Scratch the surface of any of Russia’s aggressive moves and petroleum is usually at the bottom of it.
Pretty ironic because typically, that is what has been asserted about the US.
Double irony indeed......
Yup. And that’s really all it’s about.
And the griping Putin engages in with regard to American economic dominance is really a swipe at US oil companies doing exploration in both Russia and former Soviet Union republics...that Vlad’s gang used to control.
That’s our stuff! They say.
And they have something of a point, but it’s more about survival because of the collapse of demand for Soviet industrial products: once the guaranteed market of the Warsaw Pact countries went away, Russia had one thing left to sell.