Just read an article on Europereloaded , claiming Russia would turn Ukraine into a fragmented “toothless” state, yet, for some reason , they will need a buffer zone to protect against Ukrainian missiles ? That’s stupid , that isn’t what “toothless” means. The best outcome would take into account security, economics,politics etc… and not be some halfway measure. Russia should take the oblasts that have great economic potential/resources, it would be very stupid to do all this and get nothing other than just the reasonable, Ukraine not joining NATO (not to mention the more resources Ukrainian oligarchs have the more problems they will create, as well as attract western countries to exploit, like the mines in krivoi rog) the river that cuts Ukraine in 2 would be the best border, giving the 3 northern oblasts to Belarus (which will also be indirectly part of Russia) would be wise, Belarus would have good area for its agriculture, and increase its population, both of which also benefits Russia. The rump state being demilitarized and neutral like Turkmenistan would be the best outcome I can see.

Posted by: Phariah | Dec 3 2022 16:26 utc | 4

Posted by: Phariah | Dec 3 2022 16:26 utc | 4
I would like to see total surrender and Russian missiles on the Polish border.
Givem a bit of their own crap.
Later perhaps some autonomy given to the provinces that behave.
The fckn yanks are still in germany.

Posted by: harryash | Dec 3 2022 16:43 utc | 6

I’m waiting to hear if Russia does the price control “dog” trick.
A farmer can only sell pigs at the government controlled price. However, there is no price for dogs. A man ‘buys’ the pig and the dog for a market price. He lets the dog go and it walks back home.

Posted by: Eighthman | Dec 3 2022 17:00 utc | 8

Posted by: neofeudalfuture | Dec 3 2022 16:21 utc | 2
Yup, a grand anti-capitalistic aberration it is. They surely are running around with no idea how to fold their own trap.
G7 and their lapdogs shall pay whatever they can bear.

Posted by: KitaySupporter | Dec 3 2022 17:20 utc | 10

I read somewhere today an interesting article where the writer suggested
that whilst Russia has got its forces properly motivated and organized with
General Winter…they should invade Latvia and test the resolve of the NATO bullshit…
Lets see if NATO is going to really live up to its declaration.
If itsa jewish promise….no chance.

Posted by: harryash | Dec 3 2022 17:30 utc | 12

Remember when the US er… I mean the UN, partitioned Palestine, thoughtfully giving 55% of the land to zionist colonists; that’s most of the coast, port and cities? The Palestinians being left with an arid hinterland doomed to be an economic colony existing at the whim of the zionist antisemites? Why doesn’t the RF do something similar to Ukraine? The Ukronazis and the US empire get the scrag end in the west and the RF gets the nice bits in the east? Poetic justice innit.

Posted by: Squeeth | Dec 3 2022 17:47 utc | 14

And Russia doesn’t have the ability to insure the ships it bought, change the “flag” and proceed to ship oil to friendly countries? Russia has already solved the SWIFT problem, why would insurance be such a big deal?
Funny ideas happen when stuck in “there is no alternative” thinking.
All the EU footie stamping will get is less petroleum products being side-routed from Russia.
The EU has been told, Russia is not going waste time bandying words with idiots.

Posted by: Old canadian | Dec 3 2022 17:50 utc | 16

Haha, here’s the “Ami, go home” song at a protest, it’s in German but you’ll get it and there are captions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czUmch_ENek
🙂
Posted by: Zet | Dec 3 2022 17:57 utc | 17
well done Zet/Outrage…
this should be the european christmas song
fck santa.

