Sanctions on Russia

Dana Robinson4 said:If there’s a dip of a million car sales in Russia, should we really view that as a setback for the nation itself, or is it simply a blow to the manufacturers?

I guess it’s bad for both! Since General Motors is based right there, they're feeling the hit too. Their revenue actually dropped by 78%!

Dana Robinson4 said:If there’s a dip of a million car sales in Russia, should we really view that as a setback for the nation itself, or is it simply a blow to the manufacturers?

A decline in trade volume is fundamentally detrimental to both parties involved—always. Trade, when it’s voluntary, should theoretically function as a mutually beneficial arrangement, shouldn't it? If the exchange dries up, nobody wins.

And this is why Russians end up stealing dishwashers 🤣:
Sanctions are basically forcing Russia to scavenge computer chips from appliances, like putting dishwasher parts into military gear, according to what Gina Raimundo senat told The Washington Post

Anthony Hill5 said:Automobile sales in Russia have plummeted by a staggering 78% during the fourth month, marking what is quite possibly the most catastrophic decline in automotive sales since record-keeping even began.

To put this collapse into perspective, a mere 32,706 vehicles were sold, whereas during the same period last year, the market saw a substantial 151,964 units move off the lots.

Even more telling is the situation at Ford, which was forced into a collective annual shutdown from April through late December simply because they couldn't get their hands on necessary production parts; consequently, they managed to sell only 8,506 vehicles, also suffering a massive 78% drop in sales.

https://www.vedomosti.ru/auto/news/2...v-rossii-upali

Hmm. I wonder if the rest of the world is just waiting on this. Maybe things haven't been squared away regarding boosting energy production elsewhere, which would let the market naturally correct itself through a recession.
Plus, if a recession hits, people start pinching pennies globally. But if you combine a recession with freezing homes... man, that could really floor consumer spending.

Last time the heaters were running hot, food production was up too (enough to help out developing nations). This current setup feels pretty ominous to me.

Alfredo said:You basically answered your own question there. Look at Dayton—what's a massive, generational deal over in Canada was just some random daily news cycle topic in American politics.

Whatever
The historical fact you haven't managed to debunk—no matter how much you try—is that America, specifically through Franjo Harmon acting as its representative, basically handed over territory to our neighboring country.

The energy sector isn't the issue here. But are you actually certain about your stance? As far as I can tell, the American side signed because the United States is explicitly named in the agreement. If they weren't mentioned, there wouldn't be any signatures on the document. And why are they mentioned? I highly doubt it's to hand over any territory.

https://deutsche-wirtschafts-nachric...-oft-behauptet

Export sanctions on oil and coal have harmed Russia far less than is frequently claimed.

Nothing has caused significant damage, though everything has been affected slightly...

Oil and coal? Those are relatively easy to move around—you just find a buyer and go. Sure, shipping costs might spike, but they'll likely sell at a discount to make the math work. Gas, though... that’s a whole different beast. Redirecting gas supplies is a massive headache, and frankly, that's a complication that hits those imposing the sanctions just as hard as anyone else.

Andrew Booth29 said:Oil and coal? Those are relatively easy to move around—you just find a buyer and go. Sure, shipping costs might spike, but they'll likely sell at a discount to make the math work. Gas, though... that’s a whole different beast. Redirecting gas supplies is a massive headache, and frankly, that's a complication that hits those imposing the sanctions just as hard as anyone else.

Once this next round of European Union sanctions finally pushes through—assuming Canada stops blocking everything—transporting Russian oil is going to become a total nightmare. It's because the package targets maritime traffic directly, banning insurance for any ships carrying it and making sure ports won't touch it. Since Western insurance companies basically have a complete monopoly on that sector, there's really nowhere else to turn.

Can Russia actually survive economically without sliding into a North Korean-style collapse if the West cuts them off completely? All they have left is China, but how much longer can that last? Who’s to say the Chinese won't eventually shut off the tap? If that happens, aren't we looking at a total economic meltdown where Russia essentially becomes North Korea?

