U.S. sanctions on Russia ‘mostly symbolic’ and will not trouble Moscow, economists say

cnbc ^ | Elliot Smith

[BenLurkin]

“The latest round of U.S. sanctions was a mostly symbolic exercise,” Agathe Demarais, global forecasting director at The Economist Intelligence Unit, told CNBC on Friday.

“Sanctions on Russian individuals and companies are irrelevant, as these people and firms have no ties to the US and probably no intention to ever use the U.S. dollar or to have bank accounts in the U.S.”

Demarais added that the sanctions on sovereign debt are less stringent than the initial market reaction would suggest, since they only target the primary debt market and can therefore “easily be circumvented via the secondary market.”

[Osagegirl]

Pence is a traitor

[Kazan]

You're lying. You're a neo-con shill.

If Russia associates with our enemies, it is because we have given them no other choice economically and because we have given them no reason to trust us.

The lies about Russian collusion and the lies about the Russian government paying off the Taliban are proof of how far we have gone to lie about them.

But, you won't address the point I made about Obama, will you? You coward, neo-con shill.

[ETL]

"...the Clinton campaign, and ultimately the Obama administration, colluded with Russians for the purpose of accusing Donald Trump of . . . yes . . . colluding with Russians."

--Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, Sept 26, 2020
___________________________________________________

Steele's Dossier Source Was a Suspected Russian Spy

Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, Sept 26, 2020

In an effort to depict Donald Trump as if he were in an espionage conspiracy with the Kremlin, the Obama administration used bogus information, from a man the FBI suspected was an actual Russian spy.

It turns out that Igor Danchenko, the man the FBI suspected of being an actual Russian spy, initially provided the bogus information about the American, Carter Page, through a former British spy, Christopher Steele.

Through a couple of cut-outs, Steele had been retained by the Clinton campaign to dig up -- or, alas, to make up -- Russian dirt on Trump. Through his private intelligence business in London, Steele was known to be working for Russian oligarchs, while Danchenko was on Steele's payroll.

That is, the Clinton campaign, and ultimately the Obama administration, colluded with Russians for the purpose of accusing Donald Trump of . . . yes . . . colluding with Russians."

--Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, Sept 26, 2020
_____________________________________________________

CIA told Obama of claim Hillary Clinton conjured Trump-Russia scandal

by Steven Nelson, New York Post, Sept 29, 2020

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on Tuesday revealed a bombshell allegation that Hillary Clinton ordered "a campaign plan to stir up a scandal" by linking President Trump to Russia in 2016 -- and that then-President Barack Obama knew about her possible role.

Ratcliffe disclosed the information in a letter published by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) just hours before Trump debates Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who was vice president at the time.

Clinton's alleged July 2016 plot would tar Trump by "tying him to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and the Russians' [alleged] hacking of the Democratic National Committee," Ratcliffe wrote Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Handwritten notes by then-CIA Director John Brennan, who now is a fiery anti-Trump commentator, say that Brennan briefed Obama on "alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016 of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services." ..."
____________________________________________

[Obama] CIA Chief Brennan hid intel saying Russia wanted Hillary win in 2016

May 13, 2020 - Ryan Morgan

Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell is working to declassify documents relating to the investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and, according to Fox News' Ed Henry, some of those declassified documents will actually show a Russian effort to benefit Hillary Clinton during the election, not Donald Trump.

Henry told Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday's "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that four or five new batches of intelligence are being declassified, one of which contains an assessment that Brennan sought to suppress, showing that Russia wanted Clinton to win. ...”

"Remember the U.S. intel community came out with that remarkable statement, an assessment that Russia meddled in the 2016 election, and most importantly the intel report claimed that Russia interfered because they wanted Donald Trump to win," Henry said. That of course followed the narrative of the now-discredited Steele Dossier.

Well, it turns out Obama’s CIA chief, John Brennan also had intel saying "actually Russia wanted Hillary Clinton to win because she was a known quantity, she had been secretary of state, and Vladimir Putin’s team thought she was more malleable..."

=================================================================

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-California), Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, on Robert Mueller's May 29, 2019 press conference:

Nunes: "Well, he [Mueller] should have been gone after day two.

He has no Russians, except for the Fusion and Clinton Russians, and possibly the dirty cop, the FBI's Russians, those are the only Russians that he has, to show “connections” to the Trump campaign.

