₦airaland Forum

President Zelensky’s economic adviser also suggests issuing 0% war bonds

Ukrainian economic adviser Oleg Ustenko has requested $50 billion in financial support from the G7 countries to cover the budget deficit created by the military conflict with Russia in a television address on Sunday.

Kiev is also considering issuing 0% coupon bonds to bridge the fiscal gap, as Ukraine is currently facing an estimated $7 billion deficit a month.

While there are no agreements on new financial aid, Ustenko claimed the issue will be “actively discussed” with Western partners over the next week.

In the meantime, the World Bank is preparing a $1.5 billion support package for Ukraine. The loan will include a $1-billion payment from the development lender’s fund for the poorest countries. The funding comes on top of about $923 million in fast-disbursing financing approved by the World Bank last month.

The US and NATO have also been sending billions of dollars Ukraine’s way, although in the form of military aid rather than cash. The Biden administration just last week approved yet another $800 million in weapons, ammunition, and other military assistance including artillery systems, rounds, armored personnel carriers, and helicopters. It comes less than a month after Washington sent an $800 million bundle of anti-aircraft systems, firearms, ammo, and body armor Kiev’s way on March 16.

Washington’s contribution has been matched by that of the European Union and several individual member states, including Germany and Sweden, some of which have violated their own long-standing policies of not supplying lethal aid to countries at war by flooding Ukraine with anti-tank weapons, Stinger missiles, and armored vehicles, among other military equipment.

However, even amid a constant stream of military aid by the US and NATO allies, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted a video calling for the rest of the world to #ArmUkraineNow – complete with a very specific grocery list of desired equipment. Should countries fail to deliver, the Ukrainian leader claimed, Poland, Moldova, Romania, and the Baltic states would quickly fall under the tank treads of the Russian army.

Moscow has repeatedly stated it has no plans to even occupy Ukraine, let alone invade neighboring nations, but the talking point has become a favorite for Zelensky.

Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.

The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.

https://www.rt.com/russia/554046-ukraine-requests-50-billion-funding/

Sanctioning Russian oil could trigger record catastrophe, oil export cartel warns

Current and future sanctions on Russia could spawn one of the worst oil supply shocks in history, OPEC secretary general Mohammed Barkindo warned EU officials on Monday, adding that it would be impossible to replace the volume of oil lost in such an event. Some 7 million barrels of Russian oil per day are leaving the world market as a result of sanctions and other restrictions on Russian trading, Barkindo claimed.

The OPEC official also told the EU that the current volatility in the market is due to “non-fundamental factors” beyond OPEC’s control and that it is the responsibility of the EU to promote a “realistic” approach to energy transition.

The EU has announced it plans to join the US and UK in instituting an embargo on Russian energy products. However, unlike the US and UK, Europe imports a majority of its energy supplies from Russia, and experts have warned that attempting to cut off the supply could have catastrophic results. In particular, Germany is anticipating the collapse of entire industries, while the head of Austrian energy giant OMV has declared it would be “impossible” for his country to quit buying Russian gas.

While the US has promised to step up and fill the gaps with its more expensive liquefied natural gas exports, most of Europe’s LNG terminals are already operating at capacity, meaning there would be no place to store the fuel. Other countries are eager to use the crisis as an opening to push into renewable fuels.

Nevertheless, the European Parliament demanded last week an immediate and total embargo on Russian imports of oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear fuel, and it is expected to have a significant negative impact on European standards of living if followed through. Some countries, such as Hungary and Slovakia, have made clear they plan to ignore the ban out of self-preservation, though others have warned their citizens to tighten their belts and get ready for lean times ahead.

Oil and gas aren’t the only commodities whose supply is drying up amid the war in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine together produce about a third of the world’s wheat exports, and both countries are also major exporters of sunflower oil and fertilizer. As a result, food prices have hit historic highs, and many countries and NGOs are warning of food shortages looming in the near future.

https://www.rt.com/news/553712-eu-cant-replace-fuels-opec/

I don't know whatever this man is taking but I know that sh!t is working

Further supplies from Bundeswehr stockpiles would undermine Germany’s own defense capabilities, Christine Lambrecht has said

The German military can no longer supply Ukraine with weapons from its stockpiles, Germany’s Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has said.

In an interview with Die Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung published on Saturday, Lambrecht said that while “we all have an obligation to support Ukraine in its courageous fight,” in terms of “supplies from the Bundeswehr’s stockpiles” Germany has “in the meantime reached a limit.” She explained that the German military had to “be able to ensure” the country’s own defense.