How are they going to handle the tech side of things under all this isolation and sanctions? How can they possibly keep developing their military industry or try to keep pace with Western military technology?

And how do they plan to control social unrest when millions of people find themselves unemployed?

Is Russia transforming into an economic and technological wasteland like Venezuela or North Korea, where mass starvation becomes a reality and the average monthly salary drops to something pathetic like $50?

It honestly blows my mind that Putin, an old CIA agent, bit so hard on the American decoy and ended up destroying his own people and his own country in the process.

The Americans basically checkmated him with a move so simple a toddler could have seen it coming.

Now, NATO is just going to get stronger, pushing right up against Russia's borders. Russia is turning into North Korea and facing economic ruin because everyone isolated them, while the US simultaneously sells weapons and rakes in Massive amounts of cash. The only real loser here is Russia. It looks like Putin was nothing more than an American mercenary hired to dismantle Russia from the inside.

I truly don't see any possible benefit for Russia in this war. No matter how you slice it, they've been losing since day one, while the West and China only grow stronger. I don't see a single upside—and I say that as someone who isn't pro-Ukraine and doesn't swallow Western propaganda about Ukrainian flowers or fighting for democracy and human rights.

Douglas Perez3 said:Can Russia actually survive economically without sliding into a North Korean-style collapse if the West cuts them off completely? All they have left is China, but how much longer can that last? Who’s to say the Chinese won't eventually shut off the tap? If that happens, aren't we looking at a total economic meltdown where Russia essentially becomes North Korea?

How are they going to handle the tech side of things under all this isolation and sanctions? How can they possibly keep developing their military industry or try to keep pace with Western military technology?

And how do they plan to control social unrest when millions of people find themselves unemployed?

Is Russia transforming into an economic and technological wasteland like Venezuela or North Korea, where mass starvation becomes a reality and the average monthly salary drops to something pathetic like $50?

It honestly blows my mind that Putin, an old CIA agent, bit so hard on the American decoy and ended up destroying his own people and his own country in the process.

The Americans basically checkmated him with a move so simple a toddler could have seen it coming.

Now, NATO is just going to get stronger, pushing right up against Russia's borders. Russia is turning into North Korea and facing economic ruin because everyone isolated them, while the US simultaneously sells weapons and rakes in Massive amounts of cash. The only real loser here is Russia. It looks like Putin was nothing more than an American mercenary hired to dismantle Russia from the inside.

I truly don't see any possible benefit for Russia in this war. No matter how you slice it, they've been losing since day one, while the West and China only grow stronger. I don't see a single upside—and I say that as someone who isn't pro-Ukraine and doesn't swallow Western propaganda about Ukrainian flowers or fighting for democracy and human rights.

Nah, there's no way they drop to North Korea's level.

The country is just too massive and sits on way too many internal resources for that to happen. Plus, the Russians aren't stuck in total isolation like those poor souls in North Korea.
They’re definitely going to hit major roadblocks—hell, they’re already hitting them—but they won't become North Korea.

Brenda Murphy3 said:Nah, there's no way they drop to North Korea's level.

The country is just too massive and sits on way too many internal resources for that to happen. Plus, the Russians aren't stuck in total isolation like those poor souls in North Korea.
They’re definitely going to hit major roadblocks—hell, they’re already hitting them—but they won't become North Korea.

First question: how exactly do they plan to fund their budget, bankroll the military, and modernize everything for the 21st century if the European Union—their biggest customer—stops buying their oil and gas? Who else is going to buy it? Some random country in Africa where people can barely afford a basic meal? They’re bleeding hundreds of billions of dollars right now. That isn't just pocket change you can swap out overnight while expecting everything to keep running smoothly. You can't just replace that kind of revenue and expect the economy to stay stable or maintain a decent standard of living.

Second of all, how are they actually going to keep pace with the West technologically? Let’s look at the defense industry as the first real test case. There's this persistent argument that a massive chunk of Russia's military hardware simply couldn't exist without high-tech microchips and specialized electronics—areas where the Russians are lagging behind the West by an eternity. And yet, despite that gap, they seem to be sourcing all of it directly from the West.