Posted by: harryash | Dec 3 2022 18:09 utc | 18

Oil prce cap will have an impact on Russia regardless if they accept it or not:

According to the report, European insurers and shipping firms have long had a “vice-like hold” on energy markets. Fully 95% of property and indemnity insurance for all oil tankers has been handled by firms from the UK and the EU. This appeared to be a lever with which the West could control the sale of Russian oil globally.
However, if Russian oil fails to make it to the market, then global oil prices may spike, hurting Western consumers, the outlet writes. “Hence America’s Treasury Department has since devised a cunning plan to water it down: to let European firms continue to offer their services, provided the oil involved is bought at a suppressed price set by the West.”

https://swentr.site/business/567571-eu-oil-cap-russia-price-spike/

Posted by: +_Zanon | Dec 3 2022 18:13 utc | 20

Robin 19
“Empire arranged for ship seizures”….
the jews and the yanks have been and still are the biggest terrorists on this planet..
what do you think Ukraine was about.
46 bio-labs…trying to create ethnic specific bio-weapons that could be
released via insects/blood banks/chem trails etc
the hunter biden laptop…
human trafficking ona huge scale and probably adrenochrome labs..organ harvesting etc
arms sales ona colossal scale…
the chabad lubavitch/zionist zealot lunatics have their base in Dnipro
shall i go on…about empire terrorism…
so lets play their game…as i said…a few sea-mines off rotterdam might remind them not to hijack tankers.

Posted by: harryash | Dec 3 2022 18:29 utc | 22

Ah ship seizures, is a possibility. Probably by an American flunky like Poland though. America leads from behind these days lol.
Odds are Russia folds if they do, maybe something lame like file a lawsuit in a kangaroo court.
Maybe behind the scenes though like lean on Algeria to have ng pumping problems or even maybe something kinetic against the lng imports/export terminals.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Dec 3 2022 18:39 utc | 24

robin @ 19

I wonder what the consequences would be if the Empire arranged for ship seizures like it did with Iranian tankers.

Zet @ 21

Russia putting 20 soldiers on each tanker?

So that the US navy can take 20 Russians prisoner? I don’t think either side is up for that. I’d guess most tankers carrying RF oil will be Indian or Chinese owned, is the Empire going to attack Indian tankers, really? But you won’t see tensions like that develop.
From my post above I don’t think this has anything to do with punishing Russia and the Empire doesn’t want to upset world oil markets anymore than it has given inflation, monetary, and domestic problems it is facing. Same goes for Russia. The fact that oil has been stable at $85/bbl tells you that ‘the spice must flow’.
What it is is an other brick in the wall to isolating the EU from Russia with the demented Stockholm Syndrome Atlantics in Brussels fully in accord with. Whatever else happens with the SMO at least the USA will be able to strike that off its punch list – EU beaten down for another 80ys, one down, two and three, Russia and China still to do.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 3 2022 18:57 utc | 26

Re Limited Hangout: if so, what’s behind what we’re being allowed to see?
I would suspect that extremely inappropriate contents has been allowed space on Twitter as part of intel ops in order to draw out, radicalise and recruit violent militants of various types (jihadis, nazis etc).

Posted by: anon2020 | Dec 3 2022 19:08 utc | 28

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 3 2022 18:30 utc | 23

…
And the EU is lining up for this treatment? Must be some sort of Stockholm Syndrome with its USA jailer.

My take is that the European public doesn’t realize that energy and foreign policies are very much against their own interest. And as long as this miracle can be maintained, quality of life will be further degraded.

Posted by: robin | Dec 3 2022 19:09 utc | 30

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 3 2022 18:57 utc | 26
Posted by: Tichy | Dec 3 2022 19:08 utc | 29
Take a page from Iran’s playbook: “You take our ships, we take yours. Eventually some of your ships are going to come our way …”

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Dec 3 2022 19:19 utc | 32

There isn’t going to be a freeze of the current situation, that is as clear as it gets now:
https://t.me/Slavyangrad/23356
‘It won’t end until we take Kiev’ – Rogozin on Ukrainian nationalism

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 3 2022 19:29 utc | 34

The “price cap” was a goofy idea and many in Europe and even the US saw how goofy it was. The EU has cobbled together a BS policy and now hope it goes away. You can’t have the ruling elite revealed as laughing stocks, so they had to come up with something after it was announced months ago.
I think the media will be ordered to let the “price cap” story die and it goes away.