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t do more for Ukraine,” Lambrecht stressed, suggesting that Kiev could buy equipment it needed from German manufacturers directly. The minister pointed out that the German government “was constantly coordinating” with the authorities in Kiev to facilitate such purchases.

When asked exactly what kind of weaponry was being considered for delivery to Ukraine, Lambrecht refused to go into detail, adding that “there are good reasons why we have classified precisely this information as secret.”

She noted that it was Ukraine that “emphatically” asked Germany not to divulge specifics.

“One must always bear in mind: The moment the deliveries are published in detail, Russia would also have this information. And that alone would have military strategic implications,” she said.

Lambrecht admitted that Germany’s own military was not “as equipped as is necessary.” The minister stressed that she was determined to change this, however, citing Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine as a wake-up call for Berlin.

Speaking on the topic of European defense, the German official pointed out the significance of NATO’s battle groups, adding that the German military was contributing a lot to the alliance’s initiative.

Lambrecht admitted there’s a concern in Germany that weapons supplies could trigger a reaction by Moscow and “war may expand to other areas.” That’s why, she said, it is important “that we act very prudently and with a cool head in these difficult and horrific times.”

Unlike countries such as the US and UK, Germany had initially stopped short of providing Ukraine with lethal weapons after Russia launched its military offensive against its neighbor on February 24. However, amid growing pressure both from Ukraine itself and Germany’s NATO allies, Berlin changed tack, and has supplied at least 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 portable anti-aircraft missiles from its stockpiles. Plans for more deliveries of the same type of weaponry were announced in late March.

Since the launch of Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, NATO countries and their allies have refrained from direct military involvement in the conflict but have been supplying Ukraine with arms, ammunition, and fuel.

Moscow has repeatedly said Western arms supplies only serve to prolong the conflict and even warned that Russian forces could potentially target such deliveries.

Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

The German and French brokered Minsk Protocol was designed to regularize the status of the regions within the Ukrainian state.

Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two regions by force.

https://www.rt.com/news/553592-germany-weapons-deliveries-ukraine/

Releases to the press were intended to “deter” Russia, even if the intel was flimsy, NBC has revealed

US intelligence officials leaked information about the Ukraine conflict that wasn’t “rock solid” and outright made up some claims, all to win an “info war” against the Kremlin, according to an NBC News report on Wednesday. The officials admitted to, and boasted about, releasing this misinformation.

When the American media cited US “intelligence” to warn that Russia was preparing to use chemical weapons in Ukraine, and when President Joe Biden repeated these warnings, they were participating in a disinformation campaign, the NBC report reveals.

According to the intelligence officials who came up with the warning, the intention was to discourage Russia from actually using these weapons, even though they themselves rated the intelligence used “low confidence.”

NBC quotes the officials involved in releasing such “low confidence” intelligence, who described their mission to misinform as part of an effort to “undermine Moscow’s propaganda and prevent Russia from defining how the war is perceived in the world.”

Some releases were accurate. For instance, the Biden administration insisted for weeks that Russian President Vladimir Putin intended to launch an assault on Ukraine.

More were fabricated: A report that Putin was “being misled by his own advisers,” as NBC put it, was made up. So was an assertion by US officials that Putin had turned to China for military aid. Despite being fabricated, the latter was released to discourage China from actually doing what the officials said it was doing – sending arms to Russia, they said.

One European official cited by NBC said that the report was “a public game to prevent any military support from China.”

“There’s no way you can prove or disprove that stuff,” a retired intelligence operative told NBC regarding the claims that Putin was being misled by his own team.

Prior to the outbreak of war, US media warned for weeks that Russia was laying the groundwork to attack Russian-speakers in the Donbass region and blame the attack on Ukrainian nationalists, thus generating a pretext for war.

These reports cited Pentagon and State Department officials and unnamed “intelligence sources,” none of whom provided evidence to back up their claims. When pressed, State Department spokesman Ned Price said that those who doubted the claims were finding “solace in the information the Russians are putting out.” Now the NBC story reveals that the assertion was indeed cooked up by US spies.

“It doesn’t have to be solid intelligence,” one US official said. “It’s more important to get out ahead of [the Russians], Putin specifically, before they do something.”

While the officials cited in the report admitted to at the very least exaggerating their claims, another unnamed US official quickly responded to the network, insisting that the National Security Council and “intelligence community” made sure to “validate the quality” of everything they released to the public.

