Category Russia

Mar 24 2022

End of Petro-Dollar Begins, Russia Instructs Central Bank to Organize Payments From Hostile Countries in Rubles


Posted Originally on the conservative tree house on March 23, 2022 

It’s a smart move by Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Facing financial sanctions and economic pressures from the U.S, NATO, EU and western allies, Putin stated today that all oil and gas payments must be made in Russian rubles.

The EU has few options as they are reliant upon Russia for energy products oil and gas.  If Putin organizes payment in rubles, his currency will automatically increase.  This sets the stage for other less hostile countries like the BRICS alliance to assist Putin ideologically and financially by transacting in rubles through the Russian central bank.

(Oil and Gas) – […] Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would start charging the countries it considers “hostile” in rubles for its natural gas.

“I have taken a decision to switch to ruble payments for our natural gas supplies to the so-called hostile states, stop using the compromised currencies in such transactions,” Putin said, per a transcript published on the Kremlin website as carried by Bloomberg.

The Russian President—whose list of “hostile” states includes the United States, all EU member states, Switzerland, Canada, Norway, South Korea, Japan, and many others – has ordered the Bank of Russia, the central bank, to develop a system for payments in rubles within a week.  

“At the same time, I want to emphasize that Russia will definitely continue to supply natural gas in line with the volumes and prices, pricing mechanisms set forth in the existing contracts,” Putin said at a government meeting today.

It makes no sense for Russia to export goods to the EU or the United States in U.S. dollars or euros, Putin added.  (more)

It will be interesting to see how quickly they can get this up and running.

Mar 23 2022

The Plot Behind the Curtain


Armstrong Economics Blog/Geopolitical Re-Posted Mar 22, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, I have a serious question for you. Do you think that Putin was lured into this mess by people trying to change the world? I will leave it at that.

GB

ANSWER: Yes. I cannot believe that Harris’ off-the-cuff statement at the Munich Security Meeting that Ukraine should join NATO was simply a stupid mistake on her part. She is not the brightest bulb in DC, but I believe IF this was a mistake, the White House would have instantly recharacterized what she said to make sure Putin would not take it that they were advocating violating the Belgrade Agreement where Ukraine was to remains neutral. Based on why I know, Harris is not even familiar with maps. I believe she was “handled” and told to advocate that by someone there who intentionally wanted to start this conflict. Both Harris and Biden will simply say what they are told and I fear the Neocons have taken over the White House.

There is no NATIONAL SECURITY interest for the United States in Ukraine. Everyone just chooses sides, but nobody asks the question why should the entire world go to war, which will turn nuclear, over Ukraine as they did over the Balkans in WWI? The US is not even strategically threatened if Putin took all of Ukraine.

Americans are foolish and think this is some video game and they can watch the US beat Putin like this is Monday night football. This time there are nuclear weapons and a Russian Stealth Sub can surface just miles offshow and launch against 160 targets in a matter of minutes. EVERY Administration has always sought peace UNTIL now! So go ahead and cheer for the destruction of Putin. Just be very careful for what you with for. War simulations with China have also warned that American can lose and very fast.

Biden keeps claiming that Russia is losing. He said the launch of its hypersonic missile in Ukraine over the weekend was a sign of desperation rather than testing the weapon real time. He then threatened China that if they supported Putin, they would suffer the same sanctions. Biden then says that Putin’s may launch cyberattacks against the US and use chemical weapons in Ukraine next because his “back is against the wall.”

If this is true, why not try to clam things down when we know Putin does not believe in retreat? We have only cheerleaders for war – no peacemakers. All of this because Ukraine refused to let the Donbas be independent in a democratic process and vote? You do not push Putin against the wall and then claim he is a madman. If Putin was really a madman, he would nuke Ukraine and then what? There is an intended agenda here and it smells like intentional war. Must we all die because Neocons simply hate Russians and Chinese?

It remains questionable why Putin is holding back. He has the power station and could turn off the power, but he has not. Reports keep saying the Russians are stalled about 15 miles from Kyiv. Poland has put its forces on alert as Russian and Belarusian forces are likely to deploy on the Polish-Ukrainian border to close all cargo routes to Kyiv. That is the typical siege strategy which tends to imply he wants a surrender rather than to flatten Kyiv.