Posted by: JackG | Dec 3 2022 19:32 utc | 36

“MMT is real. Really bad.”
Posted by: JackG | Dec 3 2022 19:29 utc | 33
I think you are confused about what MMT is. It is not in use in any western country.

Posted by: Figleaf23 | Dec 3 2022 20:00 utc | 38

Dima says that Ukraine managed to stabilize the situation. They even have some gain in the North.
It is really a terrible error that Russia stopped destroying Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Posted by: margo | Dec 3 2022 20:15 utc | 40

I propose to adopt as the principal translation of armchair general into the german language, from here on
Lehnstuhl-GröFaZ
You’re welcome.

Posted by: persiflo | Dec 3 2022 20:43 utc | 42

Posted by: anon2020 | Dec 3 2022 19:08 utc | 28
Wrong thread, apologies.

Posted by: anon2020 | Dec 3 2022 20:46 utc | 44

A long essay by Indian economist Seshadri Kumar, argues that:
“..The war in Ukraine that started on February 24, 2022, is going to be the most consequential change in the world since the Second World War. It is going to fundamentally change power relationships in the world. The dominance of the Western world will end and be replaced by a multipolar world.
Europe’s prosperity of the past few centuries is likely to end because of short-sighted and poorly-thought-out decisions related to the Ukraine conflict, taken by European leaders with the full support of their people. These have to do primarily with the ill-considered economic sanctions that Europe has unilaterally applied on Russia, that have started to boomerang on Europe, with the high probability of things getting much worse in the coming months.
“The analysis presented here is primarily an economic one, and mainly looks at the effect on the economies of Europe of prolonged sanctions (and, in the present context, “prolonged” could even mean another six months) imposed by the West on Russia.
“I present evidence that makes the case that Western sanctions on Russia have hurt Europe a lot more than they have hurt Russia in the nine months since they were imposed, and in the coming months will continue to severely degrade Europe’s economies, while only marginally affecting Russia’s. The primary reason for this is that Russia is far more self-sufficient than Europe is. The only action that will save Europe is an unconditional revocation of its self-destructive sanctions and a peace agreement in Ukraine on Russia’s terms.
“The only major assumptions I have made in this analysis are that, in the next two to three months,
The war in Ukraine does not end in complete defeat for Russia
Ukraine and Russia do not reach a peace agreement, and
Vladimir Putin is not ousted in a coup in Russia — and hence, the current economic and military policies of both Europe and Russia will continue for the foreseeable future.
“Although Russia looks unlikely to be affected very significantly by Western sanctions, and is in a strong position on the battlefield, because of its high inherent economic and military strength (recent reported gains by Ukraine notwithstanding), I argue that in the unlikely case event that Russia were to appear likely to lose the war on the battlefield or on the economic front, China will do whatever it takes to prevent such outcomes, to secure its own future…”
http://steelcityscribblings.uk/wp/2022/12/02/europe-cannot-win-its-economic-war-on-russia/
Excuse me, while I read it.

Posted by: bevin | Dec 3 2022 21:19 utc | 46

Regarding EU oil “price cap”.
If you live in Europe, don’t wonder when you watch the global oil price not moving, but the fuel price going up significantly. EU wants (you) to pay a premium. They will pay a premium due to the following cycle:
-EU will be limited to buying oil from other suppliers´(that is, Middle East, whatever export US has)
-the price of this, Saudi/US oil will rise
-non-G7 will buy the Russian oil at cheaper than EU can buy its oil
-EU competitive advantage declines further, fuel bills in EU rise more compared to the global market price.
EU-ropean economic decline continues and worsens – eventually backdoor deals will be signed to buy oil from India and China – the oil market once again equalizes itself.

