Serbian oil firm NIS is struggling to buy oil from traders abroad, while at home its former clients are seeking alternative fuel suppliers as pending U.S. #sanctions have impacted operations, Reuters reports.
NIS is majority-owned by #Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom and as such is one of Russia's last remaining oil assets in #Europe
V interesting “big strategic picture” article on the Chinese-Russia-Iran-US power plays!
“Russia–Iran–China: All for one, and one for all?”
by Pepe Escobar in The Cradle
“Although perhaps not yet obvious to Washington, a US war on Iran will be viewed as one against Russia and China too. Both Putin & Xi know that Trump's war is singularly directed at the transformational global 'changes they are driving together.'”
#Dugin’s Eurasianist theories have been used to justify #Russia’s #wars, interference in Western politics, and violent #geopolitical strategies. But I guess normalizing Russian #imperialism and #fascism is just the next step in restoring trade relations and lifting #sanctions.
16/17
"I’ve said before that Trump does not think of policy the way most of us do, operating instead like a low-level mob boss running a protection racket. Unfortunately, a bunch of rubes decided to give him another bite at the apple, and now the entire global economy has to pay up."
~ Marlon Weems
#Trump #tariffs #mob #MobBoss #sanctions #extortion #bullying #stupidity #incompetence
/6
"The only legible purpose of the tariffs is for Trump to arrogate more power to himself: so that nations and corporate leaders and labor unions come begging him for relief, and so that he can shake them down."
~ Brian Beutler
#Trump #tariffs #mob #MobBoss #sanctions #extortion #bullying #stupidity #incompetence #Putin #PutinsPoodle
/5
“Vladimir Putin bet his life that American voters would be weak and decadent enough to return Donald Trump to the presidency. He was right. …
We have a deeply stupid government—from our economically illiterate president to our craven and foolish secretary of state," (continued in /4)
~ Jonathan V. Last
#Trump #tariffs #mob #MobBoss #sanctions #extortion #bullying #stupidity #incompetence #Putin #PutinsPoodle
/3
"Trump’s son Eric appeared to confirm that the tariffs are a shakedown when he posted: 'I wouldn’t want to be the last country that tries to negotiate a trade deal with [Trump]. The first to negotiate will win—the last will absolutely lose. I have seen this movie my entire life.…'”
~ Heather Cox Richardson
#Trump #tariffs #mob #MobBoss #sanctions #extortion #bullying
/2
"It is not at all surprising that Trump sees the appeal in sanctions. It is no different from a mob boss moving into town and sending his thugs to every business on Main Street, roughing up the proprietors and asking for protection money so they don’t get pushed out of business. … It’s a mentality fit for someone repeatedly linked to organized crime."
~ David Dayen
#Trump #tariffs #mob #MobBoss #sanctions #extortion #bullying
/1
https://prospect.org/economy/2025-04-03-theyre-not-tariffs-theyre-sanctions/
none of the separate countries have economies that rival USA, BUT THAT’S WHY #EuropeanUnion EXISTS. put them all together and they do rival the “largest” economy in the world.
the #Boycott is happening because the EU left have been working on this for months.
for the #Divest, Macron literally said, stop all investments for the next month. that would tank Wall Street even further.
and #Sanctions? EU been itching to sanction USA tech oligarchs. tis the excuse they been waiting for. /
Trump messes up again:
1) Talk about secondary tariffs immediately raised oil prices, improving Russia’s finances
2) Elon has fired a lot of the people enforcing the sanctions, so no matter the tough talk, Russia has returned to breaking them effectively.
Also, Peskov practically admitted that the sanctions are working by asking them to be lifted.
Stephanie Baker on Jake Broe: Sanctions make a difference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SxBGQrLl7A
#nafo #ukraine #sanctions
#Trump imposed the #tariffs in an EO that cited the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, a Cold War-era #law that has most often been used to impose #sanctions on rogue states & human rights violators. His admin claimed that unchecked #DrugTrafficking from #Canada constituted a dire threat to #NationalSecurity & used it as justification to unilaterally impose 25% tariffs on America’s closest trading partner.
[IOW — BS]
The United States imposed #sanctions on Wednesday on Russia-based people and entities working to help procure weapons and commodities - including stolen Ukrainian grain - for Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, the Treasury Department said.
Half of the U.S. Senate - 25 Republicans and 25 Democrats - joined together on Tuesday to introduce #sanctions that would be imposed on #Russia if it refuses to engage in good faith negotiations for peace with #Ukraine
The Kremlin has a deliberate strategy to test how far #Trump is willing to go in pressing #Europe to ease #sanctions, Bloomberg reports.
...The purpose in picking Russian Agricultural Bank was to see if Trump would firstly engage with the idea and then whether he could bring the European Union on board.
Archive: https://archive.is/m7Y62
oops 
_________
"One of the biggest corporate donors to the populist Reform U.K. party has sold almost $2 million worth of transmitters, cockpit equipment, antennas and other sensitive technology to a major supplier of Moscow’s blacklisted state weapons agency, documents show"
The EU is preparing new Russia sanctions, snubs Putin's plea on banks.
The EU is preparing further sanctions on Russia despite Moscow’s call to let one of its top banks off the hook in return for a mini-ceasefire.
Work on the 17th round of sanctions “has started, but it’s very early stages”, one EU diplomat told EUobserver.
@simon @contrapunctus https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2024/dec/12/linux-banned-russian-contributors-do-i-need-to/ this analysis gives more insight into the sanctions.
"The sanctions are primarily intended to punish Russia for, and to degrade its ability to conduct, its interference in U.S. elections, its flouting of international rules, and its aggression in Ukraine. It is difficult to see how rejecting Russian contributions furthers any of these goals."
SFC includes lawyers that side with Free Software.
#Europe stands tall tall as #Trump threatens Europe with tariffs, lifts #sanctions against Russia despite #Russia clearly shows does not peace in #Ukraine https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-deal-vladimir-putin-russia-war-in-ukraine-eu-summit-paris/
The EU says sanctions stay until the ‘unconditional’ Russian withdrawal from Ukraine.
“Russia must now demonstrate genuine political will to end its illegal and unprovoked war of aggression.”
The “unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine would be one of the main preconditions to amend or lift sanctions,” said European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper.