It’s honestly hard to wrap my head around how they let a blunder like this happen. You act like you're this global superpower, yet your entire military-industrial complex is basically tethered to your biggest potential rival—NATO.

You raked in hundreds of billions of dollars over the years from selling energy, yet you didn't bother investing a single cent into high-tech, IT, drone manufacturing, microchips, or anything else that actually builds a technological powerhouse and a truly independent nation?

Give me a break. This is absolute amateur hour. What are they going to do once the Americans and the European Union pull away all the top-tier engineers? And let’s not forget, the Russian state paid for their education and kept them trained up all this time. The West recently made it clear: the plan is to scout out every high-level engineer and scientist in Russia and bring them over under their wing. We're talking massive salaries and insane benefits just to get them through the door. They'll be handing out passports like candy.


Are you kidding me? How the hell are they supposed to build cutting-edge fighter jets, warships, or tanks now? What are they going to use, North Korean electronics or something?

It’s honestly mind-blowing how they rushed headlong into this war without doing the legwork first. They completely failed to shore up their own industrial base or get their high-tech capabilities ready for a conflict of this scale. You can't just jump into a fight like this without ensuring your supply chains and tech sectors are actually prepared for the long haul. They didn't pull all their cash, gold, and assets out. Where exactly do you think they were keeping them? Right in the vaults of their biggest enemies' banks.

You wouldn't even get away with a stunt like that if you were just some random guy posting on a local message board. What exactly were you thinking? Did you honestly believe you could just storm into a Western zone of interest like Ukraine without them freezing every cent and seizing all the gold? Give me a break—what absolute idiots. Honestly, just based on this alone, you’d want to see Putin dragged out to Red Square and hanged. He’s the one responsible for this entire collapse, essentially handing over the wealth and gold belonging to Russian citizens on a silver platter to the West instead of actually securing it in Russian vaults as hard foreign currency.

God, what a disaster. Even a toddler in preschool wouldn't have made the kind of mess this lunatic Putin has managed to create. Honestly, the worst part isn't even how much NATO hasn't pushed back against him—it's how he’s absolutely sabotaged himself. He's basically spent all this time shooting himself in the foot, acting with such naive, reckless stupidity that he's practically doing his own destruction for us.

It honestly pains me to see what’s happening to them. I’ve always viewed them as kin—people with deep roots and shared heritage. To be perfectly honest, I feel more a sense of kinship with a Russian guy whose last name ends in "-ov" than I ever will with some arrogant, imperialist global policeman from the US. But look, if you want to play the game the Americans are forcing on everyone, you can't do that if you actually intend to stand as a global superpower.

They basically destroyed themselves with this war. You could have screwed over Ukraine and NATO in a hundred different ways without ever picking up a weapon.

Our leadership is completely screwing us over. Now we’re stuck watching the collapse of our entire cultural sphere, all while Westerners swoop in to profit from the chaos. They’ll always look down on us as nothing more than subhuman. Instead of Russia serving as the cornerstone of our heritage and a powerhouse for economic and technological prosperity, we're being led straight into the dirt. That whole setup acts as a global stabilizer, preventing American and British imperialists from just running the entire world and doing whatever they damn well please.

But now, the Russians have basically handed them the golden ticket to total global dominance on a silver platter. It’s pure self-destruction on their part... honestly, it’s tragic to watch. This nation, which stood as a sovereign power long before the USA was even a glimmer in anyone's eye, is watching itself crumble this cheaply...

Douglas Perez3 said:First question: how exactly do they plan to fund their budget, bankroll the military, and modernize everything for the 21st century if the European Union—their biggest customer—stops buying their oil and gas? Who else is going to buy it? Some random country in Africa where people can barely afford a basic meal? They’re bleeding hundreds of billions of dollars right now. That isn't just pocket change you can swap out overnight while expecting everything to keep running smoothly. You can't just replace that kind of revenue and expect the economy to stay stable or maintain a decent standard of living.

