The sanctions levied against Russia by the collective West have essentially failed. There is inconvenience within Russia amid ordinary citizens for global and economic transactions, but most of the govt transactions have continued.
On the opposite side of the consequence coin, absent the ability to purchase consumer goods on the global market, Russian domestic consumer independence has grown dramatically. There is more stuff being made and created inside Russia, for Russians to purchase, than ever before.
I cannot see how the Russian GDP doesn’t benefit from this in the long-term.
Then again, I don’t buy the official Western narrative about the “horrible” life inside Russia, because I talk to ordinary middle class Russians who seem to have found a way to organize life without too much disturbance.
Russia is actually a case study in the elimination of imports and the economic outcomes therein.
It doesn’t suck to be a consumer; average Russians are doing fine, and it seems to get better over time. Ironically, give them a few more years of Western sanctions, and Russia could be a manufacturing powerhouse. Russia is a big country with a lot of raw material resources.
UNITED NATIONS, July 12 (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he extend a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of grain from Ukraine in return for connecting a subsidiary of Russia’s agricultural bank to the SWIFT international payment system, sources told Reuters.
Russia has threatened to ditch the grain deal, which expires on Monday, because several demands to dispatch its own grain and fertilizer abroad have not been met. The last two ships traveling under the Black Sea agreement are currently loading cargoes at the Ukrainian port of Odesa ahead of the deadline.
A key demand by Moscow is the reconnection of the Russian agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT international payment network. It was cut off by the European Union in June 2022 over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. An EU spokesperson said in May the EU was not considering reinstating Russian banks.
However, the EU is considering connecting to SWIFT a subsidiary of Rosselkhozbank to allow specifically for grain and fertilizer transactions, three sources familiar with discussions told Reuters on Wednesday. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (read more)
Ah, good old Voldemort Zelensky, he who shall not be appropriately dressed for any occasion…
His attire is very salient. There is a message there. I would think it is based on his arrogance. He certainly is doing it for a reason.
Does anyone see this as a message?
Yes, Humpty.
As with everything this imbecile does, he is following a script;
playing the part that he is paid to play.
The outfit is simply his costume.
If the anger is genuine, it is the outcome of his cocaine habit.
Z isn’t worried about anything, except his timely exit.
If he is a few minutes late in escaping, things could get a little ugly for him.
There will come a moment when his history will rhyme with that of Benito Mussolini.
Yikes!
There it is dictators love wearing that OD green but could never pick up a rifle and man a post.
“Che Guevara” idolization . . .
Or perhaps Fidel Castro idolization?
That could be also. Fidel Castro had the kind of mindset to always wear military garb. But for some reason, leftists seemed to have “romanticize” Che Guevara more frequently than Fidel. I don’t fully understand why. You see images of Che Guevara everywhere in leftist propaganda. I’ve seen Che Guevara posters in photos of local Democrat Pary HQ.
?q=90
The law of unintended consequences strikes again. Must suck to be an elitist who believes the reactions of the real world only apply to the serfs.
The UN has the same WEF string pullers that the EU leaders and NA have. How about a UN sponsored peace resolution. While you’re at it disclose the origination of Covid and exposing the member nations that blew up the Nordstrom pipelines.
Like Fetterman, I can see that Zelensky is dressed for the occasion..
That guy looks coked out of his mind. No wonder no one wanted to talk to him. He probably doesn’t shut up while making no sense at all. So annoying.
“Ironically, give them a few more years of Western sanctions, and Russia could be a manufacturing powerhouse. Russia is a big country with a lot of raw material resources.”
Even more ironically (no idea if I’m using ironically correctly here), the same could be said for the US. We wouldn’t need to start wars all over the world to make money when we have everything we need to thrive on our own.
Thieves and carpet-baggers are never industrious!
Hey Botched,
“We wouldn’t need to start wars all over the world to make money when we have everything we need to thrive on our own.”
Quick question: Are we actually *making money* or just *printing money*?
For JPow, this will surely be an insignificant detail.
Regards.
The money doesn’t go into the right pockets if common people are making goods and selling them for themselves.
The angry package delivery dude!!
Haha, you made me laugh! Good one
The picture is similar to the one of the French aristocracy; just before the guillotines appeared. Judging from Zelensky’s stare, he’s been embarrassed, stiffed and hustled into horrific war crimes on his own people by the sophisticated corruption of Joe Biden!
A FESTIVAL OF SNAKES!
