Fearful Putin Shuts Down Voice Of America In Russia

[senheiser]

so what? thumbler also banned Russia Today. What goes around comes around

 

[dbc]

The west wanted Ukraine and now there is a price to pay. The west will not sit by and let Ukrainian gas supply get shut off, that would anger the small western minority in Ukraine that illegally took power in Kiev. Do you think that a Ukraine with no stable gas supply will ever join the EU or NATO?

Not going to happen, no one will pay Russia anything not the EU and certainly not the US. So far Russia hasn't cut off gas supplies-do you want to guess why? Like I said before cutting off gas to Ukraine is one of only two options Putin has the second is to invade Ukraine.

As for your delusion of Ukraine being in western influence. The majority of Ukrainians do not support the government. Several Ukrainian politicians have called for a mass genocide against Russian speaking Ukrainians as well as "ethnic Russians", not to mention they tried to ban the Russian language which is native to Ukraine and a first language for many Ukrainians. The majority of the Ukrainian population is in the east and this is totally unacceptable to them. The illegal and repressive regime has no support. Security service building are occupied, so are police stations, many police and military either switched sides or have refused to use force against civilians. The west and the Ukrainian regime keeps blaming Russia for the mess in eastern Ukraine because it is humiliating to acknowledge that the government has no support and that the country is in revolt.

The Ukrainians will want to align with whoever can give them a better future regardless of ethnicity, cultural affinity or language. You really think anyone wants to be part of Putin's Russia? The transition may be painful but Ukraine's future is much more promising with the EU. Under Putin's Russia Ukraine has nothing to look forward to except eternal servitude and exploitation by Moscow.

 

[cirr]

Long overdue，long overdue

Who in his right mind would tune into the Crappy Voice of America？

 

[Akasa]

And YOUR opinion is SO important. HAHAHAHAHA !!!! This is a stupid forum, nothing more. Don't take yourself SO seriously, like you know something. Let Europe pay. Why should I care. Europe gets 30 % of their gas through Ukrainian pipelines, we don't.

Because that forces European countries to either make side deals with Russia or turn to Middle Eastern suppliers (aka Iran), a predicament which the United States does not want to see. Germany, which is a key mediator in the upcoming EU-US trade pact, has already made under-the-counter transactions with the Russian Federation, and further dependence on Russia would give Moscow considerable leverage over any potential economic relationship between Washington and her allies. The Iranians have already caught on to this little game and is offering to supply Europe with its own gas while stating that it won't interfere with Russian interests should Russia have a change of mind. And the United States would not want her international allies to rely on a country it has threatened to attack repeatedly.

What Putin is effectively pursuing is to hook the EU onto a Russian lifeline. And history has made it clear that gas is far more powerful in the realm of international geopolitics than are cultural or historical alliances.

America is on the verge of losing a whole bunch of allies and yet people are still ignoring Ukraine's debt? Seriously...

 

[Akasa]

Not going to happen, no one will pay Russia anything not the EU and certainly not the US. So far Russia hasn't cut off gas supplies-do you want to guess why? Like I said before cutting off gas to Ukraine is one of only two options Putin has the second is to invade Ukraine.

Not going to happen, surely? Russia holds 30% of Europe's gas supplies and the United States has not even offered a viable alternative as of now. Germany and now UK have already made side deals with Moscow and that is likely to increase and permeate to other countries if there is no alternative. The United States sure is not ready to lose its influence over a good chunk of its trading partners at the whim of Putin, especially when such a potential boost to Russia's monopoly would bring most of East Asia under its oil belt as well. Fuel is far more powerful as a forging tool for new alliances than are traditional cultural similarities or historical "time-tested" relationships.

The Ukrainians will want to align with whoever can give them a better future regardless of ethnicity, cultural affinity or language. You really think anyone wants to be part of Putin's Russia? The transition may be painful but Ukraine's future is much more promising with the EU. Under Putin's Russia Ukraine has nothing to look forward to except eternal servitude and exploitation by Moscow.

They will align with whatever provides them with a better future, true. What good would the EU and the US be for Kiev if they are to risk their oil supplies because Brussels and Washington are reluctant to pay their debt? Moscow has been very smart at this game and has forced Europe into its sphere of influence while making it seem as if Europe is reluctant to pursue closer ties with the US at the risk of losing Russia. And it's pretty obvious that an energy lifeline is far more important in regards to a "better future" than is ideology.

 

[armchairPrivate]

What would and why should voice of america be doing in Russia?

Shouldn't the voice of america be talking shit to the americans?

 

[ptldM3]

Not going to happen, no one will pay Russia anything not the EU and certainly not the US.