Posted by: unimperator | Dec 3 2022 21:39 utc | 48

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 3 2022 18:30 utc | 23
For the rest it’s sanctioned six ways from Sunday with the west so no trade there except in rubles, but it doesn’t need others to buy rubles to finance itself internally (MMT is real). Russia letting EU buy oil and gas in rubles is simply a nicety as it doesn’t want to help in isolating itself, but at this point…
Not a fan of MMT myself. Seems to be a clunky way of money issuance when the same job can be done better by the usual means.
But that’s entirely a side issue. You identify the central problem when it comes to Russia selling to the West, particularly to Europe. Never mind the sanctions on commodities the Russians used to sell to us. Even were those lifted, because of sanctions on the sale of Western goods to Russia, the West has increasing little to sell back in exchange.
If Europe pays Russia in Euros then the sanctions mean there’s not such a lot Russia can buy with those Euros.
Insisting Europe pays in Roubles, as has been done, does not solve that problem. The Euros are exchanged for Roubles for onward payment to Gazprom, for example, but that means that someone in Russia is still left holding the Euros that have been exchanged.
What can they do with those Euros? Difficult to spend them by buying goods from Europe. Sanctions see to that. Difficult to spend them by buying goods from non-European or non-Western countries – those transactions are increasingly bilateral deals that don’t need Western currency, or maybe straight barter deals.
So where do those Euros get spent?
If they’re not spent and can’t be spent then at some stage the deal stops. No point sending valuable commodities to Europe and getting in exchange Euros that can’t be spent.
This is the difficulty you identify. It’s bothered me ever since the Gazprombank arrangement was put in place. If Europe, or the West generally, can’t sell goods or services to Russia then there’s no point Russia selling oil or other commodities to us.
I think that is your conclusion also.
The Russians are currently busy rejigging supply chains. They have already gone some way with import substitution and will go further. They will never be buying as much from Europe as they were. They will therefore never sell as much to us as they did.
With most commodities, particularly oil, that may not matter too much in the long term. Eventually, even if sanctions stay in place, some way round them is found albeit at the cost of a mark-up because the purchase may be indirect. But piped gas is not a fungible commodity so it does matter there.
This means that, as Borrell has pointed out, the German economy will be robbed of one of its mainstays. Cheap piped gas.
Since, as Borrell has also pointed out, Germany will not have the access to the global market that it had, that will mean, again as Borrell stated, that the two pillars upon which the German economy rested will no longer be there. The German economy is of course central to the European economy.
The sanctions against Russia, trade and financial, were supposed to collapse the Russian economy. As both the EU and Biden stated at the time that was their purpose. But they will collapse or at least severely damage us. “The Sanctions from Hell” was the proud title they were given when they were imposed. Did the fools not realise that they’d turn out to be just that for us?

Posted by: English Outsider | Dec 3 2022 21:44 utc | 50

zel moaning price cap wasnt 30$ per barrel. lol delusional . lets make it zero $ why not. they won’t be gettn any anyway

Posted by: hankster | Dec 3 2022 22:04 utc | 52

Can it happen that US fleet begins to attack and confiscate these Russian tankers?

Posted by: margo | Dec 3 2022 22:11 utc | 54

A comment about the youtube video: Scott Ritter: Ukraine cannot win this war. It’s a ‘fantasy.’
In this interview, Scott Ritter argues nuclear weapons will not come into play in the Ucraine conflict. But, in the hypothetical case they do, nuclear weapons will not be used in Ukraine.
At minute 24:30, Scott Ritter says:

They [Russia] won’t use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine. If it comes down to time to use nuclear weapons they’re not going to nuke Kiev. They’re going to nuke London, they’re going to nuke Paris, they’re going to nuke Berlin.
They’re not going to nuke Kiev. So the West totally misconstrued this, totally misunderstood this.

Note it does not occur to Scott Ritter that a place in the continental US might be nuked. I think this is a basic problem with the US mindset.
It’s not Kiev, London, Paris or Berlin that’s in the driving seat in this conflict. It’s Washington.