That appears to be a lonely man losing support.
Speaking of losing support….
“South American leaders block Zelensky from summit – Euractiv
“Their counter-proposal also “deleted everything about Ukraine” from a text proposed by the EU.
“The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) has purged every reference to Ukraine from a joint declaration proposed by the EU, the outlet Euractiv reported on Thursday. CELAC objections also forced the EU to dis-invite Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky from a forthcoming joint summit.
“Most Latin American countries have repeatedly said they don’t wish to be dragged into a conflict they see as primarily a European problem.”
https://www.rt.com/news/579305-latin-america-eu-summit-ukraine/
I keep up with Russian media just because you can’t get any information about them on any Western media. After I read your article, it reminded me of this article I found on Russian media:
Russian car sales roaring backLADA was the best-selling vehicle on the domestic market in June, followed by Chinese brands, data shows
LADA X-Cross 5 © Sputnik/Alexander Galperin
Car sales in Russia are on course to recover from the impact of Western sanctions as June sales more than doubled compared to last year, Russian analytic agency Autostat reported this week.
Sales of new passenger cars jumped 151% year-on-year in June, amounting to 82,407 units, according to the report. A total of 401,600 passenger cars were sold in the first half of this year, which is 14% more than in the same period of 2022, statistics showed.
The Russian LADA was the top-selling brand in the country, with 23,777 cars sold in June, representing a 30% increase from last year. It was followed by Chinese car brands, which continue to fill the void left by departing Western firms.
https://www.rt.com/business/579226-russian-car-sales-growth/
It appears that the only thing the Western sanctions have done is left a huge void in the marketplace for someone else to come along to fill.
The saying “Too cute by half” comes to mind.
Meaning of “Too cute by half”:
“Too cute by half”, sometimes rendered as “Too clever by half” refers to a sly person who is half-smart. In other words, they are trying to con or take advantage of other people whom they feel superior to or have a low opinion of, but they fall over their own feet.
Could become very interesting if Russia is actually able to wring some sort of serious peace negotiations out the UN, in return for the grain.
UN (with G7/NATO members) negotiating vs the NATO/G7
More fun after the OPEC/BRICS pseudo-Oil Embargo starts vs the West via more production slow downs, cost increases, lack of ships and dun dun dun …. change from petro-dollars.
You want to know why Yellen went to China and groveled at Xi’s feet?
“BRICS countries planning new Gold-Backed currency
“Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen went to Beijing to try to assuage the Chinese, insisting she wants the two powers to remain trading partners rather than adversaries.
“Implicit in her appeal to China is that any move on the part of the Chinese to ditch the U.S. dollar and conduct trade in an alternative gold-backed currency would be viewed as an escalation of hostilities.
https://www.fxstreet.com/analysis/brics-countries-planning-new-gold-backed-currency-202307101739#:~:text=Last%20week%2C%20the%20Russian%20Embassy,will%20be%20backed%20by%20gold.%E2%80%9D
They’ll give in to Russia’s demands, because if BRICS does go to gold and ditches the dollar, that’s about half of the world dropping dollars nearly overnight. It would literally destroy the US.
Russia would be stupid to take the EU deal. The EU puts their right hand out to shake their target’s hand, and their left hand has a dagger in it.
Say Russians … and most people get this image of wild Cossacks, Hard Bitten Rulers, Dumb Country Farmers et al … not many people see Russia as very sophisticated, nor able to develop their own stuff.
Yet … 1750-1945: Russia marched MODERN armies into WESTERN EUROPE to save them from would be Emperors, including Napoleon and Hitler.
The Russians have had a thriving aerospace industry starting in the 1920’s.
The Russians have had a growing auto-industry since the 1930’s.
The Russians have long been recognized as geniuses in the field of metallurgy.
The Russians have built modern cities and infrastructure … and more.
Russian designed stuff is still used as a start point for designs by many emerging technology power houses like China Inc. and India.
They have their major faults, warts, failures, despots, disasters, et al … but the bottom line is that the Russians have demonstrated technical prowess that matches any Western nation both in proven performance and potential … that is not just some knock-off copy capability … that started with Peter the Great’s window into the West
The Russians are late to the great global game of dominance in realizing, as the China Inc. did in the 1980-90’s, that emphasis on economic warfare is far more effective than leading with military might.