Putin, I believe, was lured into his invasion knowing his chief complaint has been the constant eastward movement of NATO. That does not make him a victim. There are no good guys. Both sides fight for their own self-interest precisely as in economics – i.e. Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand. What he did not expect was this onslaught of attacks against all Russians and the sanctions that have effectively cut off Russia from the West. This is intended to put so much pressure on Russia that they storm the Kremlin and behead him or some drastic event of that nature. But now, the hatred is against all Russians as a race. This is the dream of Ukrainian Nazis.

Lindsey Graham has gone way too far even for a Neocon calling for the assassination of Putin. He better start watching his own ass in my opinion for as they say what goes around comes around. Putin would be justifies in trying to do the same to Biden if he was really the brains behind this mess. I’m sure there are Russians in the USA undercover who could carry out such an order.

Worse still, if you were China and you just watched what the West has done to Russia, you would be wise never to trust doing business with the West again. You certainly would count your fingers after shaking hands knowing that they could quickly do the same to you. This is certainly why China is moving rapidly to get its own alternative to SWIFT and Saudi Arabia has just agreed to join selling oil to them in Yuan.

Then for the Ukrainian Intelligence to put out a story claiming there is a Russian group of Russian elites were allegedly conspiring to overthrow Putin and “restore economic ties” with the West. They are posting this on Facebook post from the Chief Directorate of Intelligence for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Obviously, this is pure propaganda for if this were true, they would not warn Putin. Instead, they are putting out disinformation hoping someone will believe it and think they will be a hero. They are even putting out the name Alexander Bortnikov, the Russian Director of the Federal Security Service, will become his successor to the president. It is highly unlikely that they would prefer Bortnikov.

Back in a December 2017, an open letter published by Kommersant, where more than 30 Russian academics criticized Bortnikov for attempting to legitimize the Stalin’s Great Purge. He would be far more aggressive than Putin. So it seems to be disinformation in hopes that Putin would believe it and eliminate Bortnikov clearing the way for their true desired target to head Russia.

Ah! The Games people play!

Think Twice if not three times before you just CHEER for the defeat of Russia.

There is no retreat in Putin’s mind and doing away with him will only confirm to all Russians that the West is not to be TRUSTED.

Is this the future you really want for your children and grandchildren?

Mar 23 2022

Moscow Warns Biden Has Crossed the Line Where No Former President Has Ever Gone


Armstrong Economics Blog/Neocons Re-Posted Mar 22, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

There is little question that what the US is doing is not defending Ukraine, they are deliberately attempting to force the Russian people to overthrow Putin. Now Russia’s foreign ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan to inform him that President Joe Biden’s remarks with respect to the Russian President Vladimir Putin have gone too far. He was warned that Biden is pushing bilateral ties to the brink of collapse. This is going BEYOND the cold war – this is escalating to the point where ties are just severed.

Biden said last week that Putin was a “war criminal” for sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. The Russian foreign ministry has made it very clear: “Such statements from the American president, unworthy of a statesman of such high rank, put Russian-American relations on the verge of rupture.” Biden is clearly engaging in the typical Neocon rhetoric of DEMONIZING your opponent. The Kremlin has described the comments as “personal insults” against Putin.

One must wonder if Biden even understands what he is doing, or is he just reading the teleprompter. NEVER before in the entire history of US/Russian relations has any former President been hurling personal attacks to DEMONIZE a Russian leader. It appears that the Neocons have seized the White House and formed some sort of partnership with the climate change zealots. It certainly appears that there is an intentional desire to create war and this is out in the open. One must wonder that it was sanction that led to Japan attacking Pearl Harbor and will this escalate into a Declaration of War between the US & Russia et al sooner rather than later?

Mar 22 2022

Tucker Carlson Asks, Is Ukraine the Representative Autocracy Washington DC Hopes To Achieve Here?


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 21, 2022 | Sundance

Tucker Carlson used his monologue tonight to note something we have discussed at length here.  Western government leaders continue to make statements about “representative democracy” in comparison to “autocratic non-western government”, yet they make these public statements while personifying autocracy itself.

An example was Joe Biden making statements to the media during a 9-11 commemoration visit to Shanksville Pennsylvania. In his remarks, Joe Biden decried Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladmir Putin as autocrats, yet Biden had just announced forced mandatory medical procedures for all U.S. workers a mere 36 hours before. It is a fact that throughout the last two years – the leaders of Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United States have used declarations of emergency to position themselves with massive power.  This is not debatable.

As a consequence, the prior definition of “western representative democracy” collapsed under the weight of COVID-19 and was replaced with unilateral authoritarian emergency power.   When you look around, every single government in the west is still trying to extend those COVID powers by extending the emergency declarations that provide them.   Again, none of this is up for debate; it is empirically true.