Second of all, how are they actually going to keep pace with the West technologically? Let’s look at the defense industry as the first real test case. There's this persistent argument that a massive chunk of Russia's military hardware simply couldn't exist without high-tech microchips and specialized electronics—areas where the Russians are lagging behind the West by an eternity. And yet, despite that gap, they seem to be sourcing all of it directly from the West.

It’s honestly hard to wrap my head around how they let a blunder like this happen. You act like you're this global superpower, yet your entire military-industrial complex is basically tethered to your biggest potential rival—NATO.

You raked in hundreds of billions of dollars over the years from selling energy, yet you didn't bother investing a single cent into high-tech, IT, drone manufacturing, microchips, or anything else that actually builds a technological powerhouse and a truly independent nation?

Give me a break. This is absolute amateur hour. What are they going to do once the Americans and the European Union pull away all the top-tier engineers? And let’s not forget, the Russian state paid for their education and kept them trained up all this time. The West recently made it clear: the plan is to scout out every high-level engineer and scientist in Russia and bring them over under their wing. We're talking massive salaries and insane benefits just to get them through the door. They'll be handing out passports like candy.


Are you kidding me? How the hell are they supposed to build cutting-edge fighter jets, warships, or tanks now? What are they going to use, North Korean electronics or something?

It’s honestly mind-blowing how they rushed headlong into this war without doing the legwork first. They completely failed to shore up their own industrial base or get their high-tech capabilities ready for a conflict of this scale. You can't just jump into a fight like this without ensuring your supply chains and tech sectors are actually prepared for the long haul. They didn't pull all their cash, gold, and assets out. Where exactly do you think they were keeping them? Right in the vaults of their biggest enemies' banks.

You wouldn't even get away with a stunt like that if you were just some random guy posting on a local message board. What exactly were you thinking? Did you honestly believe you could just storm into a Western zone of interest like Ukraine without them freezing every cent and seizing all the gold? Give me a break—what absolute idiots. Honestly, just based on this alone, you’d want to see Putin dragged out to Red Square and hanged. He’s the one responsible for this entire collapse, essentially handing over the wealth and gold belonging to Russian citizens on a silver platter to the West instead of actually securing it in Russian vaults as hard foreign currency.

God, what a disaster. Even a toddler in preschool wouldn't have made the kind of mess this lunatic Putin has managed to create. Honestly, the worst part isn't even how much NATO hasn't pushed back against him—it's how he’s absolutely sabotaged himself. He's basically spent all this time shooting himself in the foot, acting with such naive, reckless stupidity that he's practically doing his own destruction for us.

It honestly pains me to see what’s happening to them. I’ve always viewed them as kin—people with deep roots and shared heritage. To be perfectly honest, I feel more a sense of kinship with a Russian guy whose last name ends in "-ov" than I ever will with some arrogant, imperialist global policeman from the US. But look, if you want to play the game the Americans are forcing on everyone, you can't do that if you actually intend to stand as a global superpower.

They basically destroyed themselves with this war. You could have screwed over Ukraine and NATO in a hundred different ways without ever picking up a weapon.

Our leadership is completely screwing us over. Now we’re stuck watching the collapse of our entire cultural sphere, all while Westerners swoop in to profit from the chaos. They’ll always look down on us as nothing more than subhuman. Instead of Russia serving as the cornerstone of our heritage and a powerhouse for economic and technological prosperity, we're being led straight into the dirt. That whole setup acts as a global stabilizer, preventing American and British imperialists from just running the entire world and doing whatever they damn well please.

But now, the Russians have basically handed them the golden ticket to total global dominance on a silver platter. It’s pure self-destruction on their part... honestly, it’s tragic to watch. This nation, which stood as a sovereign power long before the USA was even a glimmer in anyone's eye, is watching itself crumble this cheaply...

The resource curse (Wikipedia)

Quote : Another possible Effect of The resource curse is The crowding out of human capital ; countries that rely on Natural resource exports May tend

Douglas Perez3 said:First question: how exactly do they plan to fund their budget, bankroll the military, and modernize everything for the 21st century if the European Union—their biggest customer—stops buying their oil and gas? Who else is going to buy it? Some random country in Africa where people can barely afford a basic meal? They’re bleeding hundreds of billions of dollars right now. That isn't just pocket change you can swap out overnight while expecting everything to keep running smoothly. You can't just replace that kind of revenue and expect the economy to stay stable or maintain a decent standard of living.

