Sanctions and Support

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

Julia Davis
@JuliaDavisNews
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7m
I'm not sure that offering to move employees from Germany to Russia really sweetened the pot.

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

Reuters
@Reuters
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20m
Turkey warns countries not to pass warships through straits http://reut.rs/3hsVNmx

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

[AndyinPA]

Orban doesn't want to piss off his buddy, Putin.

https://www.reuters.com/world/hungary-w ... 022-02-28/

PRISTINA, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Hungary will not send troops or weapons to Ukraine and will not allow lethal weapons to transit its territory in order to keep the country safe, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday during a visit to Kosovo.

"The reason for making this decision is that such deliveries might become targets of hostile military action and ... we have to ensure the security of Hungary ... that we are not getting involved in that war," Szijjarto said after meeting Kosovo Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla.

[raison de arizona]

Hungary out of NATO. You don’t get defense without obligations, it’s one thing to not supply Ukraine, it’s another thing to hinder other NATO countries from doing so.

[raison de arizona]

Reuters
@Reuters
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20m
Turkey warns countries not to pass warships through straits http://reut.rs/3hsVNmx

Was hoping for this.

[RVInit]

Just heard on CNN that eight oligarchs have now spoken publicly against the war against Ukraine.

[Chilidog]

This evil old fart needs to just go the Fuck away...

Televangelist Pat Robertson came out of retirement on Monday to declare that Russian President Vladimir Putin is following God’s wishes by violently invading Ukraine, insisting this is a step towards a global “End Times” battle in Israel.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pat-rober ... -end-times

[raison de arizona]

Russia state-affiliated media
Google has announced it is blocking RT and Sputnik YouTube channels

[bill_g]

Looking down the road a few years, if the financial sactions are as desvastating as is being predicted, forcing Russia's invasion to a halt, and hobbling their economy afterwards, I fully expect a broad reprisal. I'm hoping this possibility is already being modeled with countermeasures being devised.

[Danraft]

I think it is more that Russia has held the facade of a world power (like a Western movie set), and hasn’t had the financial resources to update.

If the Russian economy is smaller than Texas, but with much more land mass to dilute the resources with infrastructure needs, etc., there just isn’t any possible way it can maintain a space program, state-of-the-art submarines, Air Force, ground forces, communication, Olympic presence, syops campaigns, etc.

This may be more of an existential moment wherein they feel like the world is passing them by and they will be forced off the center stage with no where to go. Does Putin and Russia feel that their borders are going to be lost (with territory)?

If so, maybe (crazy as it seems), it is time to bring Russia into NATO? The agreement that is against using aggression to take territories?

[Suranis]

Well ya, that's been the case forever. The Soviet Union was a third world country with the Armament of a first world country. And even then it famously was over-inflating its assets. Stunts like flying the same bomber over the heads of cheering crowds and uaving paper mockups of ICBMs and the like.

Of course it suited the US to pretend that the Soviet Union had a far greater power than it actually did becasue they wanted to build a ton of crap as well.

[Reality Check]

Just heard on CNN that eight oligarchs have now spoken publicly against the war against Ukraine.

Off Topic

The media seems to love calling Russian billionaires "oligarchs". This got me wondering why American billionaires are called "billionaires" but not "oligarchs" I know "oligarch" implies an oligarchy but isn't that what we really have? Doesn't Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos have as much political clout as any Russian oligarch?

[Chilidog]

I always thought that the term "russian oligarch" was the equivalent of "Italian mafia."

[Reality Check]

I always thought that the term "russian oligarch" was the equivalent of "Italian mafia."

From the Google:

ol·i·garch
/ˈäləˌɡärk/
Learn to pronounce
noun
noun: oligarch; plural noun: oligarchs

1. a ruler in an oligarchy.
2. (especially in Russia) a very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence.

[Suranis]

Ya, an Oligarchy is defined as "Government by a few, especially by a small faction of persons or families."

If it was an Aristocracy they would call them Aristocrats.

[Foggy]

So you're saying call them kakistocrats.

[johnpcapitalist]

I think it is more that Russia has held the facade of a world power (like a Western movie set), and hasn’t had the financial resources to update.

It's almost like the whole country is a Potemkin village or something.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/01/investin ... index.html

London/Moscow CNN Business —

Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to stem the flow of Western businesses fleeing the country over his decision to wage war on Ukraine.

Capital controls designed to stop the exodus were announced by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, state news agencies TASS and RIA reported on Tuesday. Western companies were taking decisions because of “political pressure,” he said, and they would be prevented from selling Russian assets until that pressure subsides.

“To enable businesses to make informed decisions, a draft presidential decree has been prepared to introduce temporary restrictions on exiting Russian assets,” Mishustin was quoted as saying. “We expect that those who have invested in our country will be able to continue working here.”

Oil giant BP (BP) is one of the most prominent companies to abandon Russia since its troops invaded Ukraine last week. It said Sunday it was planning to exit its 19.75% stake in Russia’s biggest oil company, Rosneft, and their joint ventures — amounting to one of the biggest foreign investments in Russia.

[Volkonski]