Well, now we have it from the most official source possible: Foreign Minister Wang Yi who declared on Monday. “If the Russian side needs it, we will provide necessary assistance within our capacity“. Considering the US rhetoric and imperial mindset which proclaims that “you are either with us or against us” it is pretty clear what such a declaration really means: China is putting the US on notice that in
Interesting news this morning: the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaia Pravda has interviewed a man who claims to have been a witness to the take-off of three aircraft one of which allegedly shot down MH17. Thanks to the incredible work done by Kazzura the full video with English subtitles is already available today. Check it out: I will notice that there are several mutually contradictory versions circulating out there. For example, one
by Federico PieracciniThere are two central issues related to the devaluation of the ruble and the dollar depreciation to keep in mind: the preservation of American hegemony and the speculative bubble of derivatives linked to industry of Shale Gas. Without these elements, it is impossible to understand what are the reasons and the consequences of these artificial economic actions. This case must therefore necessarily be addressed from different perspectives, a
Dear friends, Today I sharing with you a document which I personally consider as absolutely crucial: an in-depth analysis of the China-Russia Strategic Alliance (RCSA) written by somebody who looks at it from the “Chinese side”. I want to tell you a few words about how this document came into existence.I was talking with Larchmonter 445 about the development in Russia when I realized that a lot of his arguments
At the latest Russian Government meeting Dmitri Medvedev has announced the Russian authorities are planning no additional measures to stabilize the Ruble as long as the current trend continues. And, truth be told, so far the measures taken by the Central Bank and the authorities did reverse the trend and the Ruble has been gaining some of what it lost against the Dollar: Dollar/Ruble xrate 17-22 December Of course, there
by Peter Koenig The lame duck, Obama, extending a conciliatory hand to Cuba by opening an embassy in Havana, by reopening, after 54 years of a criminal and crippling embargo, diplomatic relations? – At the same time Obama is making not a single concession in terms of lifting the blockade. This smells like a trap. Cuba beware! Imagine – a US Embassy in Havana – it would open the floodgates
A (well anonymized) anonymous reader sent me a very interesting link today. It is an opinion piece by Strobe Talbott for Reuters entitled “In 2015, Vladimir Putin may witness his empire’s death knell” in which Talbott predicts that: The year ahead could see the outbreak of the third Chechen war, which, in turn, could be the death knell of the Russian Federation in its current borders. (…) For the past
Thanks to Veritas for pointing out this episode to me!
Dear friends,Next week I plan to record my 4th podcast. As always, I invite questions, but also comments. Please post them here until Sunday evening 6PM UTC/GMT time. Please do not email me but only post your questions in the comments section (in English, French, Russian, German, Italian or Spanish – I can translate them into English during the recording). Any and all topics, from very serious to totally non-serious
There is one specific aspect of the recent thaw between the US and Cuba which nobody has mentioned and that bothers me a lot.We have all heard about the Cuban 5, the last three of which were now freed and we heard about the Jewish American spy Alan Gross who has now returned to the USA. The media has also reveled the name of the top US mole in Cuba
Listening to Obama’s speech about Cuba I was stunned by the following statements: After all, these 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked. It’s time for a new approach. (…) I do not believe we can keep doing the same thing for over five decades and expect a different result. Moreover, it does not serve America’s interests, or the Cuban people, to try to push Cuba toward collapse.
by Lev Igorevich Dollars for borsch There is a lot of speculation about the economic health of Russia in the light of tougher sanctions, falling oil prices and tumbling ruble. Concerns are raised whether Russia can afford it’s existence. However, those concerns are paper thin and are presented in more of a mocking spirit, because in most prediction acrobatics, actual revenues of Russian state are not considered at all. Many
Let’s begin by what I personally consider bad news: either Putin really believes in liberal market economics or he has to say he does. He began his Q&A and ended it with a categorical expression of full support for the policies of the Central Bank and its Chairwoman, Nabiulina, and a no less categorical expression of support for the Government and its Prime Minister, Medvedev. Worse, Putin declared that he
by Peter Koenig The world is still hell-bent for hydrocarbon-based energy. Russia is the world’s largest producer of energy. Russia has recently announced that in the future she will no longer trade energy in US dollars, but in rubles and currencies of the trading partners. In fact, this rule will apply to all trading. Russia and China are detaching their economies from that of the West. To confirm this decision,
