Sanctions on Russia

quietviper0 said:Maybe give that article another read, perhaps with a bit more focus on what it’s actually saying this time?

Let me break it down for you...

Moscow believes they will finish the year with an annual Rupee surplus exceeding 40 billion dollars, if such a mechanism were to be established

Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine last February, India began exploring ways to settle accounts with Russia using Rupees, but no agreements have actually been finalized in that currency yet...

We don't want to push for Rupee settlements anymore; the mechanism simply isn't working. India tried everything we could to make it happen, but it didn't help...

So, could you please clarify how they can "continue with this model" when, according to the very source you're quoting, they haven't even successfully implemented the model in the first place? It's all a bit confusing...

I don't think Lavrov would agree with you. Or does he not even know they haven't started trading in Rupees yet?

In this news report, Lavrov stated:

"Russia has accumulated billions in Rupees in Indian banks that it cannot use," said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday, pointing to the growing trade surplus, according to Bloomberg News. "That's the problem," Lavrov said on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting. "We have to find a way to use that money. To do that, the Rupees need to be converted into another currency, and discussions about that are happening now."

What billions of Rupees is Lavrov talking about if, according to you, "only dollars have been flowing" so far?

From the sentence We no longer want to push for settlement in Rupees; that mechanism simply isn't working. India has tried everything we could to make it succeed, but it didn't help, you've twisted the point to claim they never traded in Rupees at all. Why would someone who has *never* traded in Rupees not want to force settlements in Rupees anymore?
If they never traded, why say "NO LONGER"?

So you have Lavrov's statement right there, which completely contradicts the narrative you're trying to sell.

How about you try reading with some actual comprehension?

You have an article from our half-literate journalist that you can spin however you want, but you also have a direct quote from your foreign policy "master strategist" that you absolutely cannot strip from its context.

Linda Adams said:I don't think Lavrov would agree with you. Or does he not even know they haven't started trading in Rupees yet?

In this news report, Lavrov stated:

"Russia has accumulated billions in Rupees in Indian banks that it cannot use," said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday, pointing to the growing trade surplus, according to Bloomberg News. "That's the problem," Lavrov said on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting. "We have to find a way to use that money. To do that, the Rupees need to be converted into another currency, and discussions about that are happening now."

What billions of Rupees is Lavrov talking about if, according to you, "only dollars have been flowing" so far?

From the sentence We no longer want to push for settlement in Rupees; that mechanism simply isn't working. India has tried everything we could to make it succeed, but it didn't help, you've twisted the point to claim they never traded in Rupees at all. Why would someone who has *never* traded in Rupees not want to force settlements in Rupees anymore?
If they never traded, why say "NO LONGER"?

So you have Lavrov's statement right there, which completely contradicts the narrative you're trying to sell.

How about you try reading with some actual comprehension?

You have an article from our half-literate journalist that you can spin however you want, but you also have a direct quote from your foreign policy "master strategist" that you absolutely cannot strip from its context.

Just one standard mid-sized tanker worth $50 million would account for "billions of Rupees."

The article itself provides enough context to see the picture: apparently, they did engage in some level of trade at some point because they clearly hold these Rupees, but now they aren't quite sure what they want to do with them... they were discussing whether there was any hope of turning this kind of trading into a permanent practice, and ultimately, they decided against it.

And if they decided against it, you mention it at least four times in the article—I didn't even include one of those instances in my previous quote. Here it is, just so it doesn't get missed: A day earlier, Reuters reported that India and Russia have halted efforts to arrange bilateral trade in Rupees.

I truly don't understand how you can read that it's been rejected as a viable model at least four different times, and yet continue to tell people things like "By the end of the year, if they continue with this exchange model, it is estimated Russia will accumulate a surplus of Rupees equivalent to $40 billion" or that "the Russians are essentially giving oil to Indians for free"... I really am at a loss here...

But take a look at this fascinating BRICS trade dynamic:
India sent $2.8 billion to Russia over just 11 months—that’s roughly $2 per person! 🤣
Meanwhile, Russia sent $42 billion worth of oil to India.