Clearly, the Clinton operation is heavily working with Russians or Russian disinformation. He didn’t take time to look into any of that"
__________________________________________

Senator Lindsey Graham (R)
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee

July 27, 2020:

“ He [Igor Danchenko, working for Christopher Steele] calls up a bunch of people in Russia.

Who do you think this information came from?

It came from the Russian intelligence service."
__________________________________________________

Re: ((Vladislav Surkov))

"On October 11, 2016, [Christopher] Steele was interviewed in Washington by [Hillary-Obama] State Department official Kathleen Kavalec.

In that interview, he [Steele] identified two of his insider Kremlin sources as Vladislav Surkov and Vyasheslov Trubnikov.”

Surkov has spent over a decade moving up in the regime. In 2013, he became Putin's personal adviser, particularly on Georgia and Ukraine, where Putin has since made major territorial annexations.

Kremlin-wise, Surkov is top-echelon; he's sometimes referred to as "Putin's Rasputin."

Trubnikov is a longtime regime eminence who ran the SVR (Russia external intelligence service, analogous to the CIA) before Putin came to power. Since then, he has continued to be an insider, while moving on to critical positions...”

--Andrew McCarthy, National Review, May 29, 2019
Article: Was Brennan's 'Intelligence Bombshell' the Steele Dossier?
__________________________________________________

Below, via the FOIA, Obama-Hillary State Dept official Kathleen Kavalec's own personal notes from her interview with Christopher Steele, naming top-level Putin aide Vladislav Surkov and Vyasheslov Trubnikov as Hillary/DNC paid-for Steele dossier sources!

CU FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] Document Release — Kavalec Memo & Related Records:
https://www.scribd.com/document/409446360/CU-FOIA-Document-Release-Kavalec-Memo-Related-Records
______________________________________________________

Re: Vladislav Surkov:

"Foreign politicians talk about Russia's interference in elections and referendums around the world. In fact, the matter is even more serious: Russia interferes in your brains, we change your conscience, and there is nothing you can do about it."

—Vladislav Surkov, personal aide to Vladimir Putin
__________________________________________________

Re: Top-level Putin aide Vladislav Surkov (DEMOCRAT-Russia collusion)

"She [HILLARY CLINTON] launched the [Russia] 'reset' policy after the murders of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence agent who had been granted asylum in Britain, and Anna Politkovskaya, Russia's leading investigative journalist.

In both cases, the regime of Vladimir Putin was directly implicated. [both were poisoned]

Instead of trying seriously to deter Russian aggression, which in Ukraine so far has claimed more than 10,000 lives, the Obama administration in 2009 created the McFaul-Surkov commission.

Michael McFaul, Mr. Obama's chief adviser on Russia, was tasked with building civil society alongside Vladislav Surkov, a Kremlin aide responsible for suppressing it. ..."

— David Satter - Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
Wall Street Journal, June 12, 2017

[ETL]

2015 was a particularly busy year for your Russian comrades...

Moscow defense minister inks deals with Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua for joint exercises

by Bill Gertz, February 20, 2015

Russia agreed to provide military training for three leftist regimes in Latin America and increase military visits and exercises following a visit last week to the region by Moscow's Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu, Pentagon officials said.

Shoygu met with defense and military leaders in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua and signed several agreements on warship visits and military training during the visit, which ran from Feb 11 to 14.

It is not clear whether any new arms deals were completed during the visit.

Defense officials said the Russian leader is seeking bases in the region for strategic bomber flights that Shoygu recently promised would include flights over the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. ..."
______________________________________________________________________

2015: First Russia-China naval war games underway in Mediterranean

By Carol J. Williams
May 11, 2015

Reporting from Moscow —

Neither Russia nor China has one inch of coastline on the Mediterranean Sea, making it an unlikely and provocative venue for their first joint naval war games.

The 10 days of maneuvers that got underway Monday will include live-fire exercises in the strategic sea connecting Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The point is lost on no one: A powerful new alliance of eastern giants is flexing its muscles in the very backyard of Western Europe — much as China has done on its own in the Pacific.

The war games follow Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow, where he headlined Victory Day celebrations and spent three days making billion-dollar deals with Russian President Vladimir Putin. ...”

https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-china-russia-joint-naval-maneuvers-20150511-story.html
______________________________________________________________________

2015...

Russia and North Korea declare 2015 a ‘year of friendship’

“The biggest cause for concern is the growing military alliance between Russia and North Korea, with the two regimes recently announcing plans to conduct a series of joint army, navy and air force exercises this year.”

—Julian Ryall, Tokyo - Mar 11, 2015 - The Telegraph
______________________________________________________________________

2015...

