05/12/2022 / By Lance D Johnson
When the Russian military crossed into Ukraine and Vladimir Putin stated his military objectives there, European leaders were quick to escalate the situation, imposing sweeping economic and banking sanctions against the Russian people. These sanctions caused a domino effect of unintended consequences throughout Europe and the West.
The United States, Canada and Europe put up a tough, “united front” against Russia, but as their trade war against Russia escalated, supply chains were threatened and prices for valuable commodities increased throughout the West. European leaders talked a big talk against Vladimir Putin from the start, making empty demands without having much leverage at all. Russia responded to the sanctions by demanding that hostile nations in the West pay for Russian energy supplies with gold or Russian rubles. Vladimir Putin called Europe’s bluff and exposed the vulnerabilities of the West.
Now the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, is confirming that European gas buyers are paying for energy in Russian rubles. Draghi now says that “most gas importers” have opened up Ruble accounts with Gazprom and have acquiesced to Russian demands. One after the other, European gas buyers are violating the EU’s sanctions against Russia, as Western tough talk becomes nothing but a mere echo of weakness. The world’s reserve currency – the U.S. dollar – is taking a historic blow in the process, as Russia circumvents the petrodollar.
The West is quietly surrendering to Russia, as the Kremlin holds oil and fertilizer as leverage over the West. At the same time, the Biden regime is threatening to send more U.S. weapons and military equipment (up to $20 billion worth) to Azov, the Nazi brigades fighting in Ukraine. This is the same Nazi battalion that received rocket-propelled grenade launchers from a coordinated arms transfer at the U.S. embassy in Kiev, Ukraine. This is the same Azov battalion that received training from Western instructors over the past eight years. Not only have U.S. sanctions backfired, but their desperate military alliance with the Azov Nazi battalion have only put innocent Ukrainian people further in harm’s way.
As the Prime Minister of Italy, Draghi tried to claim that Italy would be able to pay for gas without breaching the EU sanctions against Russia. However, when questioned on how confident he was that Italy would be able to keep gas flowing without violating EU sanctions, Draghi tried to weasel his way out. “I’m actually quite confident, but for a silly reason. There is no official pronouncement of what it means to breach sanctions. Nobody ever said anything about whether rubles payments breach sanctions or not, how these payments are organized. So, it’s such a gray zone here.”
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen made it clear on April 27 that European gas companies should not bend to Russia’s energy demands. “Companies with such contracts should not accede to the Russian demands,” von der Leyen said. “This would be a breach of the sanctions so a high risk for the companies.”
Draghi finally confessed that most of Europe couldn’t defend its sanctions and was already kowtowing to Putin’s energy demands. “As a matter of fact, most gas importers have already opened an account in rubles with Gazprom,” Draghi said, revealing that Europe continues to pay billions per day to Russia and on Russia’s terms! There is not a united front against Russia. It’s all empty talk.
Russia will continue to destroy any military equipment that is brought into Ukraine by NATO countries, and they will get rich while doing so, as the West’s economic and banking warfare schemes backfire, as supply chains shake worldwide, and as innocents continue to suffer.
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Azov Nazi battalion, banking sanctions, blowback, currency, economic sanctions, economic warfare, economics, empty demands, energy, European Union, gas supply, leverage, narrative collapse, natural gas, needless suffering, risk, ruble, rubles, Russia, Russia-Ukraine conflict, Western failures
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