Posted by: Passerby | Dec 3 2022 22:38 utc | 56

Unimperastor (53): Yes, Europe is in a trap … of its own making. For some reason, its leaders never realized it doesn’t make anything the world needs or could make on its own. For centuries, Europe via its colonial armies stole resources from the rest of the world and sold them arms and other manufactured goods. But now those other nations aren’t denying Europe resources and producing their own manufactured goods. Europe, with just 6% of the world’s population, will soon end up a faded, impoverished blip on the geopolitical radar. But that’s OK–the WEF promises Europeans that they’ll be happier for it!

Posted by: FHTEX | Dec 3 2022 22:51 utc | 58

bevin | Dec 3 2022 21:19 utc | 46
I just saw an interesting article whereby the newly emerging ‘BRICS Currency’***, when implemented, will have an ‘Expiration Date’ on US Dollars. … Another words, nations and companies desiring to do business with the BRICS + 12 will have a ‘use or lose’ policy to dump the USD. After that date, their USD accounts will evaporate to zero.
I suspect that this BRICS Currency program will take some time to mature (perhaps 5 to 10 years?), but when that ‘Expiration Date’ is set, that date will mark the official collapse of the West. … The World is eagerly watching and waiting for that tine.
*** The proposed BRICS Currency will be a stable precious metals and commodity based denomination.

Posted by: Mummer | Dec 3 2022 22:58 utc | 60

Not to go off topic, but MMT is not a new way of money creation, it is an exposé of how money is actually created and how it has been created for the last 120ys of central bank systems and fractional reserve banking. Once that occult secret is publicly revealed (that fractional reserve banking is socialism for the rich, debt for the rest) the debate starts between those trying to get the cat back in the bag and the other side that wants to correct the damage of the lie that has been and is being propagated on western societies, de-democratizing them by co-opting fiscal policy at the most structural level to markets.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 3 2022 23:15 utc | 62

That may be the last vestige of the Glass-Seagall Act in the US and similar laws elsewhere.
Posted by: Old canadian | Dec 3 2022 23:12 utc | 61
FDIC insurance premiums are paid by depository banks and credit unions. And don’t assume all banks passes the cost to demand deposit account holders in the form of fees. Or that brokerage accounts are FDIC-insured.
That said, FTX Int’l. pyramid of 133 subsidiary brokers–including Alameda–got some fast talking to do. OCC and FDIC have receipts.

Posted by: sln2002 | Dec 3 2022 23:30 utc | 64

ian @ 63

I can’t see how the price cap is going to work. First, Russia is already selling oil below $60 to favored customers. Second, let’s say, hypothetically, that the cap can be imposed. Why would anyone want to buy oil at $70+ from other countries when they can buy it for $60 from Russia.

In fact it doesn’t punish Russia very much if at all, at the worst it’s a mild annoyance which is strange given the rancor not to mention that NATO is actively killing Russians. It does make the middlemen happy, and that’s the essence of capitalism.
It makes most sense if you see it as a further restriction on Europe rather than on Russia. Of course the people making these decisions have been stacking one failed policy on top of an other for the last 40ys of the neoliberal clusterfuck so who knows, maybe it’s exactly what it seems, another idiocy from the idiots.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 3 2022 23:50 utc | 66

@ margo | Dec 3 2022 22:02 utc | 51
Exactly so, only the ‘Golden Billion’ in their walled ‘Garden’ would give this dross any credence.
Know them by their deeds …

Posted by: Outraged | Dec 3 2022 23:52 utc | 68

Switzerland usually imports electricity from France and Germany to keep the lights on over the winter, but this year neither country has any power to spare…
It is now every man for himself
https://twitter.com/Galactic_Trader/status/1598527621683363842

Posted by: Melaleuca | Dec 3 2022 23:59 utc | 70

I wonder what the consequences would be if the Empire arranged for ship seizures like it did with Iranian tankers.
Posted by: robin | Dec 3 2022 18:10 utc | 19
And I wonder about Mr. Zircon coming over to have a little talk with those doing the seizures. After all, they say he can be very speedy where he wants or must be.