[Venezuelan President] Nicolas Maduro with Opal Tometi (right), co-founder
of Black Lives Matter, in Harlem, Manhattan, December 2015.

______________________________________________________________________

Nicolas Maduro with Opal Tometi (black dress, center), co-founder of Black Lives Matter, in Harlem, Manhattan, December 2015.

[Mariner]

So much for the “punishing sanctions” the media were headlining.

[Kazan]

Address the point.

If Russia is such a national security, why do we have make up lies about the Russians colluding with Trump and about them paying off the Taliban to kill American troops?

Obama enabled our enemies every chance he got. Yet, his foreign policy sought to undermine the Russians every chance it got. Why should we believe he did so to protect the US when failed to do so in every other aspect of his foreign policy?

You can't address the points, can you?

You're a shill for globalist/uniparty/neo-con agenda, aren't you?

[ETL]

Go away. You’re obviously out of your friggin mind.

[Kazan]

It's always the sign of someone losing a debate when they refuse to address points they have no good answers to.

[aquila48]

[ETL]

You're a shill for globalist/uniparty/neo-con agenda, aren't you?

Your Russian comrades along with communist China and others (Iran, Venezuela, North Korea) are partners in a joint mission to, as they put it, establish a new international order.

Recall, Bill Clinton's treasonous ChinaGate scandal began in late 1996...

From the Sino-Russian Joint Statement of April 23, 1997:
"The two sides [China and Russia] shall, in the spirit of partnership, strive to promote the multipolarization of the world and the establishment of a new international order."

THE HUNGRY BEAR
PART 5: Russia, China 'cooking something up'
By W Joseph Stroupe | Sept 29, 2006
https://web.archive.org/web/20170721060215/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/HI29Ag01.html
______________________________________________________________________

"Joint war games are a logical outcome of the Sino-Russian Friendship and Cooperation Treaty signed in 2001, and reflect the shared worldview and growing economic ties between the two Eastern Hemisphere giants."

[ETL]

It's always the sign of someone losing a debate when they refuse to address points they have no good answers to.

I won't address it because it's insanely stupid! You're accusing ME of being an Obama supporter??? How in hell can I address a retarded thing like that. I've done nothing but provided facts as to how they (Obama-Biden-Hillary) colluded with YOUR Russian comrades, both during their 8 years in the White House AND during the 2016 and 2020 elections!

[mac_truck]

It's always the sign of someone losing a debate when they refuse to address points they have no good answers to.

Concurring bump...however the goal of these posters is to spread disinformation, not engage in debate.

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

I indulge a bit of Americana living here in Russia and am glad that they didn’t close the McDonald’s, Burger King, and KFC’s here like in 2014. There is a lot of American stuff here, Pepsi, Woka-Cola, Colgate, Mission Tortillas, etc, etc. America has a huge presence here now, more than when I lived here 6 years ago, a lot more. I think Russians are now very spoiled by American products and I wonder how they would react if it was taken away because of this bonehead president Biden. Also, you can’t believe how much Russian people hate Biden. It’s unbelievable how much I hear how dense Biden is, how he’s not there. Believe me, it’s not just us Americans who are aware of our not-all-there president.

[mac_truck]

If Russia is such a national security, why do we have make up lies about the Russians colluding with Trump and about them paying off the Taliban to kill American troops?

Imagine that...

Liz Cheney Was A Primary Culprit Of Spreading Fake News On Russian Bounties To Undermine Trump

[ETL]

Figures, mac-truck, chairman and CEO of the FR Putin butt kisser society, would chime in.

Russia, communist China, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, “Black Lives Matter”, Kazan and mac_truck. What a team.

[Kazan]

No, I'm accusing you of being a neo-con and neo-cons worked to get Biden elected because Trump refused to go along with their horrific foreign policy.

But, you won't address the point -- why was Obama so anti-Russian? Every other foreign policy position was either anti-American or pro-globalist. And, yes, being anti=Putin and anti-Russia is part of the globalists' agenda.

[Kazan]

WE go out of our way to embrace Russia's enemies like Ukraine, which we've weaponized against them, and implemented sanctions against them, leaving them only to work with our enemies.

But, you're too willingly blind to see Russia is nothing like China, North Korea or Iran. It's not much different than any European nation. So, there is no ideological affiliation between Russia and those nations.

As far as dealing with China goes, we, especially Democrats, have been in bed with China economically for decades even to the point it costs us American jobs.