– Russia Has Prepared A Confidential Retaliation Document As Ukraine Prepares To Hold NATO Accession Referendum (ZeroHedge, May 23; 2014):
Until now Russian retaliation against Western sanctions has been largely symbolic, culminating with this week’s Holy Grail gas deal with China, 10 years in the making, which would not have happened on such a truncated timeframe had it not been for western prodding. However, now Russia may be getting ready for actionable retaliation against the west. RIA reports that Russia has prepared a “confidential document” with measures in response to Western sanctions, citing Kremlin advisor Andrew Belousov.
“I can say that, while it is not a strategy, we do have a tactic. It is in the form of a document which for understandable reasons is confidential. But it clearly lists the Russian sanctions: focusing on individuals, companies, sectors, whether they are comprehensive and systemic, and if they impact the banking system” Belousov was cited as telling TV channel Rossia 24.
According to him, there is a prescribed action at each of the listed levels. “So if any further action is taken against Russia, I can say that we know precisely how to react.”
And while it is unclear if the US will dare to issue any more sanctions against Russia, considering the Russian stock market is now back to pre-sanctions levels, thus proving their complete futility (and if anything will simply serve to bring Russia and China even closer), one development that would certainly infuriate Putin is the news that Ukraine may hold a NATO accession referendum as soon as June 15.
Itar-Tass reports that Ukrainian presidential nominee Yulia Tymoshenko has suggested to hold an all-Ukrainian referendum on the country’s accession to NATO to coincide with possible second round of presidential elections. The politician said this in a statement on Friday.
Tymoshenko said: “We need to make a strategic decision. This decision is the accession of Ukraine to the system of collective security and defense of NATO”.
The presidential nominee believes “NATO is security and peace” and “all member states of this alliance are secured from aggression”.
“However, no politician has the right to make such a strategic decision without people’s will. Therefore, I suggest to hold the historic, fateful referendum on Ukraine’s accession to NATO on June 15, simultaneously with the second round of presidential elections,” Tymoshenko suggested.
Whether this is simply a publicity stunt by the former presidential frontrunner whose winning chances have slipped dramatically in recent weeks leading to the very distinct possibility of a second round runoff election without a clear winner this weekend, remains unknown. However, one thing Putin made explicitly clear earlier today is that he sees NATO expansion as the single biggest threat to Russia, especially considering the implicit understanding between James Baker and Gorbachev from 1990 that Nato would not expand east. Well, NATO may not only be expanding east but it may soon be knocking on Russia’s doorstep.
And that would certainly provoke the Russian bear like nothing yet seen.
NATO is public speak for USA. It is the US puppet government causing this war, again, and the entire world is sick of US destabilization of other countries for corporations who have too much already. These wars don’t even go into the US treasury, all profit goes to greedy guts, and the entire world, including US citizens, are sick of it.
The world is sick of the US. We used to have good foreign relations, we had intelligent people who actually understood something about the culture of the countries with which they were attempting to communicate……..now, they don’t care. They go in using hammers to kill flies, and bully boy acts are really unpopular and insulting.
This is why China and Russia were able to get better than half the world economy to dump the dollar in favor of using their own currencies using electronic currencies to translate the value at the time of transaction. It renders the entire idea of a world reserve currency obsolete…….something that goes back hundreds of years. We no longer need it, and that has thrown a huge hatchet into the Achilles Heel of the US economy, its non stop printing press.
Suddenly, US media is hailing higher interest rates as a sign of a recovering economy…….I could not believe what I was hearing on CNBC yesterday, as well as Bloomberg…..the only two stations I can tolerate for five minutes……..Suddenly FED tapering is good.
FED tapering is essential, the US is sitting on piles of paper money nobody else wants.
It started with Hugo Chavez in late Spring of 2010. He introduced the first electronic currency, the Sucre, for use in his small organization, the South American Trade Alliance. Their total GDP was about $500 million a year, so tiny as to fly under the US radar. Member nations could now trade with each other using their own currencies, leaving the dollar out. The Sucre translated the value of each currency at the time of transaction. It was a great success, this year, they did over $850,000.
China and Russia watched it’s success, and followed suit in November of 2010. China went on to recruit half the world economy to a similar package, and last week, when they announced the de-dollarization movement, I was surprised because it will be four years old for them come November……but then, I thought about it. They were crafty, just as was Hugo Chavez, and they waited until they had enough world economic support before saying a word.
Having now spoken out, the US has to slow it’s printing, and it has been for months……now, suddenly they are tapering.
Give me a break. If the Euro goes with Russia, the dollar will collapse. It has lost much of its power, thus the higher interest rates and tapering. The FED has lost its power, and now, they might have to stop these endless wars……time will tell.