Russia-Ukraine War - News and Developments

[The SC]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1515452452123910150

 

[Hassan Al-Somal]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1515371767950368783

 

[The SC]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1515411683698749446

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

EU Warns Members That Paying Rubles For Gas Would Violate Sanctions​

By ZeroHedge - Apr 15, 2022, 1:30 PM CDT

An internal European Commission note, the contents of which has come to light and is being reported for the first time on Thursday, has spelled out that European buyers agreeing to pay for Russian gas in roubles would be violating EU sanctions against Moscow.

"This mechanism would lead to a breach of the existing EU restrictive measures adopted in respect of Russia, its government, the Central Bank of Russia, and their proxies," Reuters reports of decrees in the internal note after reviewing its contents.

It threatens to further escalate the energy standoff which has ensued after Vladimir Putin demanded payment for Russian gas in roubles by "unfriendly countries" which have leveled sanctions on Russia in the wake of the Feb.24 Ukraine invasion - the exemptions given to Austria and Hungary of late notwithstanding.

According to more from the internal memo:

The EU buyer would still pay Gazprombank in the contract currency - euros or dollars - but the purchase would only be complete once Gazprombank exchanges the currency into roubles in a deal with the Russian central bank, and deposits the roubles in the second account, the note said.

The memo underscores, "The effect ... is that a payment is completed not in the currency established under the contract at the moment it is deposited in the accounts ... but rather only at an unknown and undefined moment once the foreign currency ... is converted into roubles and credited to the second special account."

The European Commission wrote further, "The Russian State, through its central bank, has total control over the foreign currency... which it can manipulate entirely to its own benefit."

Essentially the commission ruling on the matter would make Putin's rouble stipulation completely off limits for individual European countries and entities, especially as the process would involve Russia overseeing the whole payment process.

Meanwhile, on Thursday Putin addressed the crisis in fresh statements. "Attempts by Western countries to squeeze out Russian suppliers and replace our energy resources with alternative supplies will inevitably affect the entire world economy. The consequences of such a step can become very painful, and first of all, for the initiators of such a policy themselves. What is surprising here is that our so-called partners from unfriendly countries admit that they cannot do without Russian energy resources, including natural gas, for example."

He talked about reorienting "our exports to the fast-growing markets of the south and east..." and warned Europe at the same time:

"A reasonable alternative for Europe simply doesn’t exist. Yes, it's possible, but right now, it doesn’t exist. Everyone understands this; there are simply no free volumes on the global market right now, and supplies from other countries — primarily from the United States, which can be sent to Europe — will cost consumers many times more and will affect the standard of living of people and the competitiveness of the European economy,” Putin said.

He also addressed instances of payment failures and delays...

"Banks from unfriendly countries delay the transfer of payments. I will remind you, the task has already been set to transfer payments for energy resources in national currency, to gradually move away from the dollar and the euro. In general, we intend to radically increase the share of settlements in national currencies in the foreign trade system," Putin said.

Thus, given the contents in this latest European Commission note, it looks as if there's no off-ramp and the energy standoff will continue. At the same time Putin is touting that Russia still has 'friends' and thus greater options in the east and south, without doubt including India and China.

 

[Hassan Al-Somal]

View attachment 834998

Moskva's GPS coordinates were given to the Ukrainians by foreign powers with satellites overlooking the Black Sea. The Ukrainians are also getting solid weapons, intelligence, and special forces' support from Western powers. So the direct participation of NATO and its allies in this war is pretty much obvious.

Now, would it become a World War III? It remains to be seen, but the West's direct participation in this conflict is there.

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

So the Rule based International Order by the US is interpreted as International Law by EU.

Will all these divide and breaks up EU as predicted by some analysts?

Will EU kicked out members that violate the decree which these nations defend as a right to do so to to secure their own National Energy Security?

 

[Hassan Al-Somal]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1515452452123910150

In other words, Poles are shitting in their pants after they directly intervened in a conflict that has nothing to do with them. Well, you throw yourself in a fire, don't be surprised if you get burned in it.

 

[The SC]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1515467920939311107

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

Will India be the next on US strike list over Russia?​

​

​

India’s Russian Dealings Have Left Biden’s Geopolitical Oil Strategy In Tatters​

By Simon Watkins - Apr 11, 2022, 7:00 PM CDT

• India ramped up crude oil purchases from Russia despite warnings from Washington not to do so.
• India’s relations with the U.S. seemed to have improved during a brief struggle with this China last summer.
• Besides oil, India also signed defence and industrial deals with Russia at the end of 2021.

 

[The SC]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1515391386949881857

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

SWIFT not irreplaceable, but its substitution requires considerable preparations: China's former central bank chief

By Global TimesPublished: Apr 16, 2022 10:23 PM

SWIFT is not irreplaceable, but its substitution requires a great deal of preparations given SWIFT's efficiency and market scale, Zhou Xiaochuan, former chief of China's central bank, said on Saturday at an annual financial forum in Beijing.