Posted by: gatobart | Dec 4 2022 0:03 utc | 72

Ukraine can win individual battles but is losing the war , says Colonel Markus Reisner of the Austrian General Staff Academy:
“We are following the Russian initiative,” says the Austrian military officer, “which Russia owns on a strategic level.” The West is trying to keep up with its moves in terms of “strategic exhaustion” month after month. 
Ukraine’s successes on the strategic level are being completely destroyed by Russia. “For example, Ukraine has entered Kherson but sits there in the dark because the entire infrastructure there has been destroyed.”
#news Slavyangrad

past commentaries https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=colonel+markus+reisner+ukraine

Posted by: SeanAU | Dec 4 2022 0:13 utc | 74

@ james | Dec 4 2022 0:10 utc | 74
What’s the deal ? Yer unusually snickety lately, with pep in yer step ? lol 😉

Posted by: Outraged | Dec 4 2022 0:15 utc | 76

Uneducated, Stupid Americans are About to Learn They are Led by Idiots, Liars and Immoral Jerks
There have been nothing but lies in the U.S. about the Russian SMO. People generally believe everything they hear on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, and MSNBC. While Fox News has higher ratings, the audience is relatively small compared to our total population, e.g., perhaps 5 million people, and there is actually only one person on Fox, Tucker Carlson, who says anything negative about Ukraine. However, not even Tucker has ever given a complete explanation of how Ukraine violated the Minsk accords and killed about 14,000 Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the Donbas from 2014-2022. To Tucker’s credit, he does say that Ukraine is not a democracy and he implies that U.S. support for continuing the war is stupid. In these respects, Tucker is 100% correct.
The standard story in the mainstream media as well as a majority of Fox hosts is that Russia launched a completely unprovoked war, and is likely to go beyond Ukraine to attack other European countries in an effort to rebuild the U.S.S.R.
When a former defense expert told a Fox News host today (Arthel Neville) that the war should stop because Ukraine cannot win, that the best thing to do would be to negotiate a settlement, Arthel looked dismayed, as though some moron was saying the sun rotated around the earth.
In the few instances where the topic of the war has come up in a discussion with someone I know or just met, people are totally shocked when I tell them that Ukraine is not winning, that in fact they will lose the war and moreover, they provoked the war and the country is run by Nazis. Nobody appears capable of digesting this view since all they hear on television is that Ukraine is a great democracy and is winning the war against Russia and we have to stick with them for as long as it takes.
Our idiots, liars, and immoral jerks who run the country will have to hire a consultant to come up with some kind of fairy tale to explain the upcoming Russian victory.

Posted by: OdessaConnected | Dec 4 2022 0:24 utc | 78

Passerby | Dec 3 2022 22:38 utc | 56
Ritter has a better perspective on this than you.
A nuclear attack on American soil would result in an American nuclear attack on Russian soil. This is 100% certain.
A nuclear attack on European soil might not result in a nuclear attack on Russian soil. The British would certainly attempt to retaliate if there were an attack in the UK but have limited assets. The French are a nation of cowards and so might not respond to an attack on their territory. The United States would probably limit its response to non-Russian territory, perhaps Belarus. It is an unknown.
Know the logic before you open your mouth.

Posted by: Nexus | Dec 4 2022 0:25 utc | 80

I can’t see how the price cap is going to work. First, Russia is already selling oil below $60 to favored customers. Second, let’s say, hypothetically, that the cap can be imposed. Why would anyone want to buy oil at $70+ from other countries when they can buy it for $60 from Russia.
Posted by: ian | Dec 3 2022 23:17 utc | 63

