Sanctions and Support

[Volkonski]

The Spectator Index
@spectatorindex
·
2h
BREAKING: Belgium will supply Ukraine with 2,000 machine guns and 3,800 tons of fuel

[Volkonski]

[Sam the Centipede]

Turkey is dragging their feet over closing the Black Sea to further Russian warships, citing that the Ukraine invasion cannot rightly be defined as a "war".

And you could knock me over with a feather!

I don't think that's a fair characterization of Turkey's actions. Turkey is very much an intersection country and Turkey tries to have good relations with all its neighbors, including Russia.

Turkey didn't have to close the Bosporus to warships but it chose to, which seems decisive to me. Any closure definitely disadvantages Russia more than Ukraine, because Ukraine probably doesn't have many (if any!) naval ships outside the Black Sea.

The reason for the "is it a war?" question is because that is an important criterion determining what Turkey is permitted and forbidden to do in this context. It's not splitting hairs or avoiding action, it's following international law.

For those whose geography is wobbly: the Black Sea in the middle of the European continent is the main coastline of Ukraine. To get to to the Black Sea from the oceans, one must first enter the Mediterranean either via the Strait of Gibraltar or the Suez Canal, the please through the Bosporus. These three are all very narrow steps of water.

[Volkonski]

Right wingers appear to be divided. Some support Russia, others support Ukraine.

[Volkonski]

David Frum
@davidfrum
One indication of how the war is going is watching formerly pro-Putin, anti-Ukraine voices in this country's politics and media abruptly commerce their pivots
7:21 AM · Feb 26, 2022·TweetDeck
David Frum
@davidfrum

The people who formerly defended Trump for cutting off weapons to Ukraine unless Zelensky delivered dirty tricks to Trump's re-election campaign ... are maybe a half-day away from posting their "I stand with Ukraine" hashtags

[raison de arizona]

Turkey is dragging their feet over closing the Black Sea to further Russian warships, citing that the Ukraine invasion cannot rightly be defined as a "war".

And you could knock me over with a feather!

I don't think that's a fair characterization of Turkey's actions. Turkey is very much an intersection country and Turkey tries to have good relations with all its neighbors, including Russia.

Turkey didn't have to close the Bosporus to warships but it chose to, which seems decisive to me. Any closure definitely disadvantages Russia more than Ukraine, because Ukraine probably doesn't have many (if any!) naval ships outside the Black Sea.

The reason for the "is it a war?" question is because that is an important criterion determining what Turkey is permitted and forbidden to do in this context. It's not splitting hairs or avoiding action, it's following international law.

For those whose geography is wobbly: the Black Sea in the middle of the European continent is the main coastline of Ukraine. To get to to the Black Sea from the oceans, one must first enter the Mediterranean either via the Strait of Gibraltar or the Suez Canal, the please through the Bosporus. These three are all very narrow steps of water.

thank you for your insight, it's very helpful

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

Germany softens stance on curbing Russian access to SWIFT

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ge ... ce=twitter

Germany changed its position on Saturday about imposing restrictions on Russia's access to the SWIFT global interbank payment system, joining other Western powers in support of harsher sanctions aimed at halting Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"We are urgently working on how to limit the collateral damage of decoupling from SWIFT in such a way that it affects the right people. What we need is a targeted and functional restriction of SWIFT," Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.

Germany, which has the EU's biggest trade flows with Russia, had been reluctant to get on board with cutting off Russia from the world's main international payments network, saying it must first weigh the economic consequences of such move.

Berlin's change of heart comes as Russian forces continued to pound Kyiv and other cities with artillery and cruise missiles on day three of a campaign that has sent hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing west toward the European Union, clogging major highways and railway lines.

[New Turtle]

Finnish hockey team leaves KHL playoffs over Ukraine invasion


Feb 25, 2022 Greg Wyshynski

Jokerit has decided to end its season rather than appear in the Kontinental Hockey League playoffs following Russia's invasion of Ukraine this week.