Tucker asks a really good question.  Is the autocratic system of government that existed in Ukraine before the Russian invasion – which is (not coincidentally) identical in many ways to the COVID-19 inspired system of government created by Western leaders – actually, the real motive for those western leaders to unite in their support and current propaganda campaign on behalf of Ukraine?  I think he might be onto something.  WATCH:

.

Is western autocracy the real objective, and is modern fascism (i.e. corporatism) the technique to get there?

There is a massive synergy visible if you think about the WEF selecting leaders in this process.  The problem for western leaders, who want to be dictators, has always been the voice of the people.   Replace traditional democracy by merging modern corporatism with a new version of western autocracy, and we end up with a never-ending system of oppressive government just like we have been dealing with for the past two years throughout the pandemic.

“They are starting to notice the quiet part”…

Mar 22 2022

Infowars Interview Martin Armstrong


Armstrong Economics Blog/Press Re-Posted Mar 21, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Mar 22 2022

Admission From Zelenskyy Highlights How Biden Administration Wanted To Provoke Russia To Invade Ukraine


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 21, 2022

Hopefully by now everyone is well aware how the U.S. State Department has been manipulating the internal politics of Ukraine for well over a decade.

A recent statement, by current Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, puts the weeks leading up to the Russian invasion into greater clarity.

In an interview with CNN, Zelenskyy spoke about his prior communication with Joe Biden and NATO leadership.  Within the interview Zelenskyy said (emphasis mine):

“I requested them personally to say directly that we are going to accept you into NATO in a year or two or five, just say it directly and clearly, or just say no,” Zelensky said. “And the response was very clear, you’re not going to be a NATO member, but publicly, the doors will remain open,” he said.  {CITATION)

So, privately NATO and the Biden administration were telling Zelenskyy Ukraine was never going to be in NATO, yet they told him they were going to publicly act like the possibility existed.  There was no way for Ukraine to enter NATO, but they were going to pretend he could.  Why would they do this?

Now we go back to the previous outline when it was first discovered the Biden administration was using China to funnel information to Russia.

In late February, the New York Times reported on U.S. intelligence and diplomatic officials from the State Dept sharing intelligence with Chinese officials in the three months leading up to the Russian invasion.  {Go Deep on Analysis} The narrative from the NYT article tells the story of the U.S. trying to convince China in December, January and February to intervene and persuade Russia not to cross the border into Ukraine.

Many people looked at this story from the perspective of incompetence, i.e. why would the Biden team think China would not share the intel, etc?

However, when it comes to these types of issues, never ascribe to incompetence that which can be explained by manipulative intent.

There’s every reason to believe what the Biden intelligence community and state department were sharing with China, was done with the intention of Beijing giving it to Moscow.

From that perspective, the question around intent becomes, what did they push, and why did they push it?

Now we get to the public story, public quote and critical Reuters article from December of 2021. What was being publicly outlined by Joe Biden to Ukraine President Vladimir Zelenskyy?

Reuters, December 9, 2021 – “U.S. President Joe Biden assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Kyiv’s bid to join the NATO military alliance was in its own hands, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff said after the two leaders spoke on Thursday.

Biden and Zelenskiy had a call two days after Biden held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to defuse a crisis over Russian troop movements near Ukraine’s borders. (read more)

In mid-December of 2021, the public face of the U.S. position was Joe Biden telling President Zelenskyy the entry of Ukraine into NATO was up to Ukraine.  If they want in, they’re in.  However, we know from Zelenskyy’s statements (March 20, 2022) privately Biden was saying you’ll never get into NATO, but we are going to publicly pretend you are.

Entry into NATO was a red line for Russia, Joe Biden knew it.  Vladimir Putin had been very clear about his opposition, and everyone knew it.  Russia would never concede allowing Ukraine to enter NATO.  Yet, the people running the Biden administration wanted to give the public appearance of Ukraine entering NATO.

In December of 2021, the U.S. intel community and Dept of State were talking to China about the Russian troop buildup, per the New York Times info.

The Biden administration is not stupid enough to tell Zelenskyy to play the game of pretend without knowing this would trigger a definitive military response from Putin.

There’s only one way to look at this.  The Biden administration was purposefully baiting Putin, and provoking Putin to invade Ukraine, because the team around Biden wanted Putin to invade Ukraine.