People forget that Russia (via the USSR) and China Inc. (via the Chinese Communist Party) have had a strong relationship since 1927 that has evolved. [Historical Note: The Russians were actually even one of the most effective supporters of the Nationalist Chinese vs Japan in the 1930’s, sending troops and air units as well as equipment to fight the Japanese.] Meaning the current level of cooperation between Russia and China is NOT some new development, it pays to read and heed history.
And don’t forget the Music and Literary Giants Russia has produced.
A single president, Biden, has managed to piss off the world’s other 2 super powers: Russia and China, drag us into a war that is actually killing Ukranians and destroying their country, destroying the Economy, and assuaging, nay, inviting in, the perverts among us.
He will go down in history as the worst president in history, if we even have more history to write.
Biden is a hideous embarrassment and a liability for our country.
Oh Lord, please release us from these craven Satan worshippers.
I love it! The globalist Unipart Elites think they can control everything, when in fact they control nothing.
Cost/Benefit equation. Strategic Dwarf equals no return. Next.
First Step. Set up a photo op where his tedious army fatigue schtick is backdropped against a bunch of chattering war financiers and their arm candy, with dwarf on lower step, alone and angry.
Then send him home empty handed but with a large duffle bag of future nothings.
Second Step. Plant seed of change of leadership.
Z is a money laundromat attendant. Dressed appropriately.
Who owns the land being farmed for grain in Ukraine, Gates, et al? It’s something to consider in getting this deal done (and wouldn’t surprise anyone).
As for the photo of Zelensky, look at all the elites laughing and having a good time getting together. How would you laugh and have a good time at a cocktail party with him in your midst. Talk about Debbie Downer. other than the millions being skimmed, his life has to suck.
Every prediction by the “experts” about how Russia was going to be fiscally destroyed by sanctions has had the shelf life and validity of the Global Warming fraud. In fact it is the Morons controlling the west that are eviscerating their own economies, with the worse yet to come. If the Tyrant block of the east bring their gold based currency on line with any credibility at all, the Petro-Dollar will go the way of the German Papiermark to which the Tyrant block in the west will have no answer other than starting another war for distraction and population control.
Zelenskyy is the Bud Light of the NATO summit. 😂
Where are his high-heeled dancing shoes??
I hear he is a great piano player.
I heard that too and saw videos of his “comedy” act.
No respect here.
“It is high time to dissolve this murderous military pact.”
German MP and politician Sevim Dağdelen reveals three myths about the NATO alliance.
WOW!… something is cooking right now..
-Telegram
Tragedy without end: Ukrainian forces massacred in the blink of an eye in Ugledar, Gorlovka, Zaporizhia! – Ukrainian soldier: We are Vietnam!
The Ukrainian Administration is shocked
The West needs to prepare for ‘ugly’ Russian victory in Ukraine, which will reward China, leading US political scientist warns
John Mearsheimer, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, has been described by The Atlantic magazine as one of the most famous critics of American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War.
Since the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, but especially the war in Ukraine more than a year ago, he has been providing cogent if controversial assessments of the conflict that has plunged the European Union into its deepest crisis.
In an interview with My Take, he offers a pessimistic assessment on the prospect for peace in Europe, the role of China in this conflict and its implications for Taiwan as a flashpoint in the intensifying rivalry between Beijing and Washington.
His latest piece “The Darkness Ahead: Where The Ukraine War Is Headed” has been published independently in substack.com.
Moscow cannot ignore ability of F-16 jets (planned for Ukraine) to carry nuclear weapons (https://t.me/IntelRepublic/21530) – Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.
https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/svg/1f5e3.svgWe have informed nuclear powers – US, Britain and France that Russia cannot ignore ability of these aircraft to carry nuclear weapons. No assurances will help here. Very fact of appearance of such systems in Ukrainian Army will be considered by us as a threat from the West in nuclear sphere – Lavrov.
-telegram
I’m beginning to wonder if an expense paid tour of Nuremberg in all it’s 1945-1949 elegance is in the near future for select members of the uni-party, their enablers and expediters in order to highlight their actions and related consequences.
“Russia is a big country with a lot of raw material resources.”
And now they have extraordinary motivation.
Yep, we don’t have the sleeping giant market cornered by any means. Lots of raw materials over eleven time zones plus a culture hardened by decades under Communist tyranny over the last century.
Formidable. I saw it immediately even with the turmoil of the fall of Communism underway when there. We underestimate the Russian people at our own peril.
https://youtu.be/wN0-zdFIRIs
I saw a video of a Russian soldier mocking all the equipment that the West produces in a fairly crude way.
