Side note to Finland: Be aware that her answer will probably involve magical unicorns.
Posted on 05/20/2022 5:00:21 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Let the record show that Russia may see cutting off its future revenues as a lesser price to pay than denting Vladimir Putin’s ego. And that could very well be a rational calculation, given the tremendously destabilizing impact that a humiliation in Ukraine would likely produce. However, the humiliations stacking up on the other side of the equation carry a cost too, sometimes literally :
Russia will cut natural gas supplies to Finland on Saturday, according to Finland’s state energy provider, the latest salvo in a growing confrontation between the two countries over the war in Ukraine.
Finland this week applied to join NATO, reversing a longstanding policy of military neutrality and angering Russia, which sees the eastward expansion of the alliance as a threat to its national security. Moscow had previously threatened “retaliation” if Finland joined NATO. The two countries share an 830-mile border.
The ostensible reason for the halt in Russian gas exports, though, was a dispute over payments that had been rumbling for weeks.
Gasum, the Finnish energy provider, said on Friday that Russia was suspending the supply of natural gas to Finland starting at 7 a.m. the next morning because the country had failed to comply with Moscow’s demand to make payments in rubles. The move comes just days after Moscow also suspended electricity exports to Finland, citing payment issues.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
Also Russia is proposing to lift the age caps on recruitment and conscription to get more middle-aged men into the military:
[EXCERPT]
Under an amendment introduced by senior lawmakers, Russians older than 40 would be able to sign first-time military service contracts. The law would bring in more service members with in-demand specialties, such as medical workers and engineers, a statement from the lower house of Parliament said on Friday.
“Highly professional specialists are needed” to operate military equipment, the statement said, making no mention of a manpower shortage in the field.
“Highly professional specialists are needed” to operate military equipment, the statement said, making no mention of a manpower shortage in the field.
But experts say Russia is suffering from a manpower shortage as it takes losses in Ukraine.
Europe had made it clear that carbon fuels were going to be phased out long before the first Russian tank entered Ukraine in 2022.
Russia’s future natural gas export market is China.
In other news, Finland already has new partners for energy imports. They announced a trade deal today with Estonia, a far more reliable partner
See here:
https://www.jwnenergy.com/article/2022/5/20/new-lng-deal-will-allow-finland-estonia-to-end-rus/
[EXCERT]
Excelerate Energy Inc. signed a 10-year deal to move a ship that stores liquefied natural gas to Finland, allowing the nation and its neighbor, Estonia, to end Russian natural gas imports as soon as winter.
At a ceremony in Helsinki, state-owned natural gas distributor Gasgrid Finland Oy agreed Friday to charter the use of a specialized tanker from Excelerate known as a floating storage and regasification unit, or an FSRU. The ships are used as offshore LNG import terminals.
....
Finland and Estonia account for roughly 3 billion cubic meters of demand per year and the tanker can deliver 5 billion cubic meters per year, Excelerate’s CEO Steven Kobos said in a telephone interview from Finland. That’s around 52 cargoes, according to company figures.
Also, Finland had already begun switching from Russia to Norway for its oil imports in the immediate aftermath of the invasion. They will find other sources, likely domestic, for the rest of the imports shown on the chart from 2021. Those changes will likely be permanent too.
I have the sense that those itching for a confrontation with Russia have spent all of four and a half minutes thinking through where this might end up.
It's going to get awful crowded on the Norwegian natgas tit this winter...
“We’ve always been at war with East Asia.”
The herds of Finn unicorns will be able to fill their natgas pipelines by backing up to special inlets to release the magic unicorn gas...
It looks like children are running Europe [and US energy policy, too, for that matter].
It is also clear this is a pipe dream.
Europe cannot phase out carbon fuels and maintain a first world life style, without extensive nuclear power. The Germans were already shutting down their nuclear plandts.
Why would Europe phase out carbon fuels when it would make no difference to do so?
RE: So, the deadbeat Finns aren’t going to get Russian natgas for free.
You mean the Russians were giving Finland natgas for free before? Why?
Did they need the charity?
No Soviet leader (actual or wannabe) has been so desperate for manpower since Stalin, whose Red Army conscripted Ukrainians 20-49 after “liberating” the country in World War II. Hitler’s National Socialists did the same as their Soviet Socialist estranged ideological kinfolk, recruiting old men into the “Volkssturm.”
That’s more than the 1 minute Putin’s a$$ lickers have
spent on the topic.
Side note to Finland: Be aware that her answer will probably involve magical unicorns.
They're getting natural gas, but want to pay for it in euros or dollars, which will be seized and stolen by the West.
Pretending you paid for something when you know that the money is actually NOT going to come out of your bank account is theft.
"Gimme that merchandise. I'll cut you a check and cancel it the minute I take physical possession of what was your stuff."
Sounds deadbeat to me.
What’s next? The Putin Jugend?
Because that is how you get people who were on the fence to join NATO.
Finland:
Population ~5.54 million peeps.
90% of Russians over 40 are dying of cirrhosis of the liver.
L
I do not want to get involved with this war and I have no interest in who wins.
It is pretty much Iraq vs Iran. It is a pity they can not both lose. But if your actual fear is your neighbors joining an international coalition you probably should not threaten them.
That is just going to send them running to join.
So my question.
Either Russia is being really stupid or they are allowing themselves to be used.
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