The question then becomes why?  Why would the people in/around Biden want to provoke Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine?

Again, a critical frame of reference is needed to answer that question: never ascribe to incompetence that which can be explained by intent. 

With the scale of economic bad news and catastrophic policy outcomes overwhelming the White House, a geopolitical crisis to distract the world’s attention does have major benefits.  However, this specific motive is also deeper than that.

This crisis actually helps advance the goals and objectives of domestic policy in multiple ways.

The people around Biden want soaring energy costs; they want huge increases in gasoline costs as part of their Green New Deal agenda.  These are ideological travelers, the most intense elements within the Obama crowd, and Biden has been installed as a disposable figurehead allowing them to operate a policy agenda without any concern for political damage.

Paving the path to ‘The Great Reset’, also known as ‘Build Back Better’, is much easier when the fundamental change crowd can just plow full speed ahead.

These are the most entrenched ideologues who consider federal deficit spending as a means to an end, where the U.S. is fundamentally changed and forever diminished because we are broke.

Through this prism of consequence, all of the negative domestic outcomes from Russia entering Ukraine and our responses therein, are not viewed as bad outcomes.  These consequences are domestic and economic pains to be embraced, not avoided.  After all, the people delivering these outcomes will never, themselves, feel any of it.

Watch what happens if our own government, these same entrenched ideologues, are successful in leveraging the sanctions against Russia to include the removal of Russia from the SWIFT financial exchanges.

Russia, China and Iran will immediately respond to the “west” blocking Russia from the SWIFT financial system.  If they launch a counter trade currency to work around the petro-dollar, it will not take long before the dollar is weakened or removed as the global trade currency.  If that happens, it’s game over for the United States of America as we know it.

Now, think about the Obama crew, the most ideological of all ideological traveling globalists…. the same crew who wanted to see the decolonialization of western culture.  The crew who wants ‘fundamental and permanent change’.  For this crew, the collapse of the United States is their goal.  For this crew, getting to that place by putting SWIFT sanctions on Russia is a net positive.

From that perspective, what is happening in Ukraine-Russia becomes a completely different dynamic.

Why would the people in/around Biden want to manipulate information, stoke, trigger and ultimately provoke Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine?

Well, there’s your answer.

What Zelenskyy said yesterday makes sense, when you look at it from the position that the United States wanted to provoke Russian to enter Ukraine and they used public statements along with carefully crafted intelligence information to China, in order to achieve that objective.

“I requested them personally to say directly that we are going to accept you into NATO in a year or two or five, just say it directly and clearly, or just say no,” Zelensky said. “And the response was very clear, you’re not going to be a NATO member, but publicly, the doors will remain open,” he said.  {CITATION)

Mar 21 2022

Clueless Celebrities Attempt to Worsen Energy Crisis


Armstrong Economics Blog/Climate Re-Posted Mar 21, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

City National Bank is considered Hollywood’s “bank to the stars” and was acquired by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in 2015. A group of over 65 clueless celebrities thirsting for attention are attempting to create a movement called “No Dirty Banks” to dissuade the RBC from investing in fossil fuels – period.

Their message is as follows:

As Canada’s #1 fossil fuel bank, and the fifth largest in the world, RBC is deeply implicated in the Canadian tar sands – one of the most toxic sources of oil on the planet, that has devastated Indigenous lands, and destroyed pristine boreal forest.

Though RBC claims to be a leader in climate-conscious banking, since acquiring CNB in 2015 RBC has spent over $160 billion, making it one of the world’s most aggressive financiers of the tar sands and fossil fuel extraction.

RBC and CNB must stop funding fossil fuel projects, especially fracking and tar sands. At the source of extraction, Alberta tar sands exacerbate the climate crisis, and are why Canada is unable to meet its international climate commitments.

Between the signing of the 2015 Paris Agreement and the end of 2020, the world’s 60 biggest banks, including RBC, financed fossil fuels to the tune of $3.8 trillion. Fossil fuel funding fuels climate chaos and threatens the lives and livelihoods of millions.

Bankrolling Coastal GasLink is just the latest example of RBC covering up their role in violating Indigenous rights, not upholding free, prior and informed consent as outlined in UNDRIP, and making the climate crisis worse.