Keep up with the news, Ukraine already got an "aid package" from the US and EU with more coming. One of the most urgent issues for Ukraine is to pay its gas bill otherwise Ukrainian industries as well as people are left with nothing. The EU and the US made it clear they want Ukraine, they supported the violent riots, they invested billions of dollars, US politicians were wire tapped talking about who they want in office, the CIA director was just in Ukraine, as were many western politicians, next up Joe Biden is heading to Ukraine.

The EU and the US will stop at nothing to get Ukraine, even providing billions in "aid" that will go to pay Russia.

So far Russia hasn't cut off gas supplies-do you want to guess why? Like I said before cutting off gas to Ukraine is one of only two options Putin has the second is to invade Ukraine.

Russia has cut off Ukraine's gas supply in the past. Russia is not a charity and can not afford to transfer billions of dollars of fuel without being payed a penny. This is why they have stated they now want advanced payment.

The Ukrainians will want to align with whoever can give them a better future regardless of ethnicity, cultural affinity or language.

And you are suggesting that the EU is some kind of 'get rich scheme'? Look at the state of Greece, Italy, and Spain.

Look at the unemployment rates in Greece: 27.5%, Spain 25.9%, Italy 13%. Look at the debt of those countries, and the stagnating or declining GDP numbers. Finally look at the tax rates, a number of EU countries have tax rates from 40%-50%+ I'm not sure about you but i don't want half of my pay check taken away. Now compare the tax rate in Russia, the unemployment rate, free education, $9000+ dollars for a second child, free payed childcare, ect.

Now couple in the harsh austerity imposed by the EU on Ukraine and you can see why the educated Ukrainians in the east will have nothing to do with the EU not to mention the mass rioting in other EU countries. Also the current illegal government that occupies Kiev tried to ban the Russian language, Ukrainians in the east would have none of it, so yes culture and language is more important then the EU.

You really think anyone wants to be part of Putin's Russia? The transition may be painful but Ukraine's future is much more promising with the EU.

Read above, i suggest that you do more research on the EU. And yes, people do want to be part of Putin's Russia, we have seen pro Russian riots erupt across Ukraine with people chanting, Putin...Putin...Putin.

Under Putin's Russia Ukraine has nothing to look forward to except eternal servitude and exploitation by Moscow.

I think you are mixing up the EU with Russia, which the EU is a big slave machine that controls banks, taxes, regulations, pensions, ect. Why would the Ukrainians be so foolish as to have most of their salaries and pensions taken just so it can bail out other countries in the future? Sounds like a pyramid scheme that is running out of investors, actually that is exactly what the EU is.

 

[dbc]

Keep up with the news, Ukraine already got an "aid package" from the US and EU with more coming. One of the most urgent issues for Ukraine is to pay its gas bill otherwise Ukrainian industries as well as people are left with nothing. The EU and the US made it clear they want Ukraine, they supported the violent riots, they invested billions of dollars, US politicians were wire tapped talking about who they want in office, the CIA director was just in Ukraine, as were many western politicians, next up Joe Biden is heading to Ukraine.

The EU and the US will stop at nothing to get Ukraine, even providing billions in "aid" that will go to pay Russia.

No one denies Ukraine will receive western aid. But why should Ukraine pay Russia? Especially when EU is working on reverse gas flow and alternatives to Russian gas for Ukraine. The way reverse flow works is the EU pumps gas it receives from Russia back into Ukraine. EU pays Russia for gas while Russia looses its leverage over Ukraine. The only way Russia can prevent this is to stop gas supply to the EU. Do you think Russia will stop supplies to the EU? As for Ukraine's unpaid gas bills the Ukraine has no plans to spend aid money on repaying Russia.

"The money that we receive from the IMF will be divided between the reserves of the National Bank and the state budget, and the money will be earmarked. So we do not plan to spend on repaying debts to Russia,”Shlapak said at the IMF and World Bank spring meeting in Washington DC on Thursday.

Russia has cut off Ukraine's gas supply in the past. Russia is not a charity and can not afford to transfer billions of dollars of fuel without being payed a penny. This is why they have stated they now want advanced payment.

Go ahead, cut supplies.

And you are suggesting that the EU is some kind of 'get rich scheme'?
.......

'Get rich scheme', let me check Latvia joined the EU in 2004 its economy surged. It experienced its worst economic crisis in 2008-2009 when its credit market burst. Recovery started in 2010 and it is now the fastest growing economy in the EU. The same is true for Lithuania both nations have prospered under the EU so why not Ukraine? Mean while Russia is on the brink of recession and there is no future GDP growth expected from oil and gas production increase.

Look at the state of Greece, Italy, and Spain.

..and yet the EU is the number 1 destination for Russians migrants.Hardly surprising since the OECD quality of life index for the worst nation in the EU-Greece is comparable to Russia. While Germany and other wealthier EU nations are well ahead of Russia on all indicators.