The Finland-based team was scheduled to face Moscow's Spartak in the first round of the Gagarin Cup playoffs on March 1. The league said it will revise the Western Conference playoff bracket.

Jari Kurri, the chairman of Jokerit, made the decision to suspend the team's 2021-22 season and said that "the current global situation" made it impossible to compete in the KHL playoffs.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/333 ... e-invasion

KHL is mainly teams from Russia and its neighbors. I once watched a 7 hour playoff game between the Jokers and CSKA Moscow. Some of those players make it to the NHL, though they usually have to play a few seasons in the North American minor leagues to adjust to the smaller rink dimensions.

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

Reuters
@Reuters
·
26m
Replying to
@Reuters
YouTube barred Russian state-owned media outlet RT and other Russian channels from receiving money for advertisements that run with their videos, similar to a move by Facebook, after the invasion of Ukraine https://reut.rs/3hjdJQA

[Volkonski]

Jonathan Allen
@jonallendc
·
32m
"May they make those Russian invaders bleed and die," Sebastian Gorka says of Ukrainians at CPAC.

[p0rtia]

I thought we could use a thread to post sanctions levied against Russia and showcase support for Ukraine.

What a great thread this is turning out to be! Thanks for the idea and execution, Mr. V!

[Notaperson]

White House, European allies prepare to target Russia’s central bank in what would be a dramatic escalation of financial crackdown

The Biden administration and European allies are preparing to target Russia’s central bank with major financial restrictions in what would be a significant escalation of its effort to punish the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine, several people briefed on the planning said.

Final decisions about how to proceed regarding the Bank of Russia still have not been made. There would be little precedent for such a move, particularly against a country that has nuclear weapons, and some experts believe the step could carry risks if Moscow felt like its money was being held ransom.

Russia’s central bank has more than $640 billion in foreign exchange reserves, much of it held in the computers of western central banks in cities such as New York, London, and Frankfurt. Any effort to freeze or quarantine that money could put tremendous pressure on Russia, one of the world’s largest economies.

Targeting the central bank could lead to domestic turmoil in Russia, such as by triggering a bank run, cratering the ruble, and causing panic among Russian businesses.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... ite-house/

[Volkonski]

Seth Abramson
@SethAbramson
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48m
Putin’s allies are rapidly disappearing. Orbán has turned away from him. And the leader of the Chechen Republic. Xi abstained from a UN vote rather than voting with Russia. The first Duma member has spoken out. All Europe has united. Now Putin only has Donald Trump and MAGA left.

[Uninformed]

“West to cut some Russian banks off from Swift”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-60542433

“The EU, US and their allies have agreed to cut off a number of Russian banks from the main international payment system, Swift.”

[Volkonski]

Reuters
@Reuters
·
12m
Greece says 10 expats killed in Ukraine, summons Russian ambassador http://reut.rs/3IpUOj6

[noblepa]

Turkey is dragging their feet over closing the Black Sea to further Russian warships, citing that the Ukraine invasion cannot rightly be defined as a "war".

And you could knock me over with a feather!

Does anyone here honestly believe that Russia would obey a putative Turkish order banning Russian warships?

Does anyone here honestly believe that Turkey could enforce such a ban?

[p0rtia]

A must-read thread!

[raison de arizona]

Turkey is in NATO. I doubt they need to enforce anything. One would hope Russia wouldn’t tangle with NATO. It would be a mess if they did though.

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

[New Turtle]

Raf Sanchez @rafsanchez
My hotel in Moscow asked me to settle the bill early because they aren’t sure if credit cards are going to work once SWIFT sanctions kick in.

5:10 PM · Feb 26, 2022

[Volkonski]

Raf Sanchez
@rafsanchez
·
48m
My hotel in Moscow asked me to settle the bill early because they aren’t sure if credit cards are going to work once SWIFT sanctions kick in.

[Suranis]