These celebrities are known to live lavish lifestyles and are frequently spotted on private jets and yachts. They live in massive homes and drive numerous cars. The self-declared elite wants the peasants to curb their energy usage while they continue to consume far more than the average taxpayer. These people have no idea the implications of reducing funding for fracking and a pipeline amid a serious energy crisis. The average person feels the burden at the pump or while paying their monthly utilities, while the liberal Hollywood puppets do not. This is another example of the liberal stronghold on Hollywood as publicists continually ask their “stars” to promote the Build Back Better agenda in a twisted attempt to seem empathetic.

Mar 21 2022

Under Martial Law, Ukraine President Zelenskyy Consolidates All Media Into State Media, Disbands All Political Opposition Parties


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 20, 2022 | Sundance

Following the ‘democracy must be destroyed in order to preserve it model‘, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dissolved all political opposition parties and consolidated all media.

There’s a word to describe when a single national leader takes control over all media platforms and dissolves the political parties of his opposition.  However, apparently, we are not allowed to notice that because Russia “invaded a sovereign democracy” or something.

LVIV, Ukraine, March 20 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a decree that combines all national TV channels into one platform, citing the importance of a “unified information policy” under martial law, his office said in a statement on Sunday.

Ukrainian privately owned media channels have hitherto continued to operate since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. The decree announcement, made on the presidential website, did not specify how quickly the new measure would come into force. (link)

Mar 21 2022

Sunday Talks, Zelenskyy Says Willing To Talk to Russian President Putin, but if Talks Fail It Would Mean World War III


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 20, 2022

Appearing on CNN, the official state broadcast network for the U.S. State Department, Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the DoS Public Relations spokesperson Fareed Zakaria that he is willing to sit down to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  However, in the worldview of Zelenskyy, if those talks failed it would mean World War III.

That’s an odd statement by Zelenskyy considering that any WW-III triggering would need NATO and the U.S. to enter it.  Why would Zelenskyy speak on behalf of the United States and NATO unless he has received that message in advance?   If the U.S. and NATO have assured Zelenskyy they would directly engage in a war with Russia, wouldn’t that be something the citizens of those countries -especially us- would have to be consulted on?

Either: (1) the statement by Zelenskyy is undiplomatically presumptuous; or (2), he’s trying to drag us into his war; or (3), U.S. government officials speaking on our behalf have already made those assurances.  None of those scenarios are good.  WATCH:

(Via CNN) […] “I’m ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations we cannot end this war.  I think that we have to use any format, any chance in order to have a possibility of negotiating, possibility of talking to Putin. But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third World War.” 

Mar 21 2022

Adam Kinzinger Threatens U.S. Aid to Israel if They Do Not Support NATO War in Ukraine


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 20, 2022

Representative Adam Kinzinger has a message for Israel, threatening U.S. support if they do not get into line and support the NATO objectives in Ukraine: (Source)

Akin to: ‘Nice Jewish homeland you’ve got there Israel; it’d be a shame if something happened to it.’

Kinzinger will likely win increased support, as if he didn’t already have it, from the far-left progressive movement who hate Israel.  However, as people start awakening to the reality that the U.S and NATO alliance have now aligned themselves with the ultranationalist Nazi’s in Ukraine, there might be a modicum of pushback from the Orthodox Jewish community.

The pressure on Israel to support the Ukraine nationalists came first from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy:

Of course, this position directly aligns with the recent changes by Google, Facebook and Twitter to support the Nazi movement in Ukraine by promoting the actions of the Azov battalions now being armed by the U.S. and NATO.

The Reuter’s article notes: “Emails also showed that Meta would allow praise of the right-wing Azov battalion, which is normally prohibited, in a change first reported by The Intercept.  Meta spokesman Joe Osborne previously said the company was “for the time being, making a narrow exception for praise of the Azov Regiment strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard.” (link)

March 10 (Reuters) – Meta Platforms (FB.O) will allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by Reuters on Thursday, in a temporary change to its hate speech policy.

The social media company is also temporarily allowing some posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, according to internal emails to its content moderators.

“As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.

The calls for the leaders’ deaths will be allowed unless they contain other targets or have two indicators of credibility, such as the location or method, one email said, in a recent change to the company’s rules on violence and incitement.

The temporary policy changes on calls for violence to Russian soldiers apply to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, according to one email.

[…] “We are issuing a spirit-of-the-policy allowance to allow T1 violent speech that would otherwise be removed under the Hate Speech policy when: (a) targeting Russian soldiers, EXCEPT prisoners of war, or (b) targeting Russians where it’s clear that the context is the Russian invasion of Ukraine (e.g., content mentions the invasion, self-defense, etc.),” it said in the email. (read more)