effect, the American elite is using the tragedy of these people to weaken its rivals, to destroy nation states. This goes for Europe and for the identities of France, Italy, Spain and other countries with centuries-long histories.
Washington demands more and more sanctions against Russia and the majority of European politicians obediently go along with it. They clearly understand that by pressuring the EU to completely give up Russian energy and other resources, the United States is practically pushing Europe toward deindustrialisation in a bid to get its hands on the entire European market. These European elites understand everything – they do, but they prefer to serve the interests of others. This is no longer servility but direct betrayal of their own peoples. God bless, it is up to them.
But the Anglo-Saxons believe sanctions are no longer enough and now they have turned to subversion. It seems incredible but it is a fact – by causing explosions on Nord Stream’s international gas pipelines passing along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, they have actually embarked on the destruction of Europe’s entire energy infrastructure. It is clear to everyone who stands to gain. Those who benefit are responsible, of course.
The whole speech includes much more and deserves your attention. (For those who can not reach the Kremlin site a text file with the speech is available here.) If you can not reach In essence Putin is setting up Russia as the new liberation force the same way the Soviet Union had been one for many formerly colonized smaller countries. The 'third world' may well turn to Russia when it needs help.
Europe though is fu**ed (recommended read). Our politicians have not only allowed our societies to be undermined by the U.S. but they have actively helped it along. They continue to do so despite the obviously coming economic and social catastrophe the U.S. has caused with the destruction of Europe's access to cheap energy.
Only a huge shift in public sentiment can change that. My only hope is that the upcoming dark decade in Europe will bring about those changes.
Yes, doom and more doom indeed.
Well… allow me to capitalise on a rare and fleeting moment of naive optimism.
Nordstream (1 and 2) will be repaired. Gazprom has already stated so. Whoever spoke of corrosion and terminal damage clearly didn’t do their research, there are layers of polymer inside the pipes and plenty of equipment already standing by. Only 3 lines need to be fixed, 1 of the 4, although inactive, seems to be still intact, to my understanding. It may then still be physically possible for 1, maybe even 2 pipelines to be working by as soon as January, when it will most be needed. The war could be over by then. The main issue is clearly then a military and geopolitical one.
There also still remain 3 other physically intact pipelines to Europe. Prices are high, and the percentage of Russian gas we rely on is also high, but there are reserves, other sources, and finances to support businesses and households for some time ahead (or at least still confidence in the printing machines that will provide them). There are still many chapters to be written over the next 6-12 months and beyond, and any doomsday predictions of mass unemployment and exodus of industries etc are not all going to just happen overnight. This all means that many off ramps still exist, whatever form they may take, and many more may be built.
It is also entirely possible that a form of financial crash may not occur in Europe, but in the USA instead (let us for argument’s sake exclude contagion for a second..). Their housing lending market is under great strain. One expects both Russia and China may have an interest in facilitating a crisis there, political or financial, rather than see one in Europe? One would also imagine now a few more Europeans than last week will too.
If Russians, (China and India too) still want to trade with Europe, and surely no one wants to say no to that possibility so long as it physically exists, and to kick the US out, one way is for Europe to collapse and eventually do it for themselves, the other is to render the political and economic situation in the USA such that it will need to focus internally and address its own crises, cede power on the peripheries, much in the way the British empire had to after WW2, or the Soviet Union 30 years ago.
There would be many in the US, (particularly in the Republican party, likely to take over in the next 2 elections) who would quite gladly offset any political fallout of a financial disaster with a return of its military from protecting a Europe they so much begrudge for its ‘free lunch’ on defence. Those interests are very much in line with many Europeans too. Who knows how these forces can be combined in a post Ukraine war Europe, faced with a crumbling braindead NATO environment, and a new security framework with Russia. It need not be so violent and turbulent after all, when mutually beneficial solutions are explored for the sake of everyone’s peace and prosperity. To paraphrase Churchill, perhaps that moment for the Americans to do the right thing may yet come…
A lot of wishful thinking, i know, and while it is hard to disagree with many of the dire predictions, i am also aware that much of the ‘fear and gloom’ predictions very much serve the interests of parties who are currently also suffering in their conflict with the West. War is to compel your enemy to your will. What better way than to present them with the prospect of inevitable defeat at their own hands and those of their allies.
