by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on France Thumbs Nose at Obama Over Sanctions: Will Deliver Two Warships to Russia
The battle between the US and France has been brewing for months, but now it came to a head: the French government decided to spite the US and move forward with the contract to deliver two warships to Russia. To heck with those silly sanctions.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Russian Bank Lures German Savers As Russians Yank Out Money
Smart Russians are voting with their bank accounts, dumping rubles at the fastest rate since the financial crisis, and yanking dollars and euros out of banks at a record pace. So where do the teetering banks go to refill these holes? Where the dumb money is: German savers.
by Oilprice.com • • Comments Off on EU’s Case against Gazprom over “Extortionary” Prices Cracks Russian Influence
As Russian President Vladimir Putin tries to tighten his grip over Eastern Europe with Gazprom’s vast web of natural gas pipelines, one tiny European country gained a bit of leverage over Russia: Lithuania.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Putin Parties With German Ex-Chancellor, Sanctions Be Damned
Putin is a master at this game. Even as the sanction spiral is supposed to strangle his ambitions for the Ukraine, he set up a photo op of incomparable ingenuity. And his confidant, ex-Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schröder stepped in it with gusto.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on What the Heck is Going on With US Treasuries In Belgium?
The tiny country of Belgium with a GDP of $484 billion, a country that became famous to the chagrin of some people because it did just fine for a couple of years without a national government – well, it’s growing an enormous mountain of US Treasuries.
by Oilprice.com • • Comments Off on Russia Loses Leverage with China on ‘Holy-Grail’ Gas Deal
Russia’s primary energy customer is Europe, which is now planning sanctions. That has accelerated the natural gas deal Russia is trying to hammer out with China. But they’ve been negotiating for years, the biggest sticking point being price!
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on People In Eastern Ukraine: We Don’t Want To Be Annexed By Russia!
Armed pro-Russian separatists barricaded in official buildings in eastern Ukraine exhorted Uncle Putin to come to their aid. But sudden breath of fresh air: a poll found that an overwhelming majority of the people in that region want to remain part of Ukraine.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “Champion in value destruction”: Russian Businesses Suffocating Under Putin’s Political Agendas
Russia doesn’t need sanctions for its economy to slither into trouble. Last year, growth slowed to 1.3%, worst in four years. This year started out even shakier. The current entanglements are knocking the economy into outright recession, and fast.
by Oilprice.com • • Comments Off on A US-Saudi Move to Lower Oil Prices To Punish Russia?
That the US could unleash a flood of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to drive down prices has been pushed for weeks, most recently by George Soros, but has been dismissed as not a serious option. Then Obama went to Saudi Arabia.
