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“Look what you made me do!”
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From the Guardian liveblog:
Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan is the first leader to meet President Putin after Moscow attacked Ukraine this morning
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There are no “rules”, per se. They will defend themselves if attacked, and the treaty is that an attack on one is an attack on all. So if they shelled Polish troops, that would be the point where NATO would be forced to respond.
Them getting directly involved in Ukraine could happen if NATO jointly decided that is what they wanted to do. Nothing is stopping them but will.
IMO, a Russian controlled Ukraine would end up being a threat to NATO and weaken their position. Plus the whole “watching people drown” thing.
I was also thinking about Putin’s threat, that anyone getting involved would face an attack unlike anything before. I don’t think he was talking about nukes, but either shooting down key satellites, or more likely, massive cyber attacks. That MIGHT be an actual deterrent. I dunno.
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I don’t think they’re off the table. That wasn’t exactly a veiled threat. The Russian people heard it, too, which is likely why they’re starting to take to the streets in spite of the risks.
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Understatement.
He’s not taking into account the flood of Syrian refugees on the west, with Russian disinformation/Islamophobia (in feedback stereo with American organizations and people like Bolton), that destabilized governments and boosted the extreme right in many countries. That created the space for Trump to claim as his own.
Consider whose client state Syria is. Russia has military bases in Syria, but their “help” always seemed to be heavy bombing of population centers.
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If the USA is going to freeze Russian assets, we should start with the Republican Party.
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From the BBC liveblog:
These are the sanctions Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just announced the UK will put on Russia:
- All major Russian banks will have their assets frozen and will be excluded from the UK financial system. This will stop them from accessing sterling and clearing payments through the UK. This includes a full and immediate freeze of VTB bank
- Legislation will stop major Russian companies and the state from raising finance or borrowing money on UK markets
- Asset freezes will be put on 100 new individuals or entities
- The Aeroflot airline will be banned from landing in the UK
- There will be a suspension of dual use export licences to cover things which can be used for military purposes
- Within days the UK will stop exports of hi-tech items and oil refinery equipment
- There will be a limit on deposits Russians can make to UK bank accounts
- The UK has an intention to “work with allies” to shut off Swift payments but “its a challenge”, Johnson said
- Similar financial sanctions will be extended to Belarus for its role in the assault on Ukraine
- The UK will bring forward parts of the economic crime bill before the Easter recess
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At least 705 people have been arrested today at anti-war protests that have taken place in 40 Russian cities, the OVD-Info protest monitor said.
Remarkable numbers given the Russian authorities’ zero tolerance attitude to demonstrations.
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(Standard caveats on anything on social media right now.)
Brave, since there are other reports of protestors practically being arrested as they leave the house.
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Notably missing from that list: a ban on real estate transactions in the UK by Russian citizens. Most money laundering and asset parking by Russian oligarchs and corrupt Putin officials is done via that means rather than through banks in the UK (and the U.S.).
[h/t @nick_warr]
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I agree, especially a low yield one within Ukraine.
BUT, I also think having a nebulous threat like that sends people in a tizzy as they figure out WTF does he mean?
I know in the US it has been said for awhile our infrastructure is woefully insecure, and that has been seen with a few ransomware attacks. If they have a coordinated attack that shuts down power grids, it could cause domestic chaos to a bunch of NATO allies.
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There is a non-oligarch Russian community in the UK. I’ve no idea whether a ban on transactions by Russian citizens not resident in the UK would be possible. In any case, the oligarchs own property through offshore shell companies.
P.S.
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Easy enough to remedy with residency requirements and value exemptions up to a certain amount. Most of the scumbags are paying cash for properties worth 10s of millions of pounds and staying there 2 weeks out of the year at best.
True, but that’s a matter of forensic accounting. The main impediment to this sort of thing is, as always, de Pfeffel and the Tories.
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Yeah, the UK has the ability to hit the Klept / oligarch set where it hurts. But won’t. Similarly the Irish government are such prisoners to rigid right wing orthoxy that they won’t do the one thing they can: freeze/seize offshored assets in the IFSC in Dublin. Never happen while they are in power. They’ll blame the constitution but yet the Criminal Assets Bureau operates freely…
On a lighter note, check out mil.ru The error code is a beauty!
ETA to avoid tempting people to .ru domains. I am on a commercial VPN.
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