When one speaks of ‘elites’, we are talking about the owners of our factories, businesses and banks that are poised to go bust. I don’t know of any investor who deliberately runs their assets into the ground, despite the current evidence of so much counter intuitive and self destructive behaviour. I want to believe many equally powerful forces not connected to current ruling Governments and media are hard at work to preserve and restore beneficial ties between Europe and non-US entities. The worse things get, the more powerful they will become. Humpty Dumpty does not always need to fall of the wall.
There is precedent of the Soviet Union’s retreat from Eastern Europe, it was not pretty for Russia, largely due to its own internal collapse, but it was soon peaceful and beneficial for many Eastern European countries as their centre of influence was replaced by Western powers. The clear exception is of course Yugoslavia, but one cannot discount the fertile land of centuries-long tensions upon which its wars were exploited. As of this week Germany and Poland appear the prime candidates for a similar escalation, though the collapse of East Germany also shows precedent of the maturity and civility of societies in dealing with existential crises. Biden is of course no Gorbachov, but faced with a clear defeat, he has also shown the willingness to back off and retreat in Afghanistan, and likely, hopefully, soon in Ukraine. China is still his number 1 threat, not Russia, not Europe, although each axis naturally serves to support the other.
There is also the not insignificant factor of the people, many of whom are still braindead and complacent, but many others are also very aware and increasingly concerned, demanding of action. I don’t expect countries like Germany, with its decades of wealth and complacency, to wake up any time soon, but perhaps the recent sabotage of their infrastructure may just be the tipping point to spark a critical mass, particularly in those who had made many false assumptions about the entities upon whom they could rely on, and the status which they quite wrongly attributed to themselves.
One would imagine that Russia is working overtime in order to fill into any vacuums and capitalise on new defections, and make good of any examples of countries benefiting from cooperation with them, and expose those suffering from confrontation. Hungary vs Germany springs to mind. I cannot imagine Germans, both the people and politicians, being humiliated for too long faced with the likely contrast of the upcoming realities of this winter and beyond.
The big question still remains though, how will any of the hopefully rising change in opinion be materialised, against a ruthless, determined and powerful enemy, already within the gates, and with such a firm grip on power?
Posted by: Et Tu | Oct 1 2022 12:45 utc | 31
Posted by: Oui | Oct 1 2022 10:58 utc | 8
The situation is even worse than that.
1) The objective of the USA is to be able to export 50 Gm3 of natural gas per year to Europe in the form of LNG.
Even if it is achieved, it is largely insufficient to replace the 155 to 190 Gm3 that Russia supplies to the EU annually.
The plan proposed by Joe Biden for 2022 for example targets 15 Gm3, in association with all other producing countries.
It must also be taken into account that, counting on a future increase in its production, the US has signed a large long-term contract of 30 years with China that it will therefore have to honor.
2) This American production is based on shale gas, whose drilling is running out very quickly. To simply maintain the quantity produced, new, more expensive drilling is constantly needed.
Rather, quantities are expected to be reduced in the coming years.
3) No country in the world, alone or together, can replace the quantities supplied by Russia in the short term.
In the long run, the only solution outside Russia would be the world’s largest gas field shared by Qatar and Iran. Qatar is counting on these reserves to increase from 185 Gm3 of current annual production to 300 Gm3 in a few years.
However, Qatar already has long-term contracts with several customers, which contracts the European Union refuses to sign, unlike China, Japan, South Korea or India, which therefore have priority.
Moreover, the banks, caught up in the ecological diktat, refuse to finance the investments necessary to develop these resources.
