Indeed. There is definitely a Maslov's Need Hierarchy thing at play now. Ukrainians have moved down on the scale a couple notches and are worrying about whether there will be a country. How far left or right it will be is for another day.
Russian tank hiding from the Ukrainian tractor apex predators that are dragging its brother's corpse home.
Hate to be reminded of my time dealing with Russian poachers, hunters and rare specimen guys etc. but as the fella said there, there is no trust possible. You just have to use force straight out of the gate. I have to wonder how many died not yet grasping this, as I almost did, they can only be trusted in shackles.
Putin’s gas threat a ‘ploy to prop up the rouble’ Frances D'emilio and Geir Moulson Updated Apr 1, 2022 https://www.afr.com/world/europe/co...-s-ultimatum-to-europe-on-gas-20220401-p5aa0g Berlin| President Vladimir Putin insisted Russia’s natural gas must be paid for with roubles, a demand apparently intended to help bolster his country’s currency but one European leaders say they will not comply with because it violates the terms of contracts and sanctions. Mr Putin said Russia will start accepting rouble payments on Friday (Saturday AEDT) and gas supplies will be cut off if buyers don’t agree to the new conditions, including opening rouble accounts in Russian banks, from which the gas payments will be made. “If these payments are not made, we will consider it a failure of the buyer to fulfill its obligations, with all the ensuing consequences,” Mr Putin said. Ukrainian soldiers inspect a destroyed Russian tank on Thursday. AP European leaders cautiously insisted they willcontinue to pay for natural gas in euros and dollarsand want to see the fine print of how the Kremlin will implement its decree. It came a day after the leaders of Italy and Germany said they received assurances from Mr Putin about gas supplies. Mr Putin announced last week the countries deemed “unfriendly” for imposingsanctions on Russia over its war in Ukrainemust pay for natural gas only in Russian currency. heavily dependent on Russian natural gasand would struggle with a sudden cutoff. At the same time, Russia depends on oil and gas sales for much of its government revenue at a time its economy is under severe stress from Western sanctions. Mr Putin’s demand appeared to be part of Russia’s efforts to boost the rouble after the currency plunged under Western sanctions. After dropping as low as 143 roubles to the dollar in early March, on Thursday it took 82 roubles to buy a dollar, around the same level as the day Russia launched its invasion. Economists say switching the gas payments to roubles would do little to support the Russian currency, since gas exporter Gazprom has to sell 80 per cent of its foreign currency earnings for roubles anyway. The White House said on Thursday that the rouble is no longer a reliable measure of Russia’s economy because it’s being artificially propped up. Analysts at Evercore ISI said Mr Putin’s primary motive seems to be “to prove he can bend EU leaders to his will”. They also said that even if Russia is able to force the EU to pay for gas in roubles, the European countries could retaliate by imposing more tariffs on Russian oil imports or banning them outright. While Russia could eventually sell the oil, the price would likely be at a steep discount, the analysts said. The decree Putin signed and state news agency RIA Novosti published says a designated bank will open two accounts for each buyer, one in foreign currency and one in roubles. Buyers will pay in foreign currency and authorise the bank to sell it for roubles on Moscow’s currency exchange. The roubles would then be placed in the second account, where the gas is formally purchased. People are “wondering what Putin is up to,” said Tim Ash, senior emerging markets sovereign strategist at BlueBay Asset Management. Mr Putin may have read the German government’s unwillingness to boycott Russian energy “as weakness and is now trying to engineer this energy crisis ... the solution here is to call Putin’s bluff and say, sure, cut off energy supplies and see who breaks first”. AP
When people listen to Putin Nazi's label someone else Nazi's while slaughtering them they generally ... don't listen.