I believe the theory goes like this:
– the countries this applies to are not allowed due to sanctions to buy Oil direct from Russia
– plus Russia requires payment in Rubles, which was secondary issue.
– therefore 3rd parties like say Turkey for example, would buy the Russia Oil and on-sell that at a premium markup, and reap a big profit as a “wholesaler”
– Turkey buys at $60+/- and on-sells it for market price $80-$100 depending on the day.
– EU buyers buy it and settle in Euros/USD whatever and can import the oil at will up to now.
– Now these same countries are “supposedly” being forced to not pay more than $60 per barrel of Oil that originally came from Russia.
– Turkey et al will not, cannot sell at that price therefore the deal falls through completely.
– Buyers end up with no Oil, Turkey loses mega profits for doing next to nothing.
The “theory” was that this rule would force Russia to sell at lower prices, eg $40/barrel, so that Turkey could sell at $60/barrel. This would hypothetically then restrict the income Russia could receive for it’s Oil to fund it’s ‘evil war’ against Ukraine.
EU would get cheaper priced Oil … with a middle finger to Putin
The other hole in this “theory” is that Russia has upped the ante before it began, being anyone who abides by the max price $60 rule cannot be sold any Russian Oil … meaning it would cut out 3rd parties like Turkey if it did what the EU wanted.
afaik. I’ll defer to other who know better.
That and the Europeans and Americans are idiots, but we knew that right?

Posted by: SeanAU | Dec 4 2022 0:29 utc | 82

Nexus | Dec 4 2022 0:25 utc | 81
U$… “would probably limit its response to non-Russian territory, perhaps Belarus.”.
Err. Belarus and Russia just yesterday signed another military pact.
They are “one” now. Attack Belarus and you’re attacking Russia.
Internet has nice pics of Shoigu and Lukashenko….
Luka to Shoigu:
There are no any divisions: we are a single group of forces, a single army. We are getting ready today. Everybody knows about it. We are not hiding it. In today’s world it is impossible to hide such things.”
“In short, everything is done the way we agreed with the Russian president. You are not just fully aware of it. You are implementing it with our Defense Ministry. We are fulfilling the plans we have agreed upon,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.
https://eng.belta.by/president/view/lukashenko-to-shoigu-neither-russia-nor-belarus-wants-any-war-155147-2022/

Posted by: Melaleuca | Dec 4 2022 0:33 utc | 84

Posted by: unimperator | Dec 3 2022 22:05 utc | 53
You are right. If Uncle Sam gets his way the Euro will become the Europeso, a currency that for Russia, Asia and the rest of the world won’t be any more worth than that of any generic Central American republic. Someone seems to have overlooked this little detail when putting this plot together, if not in the US at least in Europe.

Posted by: gatobart | Dec 4 2022 0:36 utc | 86

Know the logic before you open your mouth.
Posted by: Nexus | Dec 4 2022 0:25 utc | 81
—
There is no such thing as logic when it comes to nukes.

Posted by: Nobody | Dec 4 2022 0:41 utc | 88

re: Old canadian | Dec 3 2022 23:52 utc | 67 and Outraged | Dec 3 2022 23:52 utc | 68
Here in the US, I used to accept the legitimacy of the dollar until I started wondering what the value of “the promise to pay to the bearer on demand” was actually worth in real terms. But the torrent of digital dollars created out of thin air in the last several years has made me view the entire operation as a racket; the promise to pay is worthless, there has never been any intention of paying off the astronomical debts incurred by this system, which is designed to keep the ruling banksters and elites in control indefinitely
Control of the banking system and legal system can force the citizens of a nation to accept currency/dollars in exchange for goods and services, but it ultimately can’t make other nations accept that same currency once it is debased by endless deficit spending. Black budgets and double sets of books have kept the real number of dollars hidden from global eyes for many years, but the hockey stick curve of US money supply has hit the stratosphere and it can no longer be disguised.
The Bretton Woods agreement and the subsequent petrodollar deal with OPEC led the nations of the world to accept the dollar as the global reserve currency; the US used the ability to create unlimited dollars out of thin air to set up 1000 military bases around the world and spend $1 trillion per year to enforce its control/hegemony.
But all that is ending now, hastened by the torrent of digital dollars created during the last several years, along with the theft of Russian financial assets, which showed the world the US had no reservations about stealing anyone’s money. China certainly noticed. And the fools in Washington seem to think they can win a trade war with the nation they are utterly dependent upon for their manufactured goods and pharmaceutical medicines. LOL Just as the Biden regime thinks they can make Russia “back down”; the lunatics are in charge of the asylum.
Like psychohistorian has been saying for years, this war is very much about the control of the global financial system. The decadent West refuses to relinquish its claim to hegemony/dollar supremacy, but it has already lost this battle through deindustrialization and the utter corruption of its ruling classes, who believe their own propaganda and are blinded by hubris. The world has come to see that the digital dollars, which clothe the Western emperor, are transparently worthless.
A hard rain is beginning to fall.