One of the authors of the NBC story is Ken Dilanian, a national security reporter shown in 2014 to have had a “collaborative” relationship with the CIA. He was disavowed by his then-employer, the Los Angeles Times, as the result.

https://www.rt.com/russia/553428-spies-fake-news-ukraine-nbc/

I don't know this man before now.

German Chancellor had reportedly attempted to convince the Ukrainian leader to drop NATO membership plan

Zelensky rejected peace offer days before Russian offensive – WSJ
German chancellor Olaf Scholz had offered Volodymyr Zelensky a chance for peace just days before the launch of the Russian military offensive, but the Ukrainian president turned it down, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported.

Scholz had made what the US outlet described as “one last push for a settlement between Moscow and Kiev” less than a week before the Russian forces were sent into Ukraine on February 24.

The chancellor told Zelensky in Munich on February 19 “that Ukraine should renounce its NATO aspirations and declare neutrality as part of a wider European security deal between the West and Russia,” the paper writes. The daily also claims that “the pact would be signed by Mr. Putin and Mr. Biden, who would jointly guarantee Ukraine’s security.”

However, Zelensky rejected the offer to make the concession and avoid confrontation, saying that “[Russia’s President Vladimir] Putin couldn’t be trusted to uphold such an agreement and that most Ukrainians wanted to join NATO,” the WSJ reports, without revealing its sources for the information.

“His answer left German officials worried that the chances of peace were fading,” the report points out.

Scholz and Zelensky did meet on that day on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, at which each delivered an address.

Russia attacked its neighbor in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics in Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French brokered protocols had been designed to regularize the status of those regions within the Ukrainian state.

Russia has now demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the rebel regions by force

.

https://www.rt.com/news/553213-zelensky-scholz-ukraine-peace/

Terrier99:
I usually don't entertain jejune arguments but I'll make an exception for you.
Germans beat Russians so bad that they almost took Moscow.

https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_of_Moscow

You still haven't answered my question.

Which country captured Berlin that ended the war in Europe?

Terrier99:
Taliban chased Russians outside Afghanistan back into Russia.
Russia that Hitler nearly wiped out if not for America and the Allied forces. Hitler got to 20km from Moscow.
Mention 1 war won by Russians in recent history. Just 1.

The way some of you just come here to talk will make one wonder if the only people here are kids. Which country captured Berlin?�

Europe can’t replace Russian oil and gas supplies, no matter how much the US and Qatar pony up

By sanctioning Russia without a plan for replacement fuel, the European Union may have hurt itself more than Moscow in its drive to punish Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, former European diplomat Alastair Crooke told RT.

NATO’s economic attack on Russia has split world powers into “two separate spheres,” Crooke explained on RT’s ‘Going Underground’ on Saturday. He argued that by completely decoupling the price of commodities from the US dollar, sanctions on Russia have essentially dynamited the credibility of the fiat currency system, and Europe has made the wrong move by rushing forward to bludgeon Russia with sanctions without lining up a backup source of fuel.

“In many ways, Europe has not sanctioned Russia, it has sanctioned itself,” Crooke said, pointing out that the conflict in Ukraine is essentially being paid for by $100 billion in European funds previously sent to Moscow to pay for fuel, and the the Europeans “cannot get gas from anywhere else that will substitute for Russian gas.” By cutting itself off without lining up a backup, the continent has signed its own death warrant, as Europeans will have a difficult time surviving under double-digit inflation without critical (now-sanctioned) commodities like fertilizer and certain types of food, he continued.

READ MORE: Anti-Russian sanctions don’t work – Poland
“I don’t see any sign that Europeans gave any thought to the strategic consequences of what they were doing,” Crooke observed, suggesting the “fervor” to take down Russia had eclipsed its common sense. The EU gets 40% of its gas from Russia, while the US’ offer of liquefied natural gas will only cover 4% of its needs and Qatar cannot supply the remainder.

“They go into these things without any thinking and they suddenly say ‘we’re going to divest ourselves from any reliance on Russian oil or gas within the year’ - How?” Crooke asked incredulously, marveling at how the continent could not have predicted that Russia would demand payment for its gas in rubles. “People are going to feel a huge amount of pain … gas and electricity have gone up 50%, they’ll probably go up another 100% before the end of this year. How are people going to survive with this?

https://www.rt.com/news/553191-europe-russian-gas-sanctions-crooke/

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what's in that gift box self

So?