Sanctions on Russia

bluemason3 said:Just my luck...

If anyone was still questioning whether Russia was behind the sabotage... 😁

Honestly, it’s a rule of thumb that works every single time:"Don't believe anything until the Kremlin denies it"™

wiredseal7 said:The odds just went up—maybe to about 1%.

At least until someone can explain how one single pipeline—where ExxonMobil could only ship half capacity under those regulations—is somehow better than having two running at full tilt.

You think there's any chance it was actually the Americans who blew them up?

If the whole point was to push the Germans into some desperate corner where they’d end up swallowing their own spit just to get a whiff of gas (while simultaneously driving a wedge against the US), then this setup is absolutely perfect.

Anthony Moore15 said:And why on earth would Americans just leave a single pipeline sitting there...

And why wouldn't Russia just leave two or three pipes running? Or at least keep Nord Stream 1 active so the gas could flow without all the red tape?

Would Russia really blow up a certified line like Nord Stream 1 for a tiny chance at reclaiming half that capacity—or maybe just 25% through Nord Stream 2—just to score a symbolic (and totally hollow) victory by forcing Germany's hand? Hint: the U.S. is going to make sure the Germans don't touch Nord Stream 2 anytime soon.

Why wouldn't they just drain those expensive 300 million cubic meters of gas from the Nord Stream 2 section before pulling a diversion?

Why not just drop a few bombs into the Baltic Sea while they're at it?

And, btw, do we actually know for sure there wasn't an attack on the fourth pipe? It’s built to handle 105 bars of pressure—that thing could have easily stayed intact.

wiredseal7 said:And why wouldn't Russia just leave two or three pipes running? Or at least keep Nord Stream 1 active so the gas could flow without all the red tape?

Would Russia really blow up a certified line like Nord Stream 1 for a tiny chance at reclaiming half that capacity—or maybe just 25% through Nord Stream 2—just to score a symbolic (and totally hollow) victory by forcing Germany's hand? Hint: the U.S. is going to make sure the Germans don't touch Nord Stream 2 anytime soon.

Why wouldn't they just drain those expensive 300 million cubic meters of gas from the Nord Stream 2 section before pulling a diversion?

Why not just drop a few bombs into the Baltic Sea while they're at it?

And, btw, do we actually know for sure there wasn't an attack on the fourth pipe? It’s built to handle 105 bars of pressure—that thing could have easily stayed intact.

The system is designed to handle 300 bars at the inlet, so you’d expect at least 100 bars at the outlet.

If they had drained the pipe beforehand, it would be obvious that they did it to themselves.

Besides, while that gas might seem pricey to us, for them, it's just excess; they're sitting on it because nobody wants to buy it or they simply refuse to sell. It's like seeing someone leave massive piles of cash sitting on the border with Finland just to make a point. What would normally flow through Nord Stream 1 under normal circumstances is basically... well, there's nowhere else for it to go except up in smoke. You don't just shut down gas fields lightly, especially when you're under sanctions and lack technical support or spare parts, particularly when all your equipment is Western-made.

The Americans already managed to stop the Germans from opening Nord Stream 2 without needing any physical sabotage. Nord Stream 1 isn't even operational anymore; the Russians clearly and openly played the Germans for fools with that Siemens turbine excuse and all those "technical failures." Why would the Americans bother sabotaging pipelines that aren't even running and have zero chance of being back in service anytime soon?

So why were the Americans warning about sabotage and patrolling that area so intensely? It feels like a bit much—almost like they were overdoing the whole "alibi" thing. Wouldn't it be smarter to carry out stealthy sabotage quietly while keeping a visible fleet far away from the site? Maybe wait until Russian ships are nearby...

The U.S. Department of State called in the Russian Federation ambassador, Andrej Nesterenk, today to give him a piece of our mind. They basically told him straight up that we aren't having any of this illegal annexation nonsense regarding those four occupied Ukrainian regions—Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson—being shoved into the Russian Federation just because of those fake-ass "referendums."

more at:

analogmarlin4 said:Is there any way for Russia to take on more sanctions that would actually make a dent?

