mono-stereo alistair They abstained in the UN and made it clear they want Russia to negotiate and that was on only on day two. China’s decision to abstain dosn’t mean they’ve turned their back on Russia, if anything they’re just hedging thier bets.
bosstrabs Feigenbaum is well-respected for his insight, and this sets out the tightrope the PRC is walking… https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/02/24/china-faces-irreconcilable-choices-on-ukraine-pub-86515
mono-stereo LT42 Yup, I just don’t buy the idea being bandied about that Russia runs out of steam if Ukraine holds out for 10 days. It just seems daft.
LT42 There’s fighting about 30km outside of Kyiv in Bucha, a key route to the capital. Cruise missiles have hit targets in Kyiv and some have also been shot down. Russian soldiers using the opportunity to rob a few banks along the way.
LT42 mono-stereo I said all along the Donbass region may have been the goal all along and a completely open canal area to Crimea. He’ll settle for that if they do back off.
bosstrabs LT42 What’s inaccurate about it? As far as I know (and I may be wrong) the Russians only have control of Donetsk and Sevastopol (the latter already annexed), which are majority Russian speakers/Russian loyalists anyway.
LT42 bosstrabs What’s inaccurate about it? What’s clear since the start is the fact they’re not trying to take over every Ukrainian city. There are skirmishes all along the DPR border which were to be expected. They are not actively trying to take Odessa, Lyiv, Luhansk. Mariupol has some serious fighting at the minute. So to state they haven’t taken any major city yet sounds fucking stupid when the point of the whole exercise is to roll into Kyiv and decapitate Zelensky.
Old-Dutch Good article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/26/world/europe/russian-economy-ukraine-war.html
hugopal bosstrabs FT quoting a source estimating that less than 45% of the Russian central bank’s c.$622bn in foreign exchange reserves involves western counterparties or issuers - down from 90% 10 years ago, with Russia having attempted to reduce its exposure to potential sanctions in recent years and weeks. Still a shedload though. https://www.ft.com/content/cecda802-2750-4563-9405-ab1e35980893
hugopal Germany finally pledging to spend at least 2% of its GDP on military as per NATO requirements, and speed up its efforts to decrease dependency on Russian gas. A bit too little too late though. What a shitshow Merkel was and what a terrible legacy she’s left. https://www.ft.com/content/ffc46030-51c6-4d87-b81b-457a31fbcdc9
Jules72 The biggest impact of measures over the weekend is the confiscation of Russian central bank reserves… Putin will see that as theft (and a declaration of war?), although 1) they have been buying a LOT of renminbi recently and 2) his usable reserves (stashed in China) are still large
hugopal Jules72 although 1) they have been buying a LOT of renminbi recently and 2) his usable reserves (stashed in China) are still large See my post a few above - estimate of “less than 45%” of their central bank reserves were still in the west. Still will be a huge amount though.