 

[ptldM3]

No one denies Ukraine will receive western aid. But why should Ukraine pay Russia?

Because it signed a contracted for fuel deliveries, fuel that it used and fuel that it has not payed for. It's that simple.

Especially when EU is working on reverse gas flow and alternatives to Russian gas for Ukraine. The way reverse flow works is the EU pumps gas it receives from Russia back into Ukraine. EU pays Russia for gas while Russia looses its leverage over Ukraine. The only way Russia can prevent this is to stop gas supply to the EU. Do you think Russia will stop supplies to the EU? As for Ukraine's unpaid gas bills the Ukraine has no plans to spend aid money on repaying Russia.

Gazprom CEO has stated that reverse flow is physically not possible. Lets assume that some other method is used and Ukraine receives Russian gas via other European countries, obviously i think you are smart enough to figure out that nothing is free, especially when dealing with the EU. Now the question is how much more of a slave will Ukraine be to the EU? On the other hand if other EU members start sending their gas to Ukraine, that means those countries will be short, so in order to compensate those countries will have to order even more fuel from Russia, which basically means Europe picks up the tap for Ukraine.

No matter how you look at it Russia gets payed for fuel that Ukraine will inevitably use.

Go ahead, cut supplies.

Sound enticing...

'Get rich scheme', let me check Latvia joined the EU in 2004 its economy surged. It experienced its worst economic crisis in 2008-2009 when its credit market burst. Recovery started in 2010 and it is now the fastest growing economy in the EU.

This tells us nothing, many none EU countries seen explosive economic growth from 2004-2008. Also well before Latvia joined the EU it has seen periods of growth as high as 13.90%. So your example is inconclusive.

The same is true for Lithuania both nations have prospered under the EU so why not Ukraine? Mean while Russia is on the brink of recession and there is no future GDP growth expected from oil and gas production increase.

Even If the Russian economy does go into "recession" with estimates as low as 0.5% growth it's better then many EU economies which are in the negative. Not to mention the unacceptable unemployment and tax rates when compared to Russia.

..and yet the EU is the number 1 destination for Russians migrants.Hardly surprising since the OECD quality of life index for the worst nation in the EU-Greece is comparable to Russia. While Germany and other wealthier EU nations are well ahead of Russia on all indicators.

Russian "migrants"? Russia is one of the most educated countries in europe in terms of adults with degrees, also is your definition of Russian migrants people that top the wealth lists as well as assets owned? Lets also not bunch the EU into a clump it's made up of 28 countries, by that token we can say that the EU is the number one destination for American migrants.

 

[Huawei]

Well done Russia.

Hopefully China does the same.

 

[dbc]

Because it signed a contracted for fuel deliveries, fuel that it used and fuel that it has not payed for. It's that simple.

Gazprom CEO has stated that reverse flow is physically not possible. Lets assume that some other method is used and Ukraine receives Russian gas via other European countries, obviously i think you are smart enough to figure out that nothing is free, especially when dealing with the EU. Now the question is how much more of a slave will Ukraine be to the EU? On the other hand if other EU members start sending their gas to Ukraine, that means those countries will be short, so in order to compensate those countries will have to order even more fuel from Russia, which basically means Europe picks up the tap for Ukraine.

No matter how you look at it Russia gets payed for fuel that Ukraine will inevitably use.

You missed what Oleksandr Shlapak said in my earlier post ..

"The money that we receive from the IMF will be divided between the reserves of the National Bank and the state budget, and the money will be earmarked. So we do not plan to spend on repaying debts to Russia,”Shlapak said at the IMF and World Bank spring meeting in Washington DC on Thursday.

I talked about money owed to Russia (Ukrainian debts) not payment either direct or in-direct for future supplies of Russian gas.

This tells us nothing, many none EU countries seen explosive economic growth from 2004-2008. Also well before Latvia joined the EU it has seen periods of growth as high as 13.90%. So your example is inconclusive.
Even If the Russian economy does go into "recession" with estimates as low as 0.5% growth it's better then many EU economies which are in the negative. Not to mention the unacceptable unemployment and tax rates when compared to Russia.
.

Latvia and Lithuania are EU's fastest growing economies today. Err.. Russia's economy is the size of Italy. Russia's unemployment statistics are dubious at best since it only counts those registered as unemployed. Real unemployment is likely worse than western European states. Lets not kid ourselves joining the EU is an attractive prospect for Eastern European states.

The number identified by the representatives of the Ministry of Labor is just a drop in the sea, because it is based on the number of citizens who are registered as unemployed, which allows them to receive benefits that are not as popular in Russia as they are in the West. As sad and surprising this may be, only a small number of unemployed citizens turn to the government for help. The reasons for ignoring employment agencies vary depending on the place of residence of unemployed Russians.

Every fifth Russian has employment problems - English pravda.ru