It's going to hurt a lot, but it's something Europe knows it should have done in 2014.
But Joe
Will someone think of the Russians in all of this 🚀
In 2014 there were plenty of people who believed the little green men in Crimea had spontaneously appeared and were not Russian troops. Russia has a lot of form in this area, it has invaded most of the countries it borders with. I am just glad that finally people have realised that Russia isn't a friendly country which just "sees the world differently", that has "valid concerns" and that we "need to understand". There is only one thing they understand and that is the ability to defend yourself.
Sanctions are supposed to hurt those that are sanctioned without blowing your **** own head off. what do you think is going to happen to a currency that has 1,000 times more demand than it had before.
Certainly something Europe should have been preparing for since 2014. I still worry that the Putinversteher types in Germany and Europe more broadly will want to go back to business as usual after a ceasefire even if Ukraine is half occupied.
The horse has bolted years ago, and only now are we trying to close the stable door
If we kept up oil and gas exploration throughout the EU we might be in a better position, if the germans didnt prematurely retire nuclear plants, etc etc
Not buying Russian gas will mean most european heavy industry will shut down at least temporarily - there arent enough LNG ships in the world to keep up with European demand (and thats after the repercussions of increased global gas prices are taken into account, this affects viability of industry in Europe also)
Sounds like you've been thinking of the Russians alright, you seem to have an awful hard on for russian civilians getting blown up
I'd be happy to see hundreds of missles to hammer Moscow ,st Petersburg and any other population centers in Russia.
Good man yourself
What do you propose all those people in mainland Europe use to heat themselves this winter if not gas?
You cut off Russian oil and gas - what do you replace it with? Have you thought about the logistics of a replacement? Infrastructure to support this replacement?
How do you propose all that gets done in the next few weeks?
Of course. But one would reasonably expect State Intelligence services to have access to more technology and information than the average boards.ie or facebook user. That doesn't make the latter idiots.
Actually, the US Intelligence agencies are apparently doing reviews on how they got it so wrong as regards the state and capability of the Russian army.
Several Russia observers have pointed out that a peace agreement at this stage that makes various concessions to Ukraine would be seen by hawks in Russia as a huge defeat for Putin. It seems more likely that the "peace talks" are a total sham and he is just regrouping his forces.
Loving this.
Back to the 1950's - 1970's for you.
https://cybernews.com/cyber-war/russian-aviation-authority-switches-to-paper-after-losing-65tb-of-data/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=cybernews&utm_content=post
This one goes out to Mad Vlad.
Spain inflation rises to 10%, that is now ! Imagine having rapidly rising inflation and having interest rates @ - 0.5 %
I can't buy them because of the sanctions but i would yes. Better to have something that is backed by assets than mountains of debt.
Why should Russians sleep soundly in their beds while Ukrainians are being killed on a industrial scale ...
What's the logic behind it ,
Ukrainians are worth less than Russians.
As for a hard on I said it once in several hundred Posts (possibly thousand + )
Sure didn't people predict no invasion
You are advocating a crime against humanity. And what purpose would it serve? The Russian idea is to demoralize people by bombing civilians so they will surrender. But the Ukrainians won't surrender so it's wasted ammo as far as military objectives are concerned.
Source on Ukrainians being killed on an "industrial scale"? What is an industrial scale btw? 100s? 1000s? 10s of 1000s?
Sure arent the Russians being killed at a ratio of like 10:1 compared to Ukrainians if you believe the Ukrainian MoD. Do you not believe them?
If you seriously cheer for bombing of russian cities then you are delusional as to Ukrainian forces strength, or you are sick and just want more death.
Bombing russian cities will galvanise their support and the response would be bombing of Ukrainian cities at a scale not seen yet. Think Chechnya, Grozny type scale. You would have to be sick in the head to be "happy" about the prospect of that.
P&O took the front pages in the UK over the last week also
Thats the problem with making stupid decisions, it hurts when you have to correct them. Europes whole energy strategy has been stupid decision after stupid decision.
It was mainly a business decision rather than a political one to buy gas from Russia. When I first heard of this business deal some decades ago I knew straight away it was bad news.
I suppose the logic is (which I don't agree with), the Russians are bombing Ukrainian Civilians in cities so why should they not have to put up with the same. I certainly don't think it is a good idea to bomb Russian cities, but we need to make sure the cost to Russia for this war is enormous and that all of them feel it. The best way to do that is economically. Obviously this will not result in regime change necessarily, but it might make them think twice about doing the same thing again.
Level Crimea and Donbas and send a warning , just because your Russian it doesn't mean you get to sleep without the threat of being bombed 24/7 .
Grozny have you looked at Mariupol at all ,it's been razed to the ground
It's called war for a reason
An industrial scale is bombing numerous cities to rubble killing thousands of civillians and displacing millions from there homes.
Simple really
Russia is propping up the rouble (for now) and obviously some of this is the short term correction from the panic/shock drop a few weeks ago. The sanctions on Ru central bank assets (which the Kremlin admitted they never expected) mean it will be increasingly difficult to do that over the long term. Internationally the rouble is quite toxic, and over the medium to long term (if sanctions persist) then it's expected the rouble will continue to slide. Even if there is peace-deal reached, Russia under Putin will experience a lot of permanent damage to international trade, finance and trust.
Target Russian civilians, and the Russians will target Ukrainian civilians but ten times as effectively. It is a stupid strategy that will achieve nothing but galvanize support for Putin and for the war.
So you think Ukraine should bomb their own citizens and own territory.. strategic masterclass from yourself Gatling as always
So "killing citizens on an industrial scale" also includes those who were displaced and not killed?
Forbes lists civilian deaths at 1,119+ and injuries at 1,790.
Not good, but hardly death on an industrial scale is it?
So you want Ukraine to do what Russia has been using as an excuse for the war - killing civilians in Donbass and Crimea (=Ukraine). That sounds quite stupid.
Russia announcing a gold buyback at a rate of 500 roubles per gram gold may stabilise the currency.
That and the announcement that gas must be paid for in roubles will also bolster demand for the currency. The Vatican were the first state to buy roubles for that reason.
The big question is if EU states will switch to roubles or disconnect from russian gas entirely by Friday. It would cripple several economies, german industry in particular (reliant on gas for manufacturing)
Not to mention all of Europe including us here are paying for refugees fleeing.
We all have to pick up the tab for Putins war so it’s only fair Russian citizens pay a price too.
They didn’t start the war but neither did we.
So Russia has significantly reduced Ukrainians milatary combat power by providing them with tanks and ensuring a vast supply of advanced weapons from the west to help against the invasion..... Hmmm
Forbes lists civilian deaths at nearly 3,000 not 1,000 and states that:
"The number of people killed and injured in the conflict is likely to be “considerably higher” as the number does not include figures from areas with intense hostilities like Mariupol."
So the question is, do you just read headlines when posting links or do you lie for the Motherland?
These are short-term "tricks" really. In the medium and long-term the rouble is under significant pressure.
The Vatican bought peanuts worth. The G7 countries have rejected paying in roubles, so there's a game of chicken going on. Russia gets about 400mm eur per day from gas sales to the EU, as much as it's going to hurt EU countries (especially Germany) and create an energy crisis, it's going to hurt Russia much more. Personally I suspect they'll come to some deal in the short-term.
Do you think EU should capitulate to Putin breaking the contracts and pay in roubles?
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