To top it all off, India isn't even interested in accepting Yuan from its BRICS partners.

The BRICS 🙏 🙏 🙏

Nobody’s exactly lining up to buy Rupees. Sure, maybe some more Yuan—but Rupees? Not a chance.

quietviper0 said:Just one standard mid-sized tanker worth $50 million would account for "billions of Rupees."

The article itself provides enough context to see the picture: apparently, they did engage in some level of trade at some point because they clearly hold these Rupees, but now they aren't quite sure what they want to do with them... they were discussing whether there was any hope of turning this kind of trading into a permanent practice, and ultimately, they decided against it.

And if they decided against it, you mention it at least four times in the article—I didn't even include one of those instances in my previous quote. Here it is, just so it doesn't get missed: A day earlier, Reuters reported that India and Russia have halted efforts to arrange bilateral trade in Rupees.

I truly don't understand how you can read that it's been rejected as a viable model at least four different times, and yet continue to tell people things like "By the end of the year, if they continue with this exchange model, it is estimated Russia will accumulate a surplus of Rupees equivalent to $40 billion" or that "the Russians are essentially giving oil to Indians for free"... I really am at a loss here...

It is entirely possible that under some sort of political pressure, someone drafted a contract based on a "give what you can" principle, which seems plausible given that this appears to be a longer-term arrangement rather than just a few tankers at lower prices. Now, someone has realized they are sitting on a mountain of Rupees with absolutely no way to utilize them, while the Indians continue to export refined oil for Dollars. This is a clever maneuver and a clear win for the Indians. Perhaps the Russians can now spend those Rupees on Hollywood movies, copper, or even elephants.😁

So, it looks like the Russian Ministry of Finance just dropped their latest update, claiming their revenue streams are finally stabilizing back to normal levels:

More bad news for Russia.

Natural gas prices over in the EU (specifically looking at the Amsterdam hub) have hit yet another rock bottom. For the first time in nearly two years, prices dipped below 30 EUR/MWh, currently sitting right at 29.8 EUR/MWh.

What an epic disaster for Moscow.

View on twitter

#sanctionsarenotworking

I mean, come on, just give us the Rupee! Honestly, anything is better than this nothingness. 😁

Why on earth are our local utility companies hiking up gas prices all of a sudden...

So they can actually make some money

dustyowl29 said:So they can actually make some money

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor

The first thing that popped into my head when I read the question was 😁
I haven't the slightest clue why.😁

https://www.reuters.com/business/ene...ls-2023-05-23/

So, I was just looking at this, and it turns out ExxonMobil's net profit for 2022 took a massive 40% dive, plus their gas exports pretty much got slashed in half compared to what they were doing back in 2021.

With prices dropping like they are, it’s definitely going to be interesting to see how the profit margins look for 2023….

From every conceivable angle, it seems Russia is just steadily sliding further into decline with each passing day.

John Ramos45 said:From every conceivable angle, it seems Russia is just steadily sliding further into decline with each passing day.

And yet, here we are again, seeing Russia holding its own during this phase where the West has been trying to help them out.
It’s basically just because nobody wants to put in the actual effort required to get rid of that narcissistic jerk in the White House.

https://www.trtrussian.com/mnenie/ka...oLl0Qj7ZiclJ74

John Ramos45 said:From every conceivable angle, it seems Russia is just steadily sliding further into decline with each passing day.

There’s really only one question left to ask—how much lower can this actually go? 🤔

brightheron64 said:There’s really only one question left to ask—how much lower can this actually go? 🤔

The bigger the drop, the harder it hits. And it's a long way down. Don't sweat it too much; you'll be right there in the trenches with us once we finally hit rock bottom.

It’s already come up a few times here in this thread that the pipeline networks heading toward Europe and the one single pipeline going to China (Power of Siberia) aren't actually connected to each other at all, you know?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FMdcr0oWQAUm0j8.jpg:large
Basically, if you look at the big picture, Europe is finding it much easier to diversify where they get their gas from, but the real question is what Russia is going to do to diversify its exports. Because let's be honest—if Europe stops buying Russian gas, Russia is left with nowhere to send it! ☕

And now, it looks like China is slowly starting to prioritize a pipeline coming from Turkmenistan instead of pushing for further connections with Russia, even though Russian gas ends up being way cheaper in the end.

