Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Specialka]

(points at Biden's announcement) That's US, baby.

France should ban cheese and wine from Russia !

[Mihalik]

France should ban cheese and wine from Russia !

At this point I'm pretty sure that outside fossil fuels, nickel, aluminium and asbestos the only exports Russia has is caviar, teenage girlfriends for old rich guys and organized crime.

[Elegiac]

France should ban cheese and wine from Russia !

Can we ban bad Italian booze while we're at it. Just saying.

[DarkTZeratul]

The Iranians could help...if not for the retarded fucking Trump sanctions.

Might be wishful thinking, but this could be a great time for Biden to use mutual self-interest to try and quickly improve foreign relations.

[Elegiac]

At this point I'm pretty sure that outside fossil fuels the only exports Russia has is caviar, teenage girlfriends for old rich guys and organized crime.

Look. It is a biological fact that young, nubile women are invariably and insatiably physically attracted to grody old billionaires. /s

[Specialka]

At this point I'm pretty sure that outside fossil fuels the only exports Russia has is caviar, teenage girlfriends for old rich guys and organized crime.

You did not get it (like at all), the USA is one (if not the biggest) producer of fossil products, who cares if they ban those coming from Russia when they produce it at home ?

[Adam Jensen]

When they post record profits in a couple months I’ll do my best to restrain my shocked pikachu.

Yeah. If they're making record profits, they don't need to raise the gas prices.

They're just greedy shitstains and I for one can't wait for our industries to be overhauled so we don't need these scumbags ever again.

We'll just need other scumbags instead.

[Mihalik]

Might be wishful thinking, but this could be a great time for Biden to use mutual self-interest to try and quickly improve foreign relations.

The Russians are trying to sabotage those negotiations.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ions-exemption

Tho frankly the US/EU could, if they wanted to just have bilateral talks with the Iranians and pretty much ignore the Russians. The more complicated bit is whether China is willing to go along with that or not. The issue is that after all the sanctions we kinda made the Iranians dependent on the Russians and Chinese for pretty much everything that they can't make themselves (pretty much everything). So lifting the sanctions on Iran wouldn't quite cut it, we would have to go much further and actually help the Iranians directly, economically, industrially etc...and that's a tough sell in the US as the chances of Israel going along with that are exactly fucking zero.

[Forogil]

It is a very effective buffer zone for your soft ex-Warsaw Pact EU and non-EU underbelly.

It's not an effective buffer zone when Russia already has direct borders to the Baltics, Finland, Norway, and Poland (especially if Belarus is a vassal country).
The east European plain goes across Poland into Germany - and that would be the logical attack route for attacking mainland Europe from Russia (and also the route that Russia historically fears attack from); and that way is pretty similar with and without Ukraine.

Clearly most countries prefer that Russia attack some other country than themselves (and especially if it is costly for Russia), but it in no way makes Ukraine some form of a buffer zone.

[Mihalik]

You did not get it (like at all), the USA is one (if not the biggest) producer of fossil products, who cares if they ban those coming from Russia when they produce it at home ?

It does have an effect, as many companies shipping and processing crude, even if done outside the US, might be US based. It's why the sanctions on Cuba are so complicated despite them being practically unilateral as nobody else has signed up to them outside the US.

[Rasulis]

While that will help, it's not enough to offset the demand in any meaningful way. The Iranians could help...if not for the retarded fucking Trump sanctions.



The problem with Venezuela is that it's ability to ramp up production is highly questionable. The state of its industry is...abysmal.

Unfortunately, if we want the solutions to stick, we have to think long-term. Europe need to increase their LNG terminals capacity. US LNG terminals are at full capacity now with nowhere to go. The problem is that Europe does not have enough capacities to receive all of US LNG. This is good for both countries. Europe can start getting their LNG from US, and US can stop flaring because of overproduction.

Venezuela oil production is currently at 20% of its peak in 2014. Mostly due to sanction. Once sanction is lifted and companies like EXXON and Chevron could go back in, production can ramp up quickly.

[jonnysensible]

Gaidax is in a weird position of wanting to condemn Russia while fully supporting the kind of shit they’re doing. Their takes on this situation are… special.

isnt he an Israeli settler lol, i wonder why his position is what it is.


The CIA fella today was quite clearly indicating that Russia isn't going to end this at Ukraine and will have to be stopped there.

[Rasulis]

France should ban cheese and wine from Russia !

I don't think any self-respecting French citizen will eat Russian cheese. I tried them when we did the St. Petersburg - Moscow cruise. They did not taste right.

[Poopymonster]

There's a legit Catch 22 here.

Putin cannot withdraw because that would be the end of his regime and would massively destabilize Russia internally. But he also cannot afford to win. Ukraine cannot surrender territory to Russia as that would still legitimize the bullshit Putin just pulled.

But, really the only possibly outcome that I see that Putin can sell at home to stop the bloodshed is to annex the Crimea and Donbass and for Ukraine to give up those territories. In exchange Ukraine could possibly demand for Russia to accept Ukrainian EU and NATO membership. It's a solution that will make everyone unhappy.

Tho, the sanctions will likely going to have to remain in place in full or partially, and Vladimir Putin will have to come down much harder on internal dissent, going full KGB/NKDV/CCP on the population, to hold onto power.

Ukraine joins NATO, then you can hear Angelo Rossitto's voice say "Lift embargo."

[Rasulis]

Its about the world as a whole. The US is #1 for crude, but Russia was a close second until recently.

Russian oil companies are in deep shit right now. They have been relying on BP & Shell expertise and equipment, and funding for their arctic drilling which is very challenging. Even if the sanctions are lifted today, those won't be coming back anytime soon. If at all. It looks like the world oil giants are turning their eyes to Africa and South America. Arctic oil cost way too much to get out of the ground.

[Poopymonster]

From a supply perspective, US import of oil from Russia is miniscule to the point of negligible. Our biggest source of oil import is from Canada followed by SA, UAE, etc.

The US actually produced enough crude to be domestically self-sufficient. The problem is the refining part. The US shipped our sweet and light crude to refineries in Europe and China, and the world shipped their heavy and sour crude to US refineries. Legacy of the 90s and early 2000s when refineries were only capable of processing one type of crude. Such is not the case anymore. The new refineries can be calibrated to refine either. Maybe not 100% optimal, but good enough.

As for price, oil and gas are global commodities. Shortage in Europe will impact what we pay here. It is what it is.

They make a nice chunk of change refining not-US oil. Probably more than refining the US oil. Why would they spend money, to make less? It's the same reason you only see USA or US in uppercase letters. It shows how into Capitalism we are.

[Mihalik]

Venezuela oil production is currently at 20% of its peak in 2014. Mostly due to sanction. Once sanction is lifted and companies like EXXON and Chevron could go back in, production can ramp up quickly.

I don't see Western companies going back to Venezuela without the Maduro regime going away first. The issue is that any investment you make in Venezuela is prone to getting randomly nationalized. That's what happened the last time.

[Specialka]

I don't think any self-respecting French citizen will eat Russian cheese. I tried them when we did the St. Petersburg - Moscow cruise. They did not taste right.

I am not even sure they are edible. Ruski palate STRONK

[Adam Jensen]

Exactly, I'm willing to pay more because I can. But the example I gave, the guy now pays half his income on energy and the other half on housing. He still got to eat and pay his healthcare insurance. I still support the sanctions but they have to support these people too.

It would be wise for governments to help bail out low income people hurt by rising energy costs . . . but we all know conservatives will throw a hissy fit about "soshulism" or something.

[Gaidax]

Ruski palate STRONK

Tru, blin.