4) The approximate general scheme is as follows (rounded figures):
* 380~400 Gm3 is the annual consumption of the EU:
* 40 Gm3 is internal production;
* 340~380 are imported including:
* 155~190 from Russia,
* 100~110 from Norway,
* 20~25 from Qatar,
* 55~65 others including Algeria, USA,…
Norway is at its maximum production. If the other suppliers double their exports to Europe, this represents a maximum of 90 Gm3 more, still insufficient to replace Russian gas.
5) The other solution would be for Qatar to reserve almost all of its new production, 100 to 115 Gm3 to the European Union and for the UNITED States to terminate certain long-term contracts with Asian countries to supply Europe.
But for this to happen, Qatar requires the EU to finance investments to increase its production capacity, and to sign long-term contracts of at least 20 years, which it refuses.
6) THE main problem of the European Union is not the long term but the short term. Without Russian gas, the EU can spend the winter at great sacrifice, but it has no chance by the following winter. And it is not about LNG infrastructure but about lack of gas.
Unless, as now, they buy gas with China and India pretending not to know that it is Russian gas, paid more.
7) In the end, the Russian economy will be little impacted by this crisis. The cost of new LNG infrastructure and pipelines to Asia will be more than offset by current excess profits.
If some producers decide to terminate contracts to supply Europe as a priority, their former customers will naturally turn to Russia. The mere increase in China’s need for natural gas is enough to replace the European market.
Europe is the only loser in this matter…
Posted by: UncleTom | Oct 1 2022 12:54 utc | 33
Putin is a statesman, intelligent and thoughtful (in contrast to Frau Baerbock – the “German” foreign minister – he actually has a law degree and written a dissertation) and a “leader” in the best sense of the word …(trying to protect his country and the moral values Russians believe in)
We (in Europe) have only spineless and gutless politicians (especially in Germany) who should be tried for High Treason …
(As should the “Straussians” in the US (often referred to as “neocons”):
https://www.globalresearch.ca/who-profits-from-pipeline-terror/5795118 (pepe escobar)
Diplomatic sources confirm that Berlin and Moscow were involved in a secret negotiation to solve both the NS and NS2 issues. So they had to be stopped – no holds barred.
Pls read the whole article particularly “The Attack of the Straussians”:
US Secretary of State Blinken and his underling, Victoria “F**k the EU” Nuland, are Straussians, now totally unleashed, having taken advantage of the black void in the White House. As it stands, there are at least three different “silos” of power in a fractured Washington. For all Straussians, a tight bipartisan op, uniting several high-profile usual suspects, DESTROYING GERMANY is paramount.
According to Escobar “dissident Beltway sources swear that the CIA is also NOT part of this game” (If true, is the prime suspect: MI-6 ?)
This is a great article by Diana Johnstone:
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/09/28/diana-johnstone-omerta-in-the-gangster-war/
Gangster war is what you wage when you already are the boss and won’t let any outsider muscle in on your territory. For the dons in Washington, the territory can be just about everywhere, but Tits core is occupied Europe.
By an uncanny coincidence, Joe Biden just happens to look like a mafia boss, to talk like a mafia boss, to wear a little lopsided half smile like a mafia boss.
Johnstone points out a very important thing (which nobody else seems to consider):
European opinion-makers are showing the result of 70 years of Americanization. [brainwashing: US interests and your interests are the same]
Especially in Germany, but also in France and elsewhere, for decades the United States has systematically spotted up-and-coming young people, invited them to become “young leaders,” invited them to the United States, indoctrinated them in “our values” and made them feel like members of the great trans-Atlantic family. They are networked into top positions in politics and media. [Baerbock in Germany, Truss in the UK, Meloni in Italy…]In recent years, great alarm is raised about alleged Russian efforts to exert “influence” in European countries, while Europeans bathe in perpetual American influence: movies, Netflix, pop culture, influence in universities, media, everywhere
(Actually, Russia is extremely bad at “influence operations”; Putin and Lavrov just say what they mean, and mean what they say …)
Posted by: Athena | Oct 1 2022 17:35 utc | 92
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