Attempts by Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an increase in gas supplies to China have stalled.

Instead of The 50 billion cubic Meter Power of Siberia 2 Project , which The White House Has been promoting for More Than 7 years, Beijing has decided to give priority to a new gas pipeline from Turkmenistan, Reuters reported, citing Chinese officials and representatives of The country's oil and gas industry.

Even though gas from Turkmenistan costs China 30 % more Than Russian gas, and talks about getting a discount from Ashgabat fell through, Beijing gave The Green light to The Lin d project, which should bring in about 30 billion cubic meters from Turkmenistan every single year.

Back in 2022, China was pulling 35 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan through three existing pipelines, and that cost them $10.3 billion. Meanwhile, Russian supplies through The Power of Siberia launched in 2019 totaled 16 billion cubic meters, but the price tag was 2.5 times lower—only about $4 billion.

During a meeting with Chinese President xi Jinping in The White House in March, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested ramping up those gas flows sixfold—up to 98 billion cubic meters a year! And even though Putin called xi “ dear friend ” and spoke in Chinese toasting his health, that long-awaited gas deal just never happened.

https://www-moscowtimes-ru.translate...en&_x_tr_hl=hr

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/russia-ukra...ension/2906182

Russia is basically demanding that certain banks get let back into SWIFT, or else they’re threatening to scrap those grain export deals entirely.

But here's the thing... wait a second... I thought CIPS and SPFS were supposed to be the big "SWIFT replacements"... so what exactly is BRICS actually doing? 🕺

electricsurfer47 said:And yet, here we are again, seeing Russia holding its own during this phase where the West has been trying to help them out.
It’s basically just because nobody wants to put in the actual effort required to get rid of that narcissistic jerk in the White House.

https://www.trtrussian.com/mnenie/ka...oLl0Qj7ZiclJ74

You should have tried surviving in the Third Reich back in 1942...☕

It’s easy to play professor when you’re safely out of reach of the FBI—

Maybe a single phone call from the right people to Yeltsin 25 years ago would've been enough to kick that narcissistic punk out of the White House.

Lisa Jackson7 said:You should have tried surviving in the Third Reich back in 1942...☕

It’s easy to play professor when you’re safely out of reach of the FBI—

Maybe a single phone call from the right people to Yeltsin 25 years ago would've been enough to kick that narcissistic punk out of the White House.

Precisely! They ought to have simply called Yeltsin and demanded he remove Putin and throw him in prison for the sheer volume of crimes and embezzlement committed during his tenure. It seems we were missing just that one solitary phone call.

hollowdriver13 said:https://www.aa.com.tr/en/russia-ukra...ension/2906182

Russia is basically demanding that certain banks get let back into SWIFT, or else they’re threatening to scrap those grain export deals entirely.

But here's the thing... wait a second... I thought CIPS and SPFS were supposed to be the big "SWIFT replacements"... so what exactly is BRICS actually doing? 🕺

🤣Total joke. They were all talking big last year about how they didn't need SWIFT and would just build their own, now their BRICS thing is basically on shaky ground...

They're gonna be starving right next to all that wheat and mineral wealth pretty soon...🙂 I saw some news saying their airlines are going under because they can't get spare parts.🐔

Justin Mendoza16 said:🤣Total joke. They were all talking big last year about how they didn't need SWIFT and would just build their own, now their BRICS thing is basically on shaky ground...

They're gonna be starving right next to all that wheat and mineral wealth pretty soon...🙂 I saw some news saying their airlines are going under because they can't get spare parts.🐔

BRICS is nothing but an empty gesture; the Russians are left wondering what on earth to do with all those billions of Rupees. They are finally realizing how much the Indians played them with that contract, though under political pressure from Putin, they felt they had no choice but to agree. They celebrated it like a grand victory at the time, but now, it seems no one dares to even mention that business anymore.