Not sure, perhaps they were told to do so by China? Interestingly, population-wise the bloc who abstained or voted against actually constitutes about half the world's population, mainly due to the inclusion of China and India.
Russia and Africa have a massive import-export train going that puts billions in the pockets of African leaders.
Central Bank of Russia Launches SWIFT Replacement With 399 Users Russia is making it's own bank system. Mostly Russia, Belarus, & they're trying to get China to join.
ok, then bacon dude what would you say G8tas is the reason for all those African countries abstaining?
That is not necessarily so. That is a risk, certainly, and Vlad wants us to think that one leads to the other, but I think he’s posturing because foreign intervention is his worst nightmare since his army is struggling. I don’t believe that he will escalate to general warfare in the event of, say, a UN no-fly zone, but we will never know. What if Russia says next stop supplying Ukraine with arms or it’s nuclear war? Now lift the sanctions or it’s nuclear war? Now eject the Baltic states from NATO or it’s nuclear war? Are we going to back off everything just because they have nukes? Pointing out the obvious here, but we have nukes, too. And ours actually work. I’m not saying I want to use them. I don’t. But the Russians don’t want nuclear war either, and they have every motivation we do to keep the war limited. Like I said, though, we will never know. Two things to consider: What is our timid approach in the face of a brazen invasion of an independent country teaching China? We should have taken Taiwan years ago. The Americans were never going to do anything since we have the bomb. What is it teaching Iran? Once we have the bomb, we will be able to do whatever we want, and the Americans won’t do a thing.
Re: what the Russians are doing to the civilian population in Ukraine. Don't think for a minute they would not do the same thing to the rest of Europe and even us if given the chance. That anyone who calls themselves an American would carry water for the Russians is beyond the pale. They are the antithesis of what this country has historically stood for.
They made that a while ago, I think a more realistic option is to integrate with China's CIPS, which in turn is integrated with SWIFT. They could use that as a way to circumvent the SWIFT ban.
That’s horrible about your friend’s Oma. My Oma and mom, along with 2 siblings, ran easterly towards France since it wasn’t too far away. They were met with French rifles in the face. Just today she was talking about sleeping in the woods and having to pick mushrooms for food. We never trusted the Russians. At least the French let us live she said.
Honest question, but what would you have us do? Risk an all out war over a country that doesn’t have a ton of strategic value for us, when Europe should be more than capable of defending itself if it chooses to? Party and politics aside, I think we have handled it pretty well. China will be light years more concerned about the economic consequences because they are completely dependent on the west for their economy. They have also been trying fairly hard to clean up their image as a global player, and world pariah isn’t something they would ever want. I honestly think they are shocked at the depth and strength of the backlash on this. Look at how they have been slowly backing away from Russia this week. As far as Iran, the boogeyman that folks treat them as baffles me. They are a bad actor, but we could wipe them out in about 10 minutes if we chose to and pose little threat to our core interests even if they had the bomb. And yes, Israel is under threat, but what is Iran going to do, nuke their own holy sites? It’s only 33 Miles from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and Israel could obliterate them if they ever went that route.
For you dancing with the stars fans, you can all breathe easy, Maks made it home safe. Maksim Chmerkovskiy Arrives Safely In Los Angeles From Ukraine- Update – Deadline
Between initial capital investment and money he put in the club he’s out of pocket around £1.8B. Rumor is that he’s already received one offer for £2.4B and more are on the way. So that should be at least £600MM for displaced Ukranians.
He’s worth 13 billion, this is money he expects to recoup in goodwill, or at least fewer protests or boycotts against his interests.
On a lighter note my wife's Great Aunt was thrown in jail for telling someone the stamps tasted better before Hitler came to power (she hated him).
Wow, ballsy. confirmed 'Wanted: Dead or Alive': Russian Tycoon Puts $1M Bounty on Putin's Head (msn.com) Russian businessman is offering $1 million to any military officer who apprehends Russian President Vladimir Putin "dead or alive" for committing war crimes in his invasion of Ukraine. Alex Konanykhin, an entrepreneur and former banker, posted the bounty on social media as Russia enters a full week of military action against the neighboring country. Western governments and companies have responded to the invasion by seeking to economically punish Putin and Russia's ruling elite. The bounty offered by Konanykhin, who is now based in the U.S., places an even more direct target on the Russian leader as backlash over the invasion continues to escalate. Konanykhin said in a Facebook post Tuesday that he promised to pay the officer or officers the money for arresting "Putin as a war criminal under Russian and international laws." "As an ethnic Russian and a Russia citizen, I see it as my moral duty to facilitate the denazification of Russia," Konanykhin said in the post. Putin has sought to justify his invasion of Ukraine by saying Russian forces would "denazify" the country, an explanation that has been dismissed by Western powers.
Spanky trying to put the gang back together again. Not seeing the people supporting it. Sounds all too familiar to what we were being fed before we went into Afghanistan. These guys were telling Putin anything to get him to return them to glory and his ego wouldn't let him say no
Ukrainian authorities said captured Russian tanks wouldn't be counted as part of citizens' income. They said that seized tanks and military equipment need not be declared for tax purposes. They said such items would be considered a "manifestation of the unity and cohesion" of Ukrainians Ukrainian authorities say citizens don't need to declare captured Russian tanks and military equipment for tax purposes