But he made one point that could not be more important. Russian weapons are built for war .. and the only war in mind are those that would take place in THAT part of the world. For example, Russian tanks can run on any type of fuel, they can also be easily fixed and put back in action in a heartbeat, if they in fact break down
I saw this myself when I pulled a stint in Army Intel. The AK never jammed in any kind of weather, and it is so easy to strip down and clean, a caveman could do it. It comes apart like a four piece jigsaw puzzle. I marveled at it the first time I saw it.
RUSSIAN SOLDIER’S EPIC RANT
👆👆 Jackson Hinkle . rumble .
He showed video on his podcast
And for those easily offended by swearing….
This guy is a soldier.
I would like to see the Russian National experiment continued by keeping the grain and fertilizer for domestic consumption.
But the ships are already loaded, so it’s a done deal. Just a big show. UN offers access to SWIFT for only the grain and fertilizer exports, Putin counters and is probably given access for more than just the grain and fertilizer, given the world is starving and UN is in the clear for imposing it’s ridiculous sanctions to begin with.
Rot roh. The sanctions didn’t work.
AND, the elites realize that the peasant / proles need something to eat or they may rise up against them.
There is something very dark and sinister in his grimace. There is nothing good about Z
Poor guy. The Fidel Castro look went out in the ’60s.
Maybe our beloved President Trump could teach him how to tie a double windsor.
I can hardly believe these pictures. They’re remarkable.
Russia will just tell the west to Go Pound Sand. They have already been kicked out of SWIFT once. They will not go back. The west can not be trusted.
Besides It would take months to set up an exchange with SWIFT using a Russian institution that is not sanctioned. Then there is a big issue with Russia not using the U$D for trade.
IMO the grain deal is a no go. Unless the west drops all sanctions.
But there is Bitcoin and BRICS….
He is the Hyatt hotel of the summit (again, boycott products that actually fund the ideology – stop falling for what they allow you to boycott
And this was all forseen last June, going on 14 monthsa ago now:
https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/return-industrial-warfare/
The Royal United Services Institute, the world’s oldest military think-tank, founded in 1830 by the DUke of Wellington, of Waterloo fame. They have real experts, who actually know what they are talking about, unlike 99.9% of the garbage that is reported to you as “news” by the MSM., in this case a very experienced military logistics specialist.
Summary (go to to the final page for the money quotes): There is NO way for NATO/USA/Japan/Aus/NZ combined to out-produce Russia in ANY category of military production, and there will be NO way to do it in the future, as the West ramps up production somewhat, over a few years, the Russians will continue to increase production by orders of magnitude. And military production = victory. And then the key final blow to Western hopes, “behind Russia stands China, with industrial production capabilities orders of magnitude greater than Russia” ( I paraphradsed it a bit, but you get the point).
NATO should have spent their time in Vilnius writing up their articles of un-conditional surrender. Or even beter, never started ths war in the first place, saving the Ukrainians from 350K+ dead. What can one say about an “Alliance” that sends hundreds of thousands of a “friendly” country to their deaths, for the sake of “Extending Russia” as the RAND report from 2019 was called, where they laid out the war plan that was followed. Obviously they never read Montogemry’s book ‘On War”where the Rules of Warfare were laid out – “1. Never march on Moscow, 2.- See Rule # 1″
And then there is the obvious issue of the technical superiority and greater physical durability of Russian weapons systems. For thoes who doubt this, read up on the Xircon Hypersonic missile, far more advanced than the Kinzhal that is often talked about in the MSM – flies at Mach 10+ horizontally, straight to the target. Using a ram-jet engine of unkown type that uses a fuel no one (except Russia) knows how it works, it is a solid fuel for long term stable storage, that converts to a liquid just before being burned, and burn it does – you can watch the videos of test launches, when they fire up that engine it looks like the missile has gone up in a massive fireball explosion, until you see the missile exiting the screen to the side at incredible speed.
In short, NATO has proven itself to be a useless paper tiger alliance, made up of barking chihuaha nations, that can bark mindlessly at Russia, until they get kicked to the curb by reality. What more can you say about the” Glorious Ever-Victorious Army of The Rothschilds/George Soros/von-Schwab/WEF”, marching under The Rainbow Flag, and the WEF Banner, fighting for PRIDE and the inealiable Right To Transgender Children.