If Russia really makes true on its threat to only accept roubles, this would be a direct assault on the petrodollar. Going by history, doing that reduces the life expectancy of state leaders more than a cancer diagnosis... Just sayin'...


But for real: the contracts with Russia are clearly stating that the shipments are paid for in USD and/or Euro. If Putin shuts off the gas if we don't pay in roubles, he's undeniably in violation of the treaties and would thus throw his reputation in the toilet once and for all. Even the Indians or Chinese would have to fear that any contracts with Putin's Russia are "subject to change". Earlier in this thread, we've had this debate about how isolated Russia actually is on the world stage. Well, if Putin pulls this shit off, he will be a lot more isolated.

Putin isn't Gaddafi though, he's much better insulated. I know Joe Biden was being honest when he said we need to get rid of Putin because i'm sure that's been the discussion behind closed NATO doors for many years now, but that's actually much harder to accomplish versus some banana republic leader we're used to deposing.

I don't think Putin cares too much about the contracts. It's the west that weaponized economics and this goes back to 2014, you think the Russians care about playing by the economic rules where Europe can simultaneously freeze Russian accounts, push them out of international markets, while expecting business to go on as usual until it's convenient for Europe?

Also relevant. usd/rub trading at 96 now. Crashing from a 150 ish high it was on March 7th.

https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=USD&To=RUB

It's down almost 7% just today...someone is buying roubles on the open market

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/RUB=X/

This post was edited by ofthevoid on Mar 28 2022 10:50am

Yeah, I was half-joking with that sentence.

Regarding the contracts: this is not about how justifed the West or Russia are, this is about trust in the rule of (international) law and the reliability of contracts with Russia. When Putin violates these supply contracts by unilaterally changing the conditions, why would anyone - even neutral countries like India or South Africa - trust such contracts ever again? No matter how much tensions and animosity there were during the Cold War, Russia always kept its contractually agreed upon obligations. This trust in business being separate... separable from politics was the foundation for the trade the West was doing with Russia since 2014, but also from 1950 through 1990. What Putin is pulling here is the economic equivalent of the nuclear option.

Strategically speaking, it's also completely moronic. Not only will this further undermine Russia's economic future, it's also coming too late or too soon. If Putin wanted to call what he considers a bluff (the economic sanctions) by playing the "what are you gonna do when I turn off your gas"-card, he should have done so either a month ago or this coming November - not now, at the end of March with spring and summer around the corner.

A month ago, he probably thought Ukraine would fold and a Russian puppet would be installed. In November, maybe it's not too late, but by then Europe would significantly reduce Russian gas reliance so the sting would be way less. The time to strike is now, he can't afford to have the rouble completely crash nor can he afford to sit and wait for the Euros to slowly diversify. I disagree on the rule of law part, look at what happened with LME nickel trading a few weeks ago and tell me more about the honoring of contractual obligations.

Do you think there weren't contracts ripped apart when dozens of western corporations left Russia?

This post was edited by ofthevoid on Mar 28 2022 11:45am

There's about 900 people in Azov Battalion and far right political parties only receive 2-3% of the vote in Ukraine. Any ol' shill can post a picture of neo nazis

They are many. Donbass, Azov, Right Sector, C4

How many confirmed people are in these groups (confirmed, not RT), what percentage of the vote do their political parties receive, and what ethnicity is Ukraine's president?

Percentage of the votes they receive usually shows their support in the country, ain't it? Zelensky is obviously a Polish Jew, does it matter? No one is calling him a Hitler incarnate, unlike his vis-a-vis.

Right Sector: 10000 confirmed
Donbass: about 1000 confirmed
C4 (Sich): 100 confirmed
Azov: about 1500 confirmed

These are just 4 batallions, not to mention others like Misantropic Division (with friendly and positive motto: Killing for Odin) recruiting and training neo-nazies around the world to fight in Easter Ukraine.


This post was edited by Norlander on Mar 28 2022 12:19pm

In democracies

Edited. Took the info from German Wikipedia. They know sense in the phenomena of Nazism, I believe.