What a question. Of course they can. A total blockade and complete isolation from the rest of the world. Honestly? I'm all for it if some idiot actually pulls the trigger on a nuke. At that point, the clock starts ticking in our favor because I'm betting on a military coup. Still skeptical about how democracy holds up under that kind of pressure.

A list of companies still operating in Russia https://leave-russia.org/staying-companies

OPEC and Russia have officially reached an agreement to slash oil production by 2 million barrels per day.

OPEC and Russia agree to cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day.

Anthony Hill5 said:OPEC and Russia have officially reached an agreement to slash oil production by 2 million barrels per day.

OPEC and Russia agree to cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day.

Well, it looks like the fools are just playing themselves at this point... 😲

It seems there's simply no way to hold pure greed accountable... 🙂

Beijing keeps pulling away from Russia
https://twitter.com/ShanghaiMacro/st...VfW-NoUCQ&s=19

brightheron64 said:Well, it looks like the fools are just playing themselves at this point... 😲

It seems there's simply no way to hold pure greed accountable... 🙂

The Middle Eastern leadership isn't all that different from the Russian mindset—they're all just "regimes."
It's the same shit, just different packaging.

Carl Lee27 said:Beijing keeps pulling away from Russia
https://twitter.com/ShanghaiMacro/st...VfW-NoUCQ&s=19

Whoa, and they're putting an article like this out in The Wall Street Journal—basically a state mouthpiece.

They’re just throwing out feelers to see how the West reacts.

hollowdriver13 said:Whoa, and they're putting an article like this out in The Wall Street Journal—basically a state mouthpiece.

They’re just throwing out feelers to see how the West reacts.

The Chinese economy is teetering on the edge—war and the resulting recession would be like a finger in both their eyes.

Anthony Hill5 said:OPEC and Russia have officially reached an agreement to slash oil production by 2 million barrels per day.

OPEC and Russia agree to cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day.

View on twitter

There's an Urucen proposal headed to Congress to pull the US military umbrella away from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Looks like Iran is already revving their engines. ☕

hollowdriver13 said:View on twitter

There's an Urucen proposal headed to Congress to pull the US military umbrella away from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Looks like Iran is already revving their engines. ☕

Exactly how it should be.

It’s honestly pretty wild to see just how much leverage and variety of pressure the USA can apply on a global scale. And yet, you still see people trying to draw parallels between them and Russia, which feels a bit like comparing some small-town sheriff in a tiny rural county to a powerhouse like a high-ranking federal official from a decade ago.

Christian Torres3 said:The Chinese economy is teetering on the edge—war and the resulting recession would be like a finger in both their eyes.

If a conflict wasn't actually in their interest, they wouldn't be playing such a neutral hand when it comes to decisions regarding Russia. It's just much easier for them if Europe stays weak.

analogmarlin4 said:If a conflict wasn't actually in their interest, they wouldn't be playing such a neutral hand when it comes to decisions regarding Russia. It's just much easier for them if Europe stays weak.

The Chinese economy is basically dancing on the edge of a recession. They've averaged about 0.4% growth over the last four quarters, which is a joke considering their national target was 5.5%.
On top of that, they're drowning in massive debt and clearly aren't feeling the vibe right now—and when China hits a recession, the whole world feels the hit.

analogmarlin4 said:If a conflict wasn't actually in their interest, they wouldn't be playing such a neutral hand when it comes to decisions regarding Russia. It's just much easier for them if Europe stays weak.

I shouldn't even have to say this. Just look at their biggest markets. If China wants to grow, they need massive sales, plain and simple.

A protracted war doesn't serve Chinese interests. Wouldn't they have preferred a swift conflict that left Russia with more leverage to blackmail the EU? This endless slaughter serves no one on their side.
I wouldn't be surprised to see certain European corporations start shifting their manufacturing back from China to the US.