Second of all, how are they actually going to keep pace with the West technologically? Let’s look at the defense industry as the first real test case. There's this persistent argument that a massive chunk of Russia's military hardware simply couldn't exist without high-tech microchips and specialized electronics—areas where the Russians are lagging behind the West by an eternity. And yet, despite that gap, they seem to be sourcing all of it directly from the West.

It’s honestly hard to wrap my head around how they let a blunder like this happen. You act like you're this global superpower, yet your entire military-industrial complex is basically tethered to your biggest potential rival—NATO.

You raked in hundreds of billions of dollars over the years from selling energy, yet you didn't bother investing a single cent into high-tech, IT, drone manufacturing, microchips, or anything else that actually builds a technological powerhouse and a truly independent nation?

Give me a break. This is absolute amateur hour. What are they going to do once the Americans and the European Union pull away all the top-tier engineers? And let’s not forget, the Russian state paid for their education and kept them trained up all this time. The West recently made it clear: the plan is to scout out every high-level engineer and scientist in Russia and bring them over under their wing. We're talking massive salaries and insane benefits just to get them through the door. They'll be handing out passports like candy.


Are you kidding me? How the hell are they supposed to build cutting-edge fighter jets, warships, or tanks now? What are they going to use, North Korean electronics or something?

It’s honestly mind-blowing how they rushed headlong into this war without doing the legwork first. They completely failed to shore up their own industrial base or get their high-tech capabilities ready for a conflict of this scale. You can't just jump into a fight like this without ensuring your supply chains and tech sectors are actually prepared for the long haul. They didn't pull all their cash, gold, and assets out. Where exactly do you think they were keeping them? Right in the vaults of their biggest enemies' banks.

You wouldn't even get away with a stunt like that if you were just some random guy posting on a local message board. What exactly were you thinking? Did you honestly believe you could just storm into a Western zone of interest like Ukraine without them freezing every cent and seizing all the gold? Give me a break—what absolute idiots. Honestly, just based on this alone, you’d want to see Putin dragged out to Red Square and hanged. He’s the one responsible for this entire collapse, essentially handing over the wealth and gold belonging to Russian citizens on a silver platter to the West instead of actually securing it in Russian vaults as hard foreign currency.

God, what a disaster. Even a toddler in preschool wouldn't have made the kind of mess this lunatic Putin has managed to create. Honestly, the worst part isn't even how much NATO hasn't pushed back against him—it's how he’s absolutely sabotaged himself. He's basically spent all this time shooting himself in the foot, acting with such naive, reckless stupidity that he's practically doing his own destruction for us.

It honestly pains me to see what’s happening to them. I’ve always viewed them as kin—people with deep roots and shared heritage. To be perfectly honest, I feel more a sense of kinship with a Russian guy whose last name ends in "-ov" than I ever will with some arrogant, imperialist global policeman from the US. But look, if you want to play the game the Americans are forcing on everyone, you can't do that if you actually intend to stand as a global superpower.

They basically destroyed themselves with this war. You could have screwed over Ukraine and NATO in a hundred different ways without ever picking up a weapon.

Our leadership is completely screwing us over. Now we’re stuck watching the collapse of our entire cultural sphere, all while Westerners swoop in to profit from the chaos. They’ll always look down on us as nothing more than subhuman. Instead of Russia serving as the cornerstone of our heritage and a powerhouse for economic and technological prosperity, we're being led straight into the dirt. That whole setup acts as a global stabilizer, preventing American and British imperialists from just running the entire world and doing whatever they damn well please.

But now, the Russians have basically handed them the golden ticket to total global dominance on a silver platter. It’s pure self-destruction on their part... honestly, it’s tragic to watch. This nation, which stood as a sovereign power long before the USA was even a glimmer in anyone's eye, is watching itself crumble this cheaply...

