Posts by John Ramos45

Russia’s supposed victory over sanctions is nothing more than a mirage.

https://en.topwar.ru/211978-rossija-...ograzhdan.html

If the Chinese were actually making the mistake of paying over $70, they’d be proving themselves to be complete fools, but fortunately, they aren't quite that dim; they manage to secure their oil at a fraction of that cost.

It looks like Russia is pulling ahead quite nicely.

https://en.topwar.ru/211812-preziden...koj-nefti.html

Nancy Gomez26 said:It’s a shell game. The Russians transfer oil to Greek vessels, the Greeks essentially issue the cargo a new identity, and then that oil flows into countries that would otherwise never touch Russian supplies. The catch? Everyone involved knows they are dancing on the edge of legality. They are cutting it close, and that risk carries a premium. Suppliers have to charge extra for the headache. It remains a mystery how the money flows back toward the Russian suppliers. This entire charade isn't cheap, and the price gap for the whole operation is covered by the sellers. After all, who would buy "tainted" oil—risking sanctions and legal hammer blows—only to pay more than they would on the open market? The West's goal isn't to shut off the Russian oil tap entirely; it's to bleed their profits dry.

An oil tanker carrying Russian crude was recently seized in Albania. If a smaller player like Albania is willing to pull the trigger, one can only imagine what the major Western powers are capable of when they decide to act. It looks like the outlook for Russia isn't getting any brighter under any circumstances.

Russia might be shuffling hundreds of tankers around like a shell game, but they can't actually offload that European Union oil without handing massive discounts to China and India. The hole in the national treasury just keeps getting wider every single day, regardless of whether we're sending installments to Ukraine or not.

It’s just an obvious reality that the West holds a massive, multi-layered advantage over Russia.

We’re talking about a scenario where Russia decides to strike somewhere else in Ukraine. The West has zero incentive to take any drastic measures when Ukraine is already busy dismantling the disorganized Russian orchestra, all while sanctions continue to gnaw away at the average Russian citizen's quality of life.

Carl Lee27 said:Everything is relative, isn't it? First off, you have to look at how military budgets across Europe have been slashed lately. And let’s be real—back during the USSR days, both Europe and the USA were basically laser-focused on one thing: confronting them. Nowadays, though, the US is clearly pivoting its attention toward the Pacific Ocean and China, which naturally leaves more breathing room for the Russians. It's all about getting more bang for your buck; honestly, one dollar goes a lot further for them today than it ever did back then.
And man, we can't even get into how much they’re still riding the coattails of the USSR! It’s not like Russia is just out there buying these massive tanks and heavy artillery from scratch today; most of that hardware is just the leftover legacy of those old Soviet billions. When you look at what's happening in Ukraine right now, for the most part, you aren't really seeing modern Russian wealth in action—you're looking at the ghost of the USSR.

If Ukraine were playing a drumbeat for Russia, Poland would be marching straight to Smolensk, while Britons and Frenchmen would be taking strolls through Red Square.

If you just take a moment to weigh the old USSR military budget against what Russia is running today, it becomes painfully obvious that this modern version of Russia is nothing more than a paper tiger.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...figures%29.png

I’d suggest that anyone claiming sanctions aren't actually working should just pack their bags and head straight to Russia, so they can come back later and give us a firsthand report from the middle of Putin's economic paradise.

China isn't going to gamble its relationship with the USA and the West just to bail out Russia; it’s a calculation some people simply haven't grasped yet.

The players dealing with China and India are pulling massive levers with deep discounts on oil and various other commodities. In reality, China isn't even leaning that heavily on Russia for its oil supply; they’re mostly sourcing from Saudi Arabia and Iran to supplement their own domestic production. It’s a similar story with India, which actually goes even further than China in diversifying its energy imports.

At this rate of attrition and wartime spending in Ukraine—which dwarfs the losses and costs seen by the USSR during its time in Afghanistan by fiftyfold—combined with an economy roughly a tenth the size of the old Soviet one and the weight of sanctions, Russia will struggle to sustain this for even a decade. They might attempt to pivot toward a subsistence existence similar to Iran or Kim’s Korea, but history suggests they aren't quite prepared to survive on meager rations and pennies a day.

Bangladesh has officially barred Russian vessels from entering its ports.

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/stat...42195753066496

Nathan Evans78 said:The Federal Reserve's reserves have officially surged past the $600 billion mark. ☕

I assume we're talking about dirty dollars and euros here, likely being funneled straight into an desperate attempt to artificially inflate the value of the ruble.😁

The West isn't buying much oil anymore, and whatever we dump onto China and India comes with massive discounts, which just keeps widening the budget deficit.

We really ought to start stockpiling now, because things are only going to spiral downward as current Western sanctions tighten and new ones inevitably follow.

George Robinson43 said:More than half of the people living in BRICS nations endure poverty and squalor, yet they are poised to oversee global resources and trade routes. 🙏 🙏

They seem to be getting along famously lately, with the Chinese ordering this specific mess just to take a swing at India, though I wouldn't be surprised if the Russians end up catching a blow to the back as well.😁

https://twitter.com/zhao_dashuai/sta...SuvCv_mBQ&s=19

Add in the Iskanders and the Šehidas, and you’ll see Kalibr missiles being tossed around in almost every single strike. Half of them probably don't even reach their targets due to technical failures, let alone the ones shot down or those that simply miss, which suggests that sanctions are actually starting to bite.

Turkey has moved to impose sanctions on aircraft maintenance services for both Boeing and Boeing.

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/stat...62116541632513