President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday Russia will only accept payments in rubles for gas deliveries to "unfriendly countries", which include all EU members, after Moscow was hit by unprecedented sanctions over Ukraine.
Russia might have started this war back in October or so, and hoped for a cold winter. Waiting til almost spring was a mistake, I think. Even if they can use the natgas addiction against Europe, now they have to wait another 6 or 7 months. It’s not clear they can do that.
And that’s if China doesn’t decide to play dirty. They might, for instance, offer yuan instead, and the Russians might be forced to accept that. I mean, after all, it’s not as if anyone can buy a damned thing with a ruble right now, and “anyone” includes Russians. But they might manage to get the things they need with China’s currency. That’d be a hoot.
I guess we’ll see in a few months. What I’m seeing is a huge win for Russia and China, with some short term gains for US and Europe being the biggest loser in all this.
Russia might have started this war back in October or so, and hoped for a cold winter. Waiting til almost spring was a mistake, I think. Even if they can use the natgas addiction against Europe, now they have to wait another 6 or 7 months. It’s not clear they can do that.
And that’s if China doesn’t decide to play dirty. They might, for instance, offer yuan instead, and the Russians might be forced to accept that. I mean, after all, it’s not as if anyone can buy a damned thing with a ruble right now, and “anyone” includes Russians. But they might manage to get the things they need with China’s currency. That’d be a hoot.
I guess we’ll see in a few months. What I’m seeing is a huge win for Russia and China, with some short term gains for US and Europe being the biggest loser in all this.