Posted by: Perimetr | Dec 4 2022 0:49 utc | 90

@ LightYearsFromHome | Dec 4 2022 0:42 utc | 90
Every time US has been directly challenged, even attacked/defeated or humiliated, by ‘near’ peers, it has stood down … acquiesced.
More & more, seriously doubt the calculus has changed. These days they’ll self immolate ?
Even ruling over US mainland reverted to ~1890 status, must be more appealing to the Vampyres than becoming a radiated crispy critter, or being spit roasted & devoured by your ‘in revolt’ former security detail, inside yer luxurious bunker …
Random thought ? How many psychopaths or arch-narcissists are documented to have consciously chosen to commit suicide in utter despair & depression ?

Posted by: Outraged | Dec 4 2022 0:59 utc | 92

Posted by: Perimetr | Dec 4 2022 0:49 utc | 91
The technocrat/banker elites of the US will force US to go militarily berserk, threatening stance all across the board, and into insanity, world wide as non-G7 and non-western countries fold to the other system they cannot control. This is easily seen already everywhere across the western political and media spectrum. There’s no more low hanging fruits they can steal resources from. Not even in Africa.
The financial control of the west are unraveling and the western citizens will be consumed next, starting with Europeans. Everyone knows that inevitability, but no one knows exactly the timeframe.

Posted by: unimperator | Dec 4 2022 1:04 utc | 94

Melaleuca | Dec 4 2022 0:59 utc | 94
Belarus can be attacked without prompting a Russian response as if Russia itself had been attacked. Union State is a fiction. Belarus is not Russia. It will be someday, but not until there’s been a limited nuclear exchange in Poland and Belarus.

Posted by: Nexus | Dec 4 2022 1:12 utc | 96

TonyL @ 86

I think you’ve missed the last part of this process. The Euros are deposited in a GazProm account (and sold immediately) in the Moscow Stock Exchange (i.e open market.

And very clever, maybe Glazyev’s doing. For that brief instant while in the stock exchange the euros are off the ECB’s ledger and can’t be frozen with a keystroke. The Russians have been very clever macro-wise, who’d have thought a bunch of ex-commies could figure it out so fast? Actually the best capitalists are the ones who’ve read and understand Marx.
The euro represents a highly developed skilled economic zone of 500 million people, it’s not going to turn into Weimar deutschmarks, unless Eurolandia breaks up (which is different from NATO breaking up). The dollar won’t turn to confetti either as it also represents a huge population with resources and advanced skills. Russia and China want access to those two developed markets for their high quality finished goods, they are fighting to not be isolated from the west, it is the west that is trying to isolate them. This is why it’s a hybrid war, Russia and China are trying to save the west, as that is what is best for them in the long term.
At some point even if worse comes militarily things will settle, maybe in twenty years, but dollars and euros will have plenty of value. What will change post 2022 is no country anywhere will hold a giant pile of forex as savings of anything, euros, dollars, rmb, rupee etc ever again. At some point the USA and EU if they want their currencies to retain value, ie have utility in global trade, will have to accept at least in part the basket of currencies the BRICS+ are putting together. Problem is making it through now to then.

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 4 2022 1:18 utc | 98

Outraged @ 93

Random thought ? How many psychopaths or arch-narcissists are documented to have consciously chosen to commit suicide in utter despair & depression ?

That’s an oddly optimistic point!

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Dec 4 2022 1:24 utc | 100