At the 2022 Tsinghua PBCSF Global Finance Forum in Beijing, Zhou gave an insight into the role of SWIFT, China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) and digital currencies amid current geopolitical instability.

Cross-border payments in global trade can theoretically be made without going through SWIFT, the former governor of the People's Bank of China (PBC) said.

If SWIFT is immensely used as a sanction tool, others will surely find other messaging conduits to continue doing trade, he said.

Global financial payment or messaging systems, should they slide into some "Cold War" patterns, would bring damage to everyone, Zhou commented.

The West's adoption of a financial nuclear option in using SWIFT to sanction Russia amid Ukraine tensions is a wakeup call for China's financial development. "We must get prepared," tapping the digital economy to ensure financial, trade security, Liu Liange, chairman of Bank of China, said at the forum.

Zhou's remarks on SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, especially when compared with CIPS, the homegrown payment and settlement system CIPS launched by the PBC in 2015, were thought provoking.

SWIFT is in fact a messaging platform, instead of a cross-border international payment system. It handles a lot of communications prior to payments being executed, and the following payment and settlement go through the system of each country, Zhou said.

While CIPS is designed for the cross-border payment for the yuan, making it the cross-border payment, settlement and clearing system of the Chinese currency. Of course, it also can be used by some other mainstream currencies, but so far there are not many of them using it, Zhou noted.

Last year, the number of transactions CIPS handled hit more than 3.3 million, up by over 50 percent from the prior year. It processed roughly 80 trillion yuan ($12.56 trillion) worth of transactions in 2021, a surge of over 75 percent from 2020, Jiefang Daily reported at the end of February.

Presently, participants in CIPS hit 1,259 and the system's coverage includes 103 countries and regions. Overseas institutions taking part in the system are 649, accounting for 52 percent of the total, according to the report.

By comparison, "an average of 42 million payments and securities transactions were processed using our FIN message service per day last year," SWIFT disclosed in early February. "SWIFT is accelerating flows to achieve instant processing between 4 billion accounts and 11,000 institutions in more than 200 countries."

The daily amount SWIFT handles stand at about $5 trillion, according to media reports, citing the US Treasury. Annually, with about 250 business days, SWIFT handles about $1.25 quadrillion.

Zhou, a frequently cited voice in central bank digital currency, also said at the forum that the cross-border use of China's central bank digital currency e-CNY can't be ruled out, but the possibility would focus on its use in cross-border retail.

The e-CNY is not meant to replace the US dollar and it "can't be easily used as military weapon," he said.

 

[thetutle]

Moskva's GPS coordinates were given to the Ukrainians by foreign powers with satellites overlooking the Black Sea. The Ukrainians are also getting solid weapons, intelligence, and special forces' support from Western powers. So the direct participation of NATO and its allies in this war is pretty much obvious.

Now, would it become a World War III? It remains to be seen, but the West's direct participation in this conflict is there.

So what did Ukraine do with the GPS coordinates of the Moskva? nothing right? because it was accidental fire that blew up the ship?

 

[Hassan Al-Somal]

Both sevastopol and Crimea are Russian majority lands. They actually belong to Russians.
Donbass on the other hand is resisting against occupation by NATO affiliated government of Kiev. Their resistance is truly legitimate given the NAZI policies of Kiev on Russian people of donbass.

Maybe @vostok sir, could shed more light on this subject. Why are Russian ethnics of Ukraine being persecuted and attacked?

Imagine living in a country where at least 30% of the population is Russian-speaking citizens, but under a new law from the current govt led by Zelensky, the Russian language is outlawed from all government institutions in Ukraine. They can only speak the language in their homes but not in any government office or state organs.

The Minsk II agreement was addressing that issue plus other grievances that the Russian-speakers in Eastern Ukraine had with the government in Kiev. It was the current govt in Kiev, backed by Western powers, that has walked away from that agreement. They also had launched a military offensive against their fellow Russian-speaking citizens in Ukraine. And this is what triggered this conflict plus the option of bringing NATO into the Russian borders.

 

[WotTen]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1515239048302010368

Wait, is Medvedev admitting that the Moskva was sunk by Ukrainian missiles?

I thought the official Russian story was that it was an accidental ammo fire.

 

[Akasa]

Moskva's GPS coordinates were given to the Ukrainians by foreign powers with satellites overlooking the Black Sea. The Ukrainians are also getting solid weapons, intelligence, and special forces' support from Western powers. So the direct participation of NATO and its allies in this war is pretty much obvious.

Now, would it become a World War III? It remains to be seen, but the West's direct participation in this conflict is there.

Right, but there is a clear delineation of the escalation level associated with providing intelligence/materiel/logistical support to one side versus actively participating in a conflict on their behalf.

The United States understands this, which is why it did not retaliate against the USSR or China when the two countries extended military aid to North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.