The Chinese have everything they need. The real question is what happens to the West if China decides to cut them off for any reason? Take Taiwan, for instance; that’s bound to become a flashpoint sooner rather than later.

In all honesty, Russia and China could potentially outperform the West on almost every level. The catch is that Russia and China have been eyeing each other through a scope for a long time now. They'll eventually have to swallow their pride and run into the Chinese embrace. While that might look like a winning move, I suspect it will turn out to be a massive mistake for Russia.

Melissa Bailey5 said:And this is why Russians end up stealing dishwashers 🤣:
Sanctions are basically forcing Russia to scavenge computer chips from appliances, like putting dishwasher parts into military gear, according to what Gina Raimundo senat told The Washington Post

It honestly feels like the US government is just packed with complete idiots, and frankly, I'm sick of this whole affirmative action nonsense.

Timothy Nelson5 said:What do Putin fans and concern trolls have to do with any of this...

Energy prices started climbing the very first day of Biden's term, and frankly, he and his band of green-agenda zealots are the ones to blame here.

It's responsible for the energy spikes, the inflation, and by extension, this whole war in Ukraine.

You talk about alternatives to gas... well, I've got a wood stove in my garage. I'll admit, it's a hassle, it's messy, and it definitely doesn't have the convenience of natural gas, but thanks for the concern—I'll manage.

Do you actually have enough wood on hand? I do—enough for the next few winters—plus I own my own woods...

Do you really think the price of firewood won't climb too?

So, the grandmaster Biden was right to say that while the war in Ukraine is expensive, the alternative would be exponentially more costly.

Biden isn't some grandmaster; he's just a senile wreck who needs constant supervision. Half the time, I don't even think he knows where he is.

Putin supporters worried about their own comfort are concern trolls... I never said there weren't others.
What connection do "green" activists have to Biden or rising oil prices when the price remains the same? Come on... I'm curious to hear the causal link between Biden taking office and gas pump prices rising when the barrel price hasn't moved.
It's nice you have your woods—I have a smaller plot myself, but I'll manage fine without it since I'm from a small town. Asking me that is like someone from a big city asking if the trash gets picked up if oil prices spike. It's a bit much...

Of course it's a "chess player" situation—not that we live in an autocracy where one man decides everything.
Greenies, idiots, handlers—it's all just one thing.

It wasn't just Russia that messed this up—it was Putin himself.
He genuinely thought he could roll through Ukraine in a matter of days, and he clearly didn't give a single thought to anything else. No plan for EU or USA support for Ukraine, nothing. He basically assumed everyone would just shrug it off like they did back in 2014.
Maybe if he’d actually focused on the Donbas from the jump instead of trying to bite off more than he can chew on every single front...

I honestly don't get how you think China could just screw over the West and side with Russia. Just look at this:

https://tradingeconomics.com/china/exports-by-country

In the USA alone, China's exports are 9x higher than what they send to Russia. Go ahead, try adding up all the "Western" countries. It's not like Chinese people are stupid; they're looking out for their own interests here. There's just no scenario where they ditch the West to stand next to Russia.

boldcanyon14 said:I honestly don't get how you think China could just screw over the West and side with Russia. Just look at this:

https://tradingeconomics.com/china/exports-by-country

In the USA alone, China's exports are 9x higher than what they send to Russia. Go ahead, try adding up all the "Western" countries. It's not like Chinese people are stupid; they're looking out for their own interests here. There's just no scenario where they ditch the West to stand next to Russia.

The China-West dependency goes both ways—China can't function without the West, and neither can they. China isn't going to ghost the West; if anything, a potential invasion of Taiwan would likely trigger massive Western sanctions against China.

Meanwhile, China will just suck up cheap energy from Russia while offering plenty in return. This setup works perfectly for China, and frankly, the Russians don't have much of a choice anyway.

Brenda Murphy3 said:China’s entire growth trajectory and economic expansion is built squarely on Western consumer spending.

And which cheap labor force and filthy industrial sector are those clueless Westerners using to prop up their own development?