Gentle Charm of Western Sanctions

[chelseaboy]

Russia will also use Chinese UnionPay. I am sure we will see more step towards China.

Make sense as they can actually fly there too lol.

Nothing wrong with a holiday in China.

They'll still have their usual haunts of Egypt, Cyprus, Dubai and Turkey too.

Aeroflot is now only doing flights to Belarus from March 8th.

It will be interesting seeing which carriers will be flying to and from Russia.

[AvHdB]

8 hour ago:
Russia will not use Visa and MasterCard in the future.
All current cards will work until expired, then they will be changes to Mir.

В России истекшие карты Visa и Mastercard перевыпустят на «Мире»
Ранее выданные карты международных платежных систем Visa и Mastercard продолжат работать в России до истечения сроков действия. Об этом в воскресенье, 6 марта, «Ленте.ру» сообщили в пресс-службе Национальной системы платежных карт (НСПК).

They are going to call the new card Mir?

       

In fact quite sad.

No, the alternative to swift

Mir in Russian means peace and in Arabic supreme commander or sort of Sultan.

[NS1]

8 hour ago:
Russia will not use Visa and MasterCard in the future.
All current cards will work until expired, then they will be changes to Mir.

В России истекшие карты Visa и Mastercard перевыпустят на «Мире»
Ранее выданные карты международных платежных систем Visa и Mastercard продолжат работать в России до истечения сроков действия. Об этом в воскресенье, 6 марта, «Ленте.ру» сообщили в пресс-службе Национальной системы платежных карт (НСПК).

They are going to call the new card Mir?

MIR cards are not a new thing.

Some people imagine sanctions are a surprise to Russia. They're not.

Russia will also use Chinese UnionPay. I am sure we will see more step towards China.

https://tass.ru

Российские банки (в частности, Сбер, Альфа-банк, Райффайзенбанк, "Тинькофф банк", Московский кредитный банк) сообщили о возможном выпуске кобейджинговых карт "Мир" и китайской системы UnionPay, их можно будет использовать для оплаты покупок и снятия наличных за рубежом. Некоторые российские банки уже работают с платежной системой UnionPay. В их число входят Россельхозбанк, "Почта Банк", Газпромбанк, банк "Санкт-Петербург", Промсвязьбанк, ВБРР, "Примсоцбанк", "Зенит", Промсвязьбанк и Совкомбанк.

Make sense as they can actually fly there too lol.

They can spend their holidays admiring the lovely conditions of the animal markets there 

[Markje]

8 hour ago:
Russia will not use Visa and MasterCard in the future.
All current cards will work until expired, then they will be changes to Mir.

В России истекшие карты Visa и Mastercard перевыпустят на «Мире»
Ранее выданные карты международных платежных систем Visa и Mastercard продолжат работать в России до истечения сроков действия. Об этом в воскресенье, 6 марта, «Ленте.ру» сообщили в пресс-службе Национальной системы платежных карт (НСПК).

They are going to call the new card Mir?

       

In fact quite sad.

No, the alternative to swift

Mir in Russian means peace and in Arabic supreme commander or sort of Sultan.

Mir means world in russian

[AvHdB]

8 hour ago:
Russia will not use Visa and MasterCard in the future.
All current cards will work until expired, then they will be changes to Mir.

В России истекшие карты Visa и Mastercard перевыпустят на «Мире»
Ранее выданные карты международных платежных систем Visa и Mastercard продолжат работать в России до истечения сроков действия. Об этом в воскресенье, 6 марта, «Ленте.ру» сообщили в пресс-службе Национальной системы платежных карт (НСПК).

They are going to call the new card Mir?

       

In fact quite sad.

No, the alternative to swift

Mir in Russian means peace and in Arabic supreme commander or sort of Sultan.

Mir means world in russian

мир or Mir means peace! That was how they translated it when The United States assisted Russia with there Mir space station program.

But yes world is another translation, in fact either way it is rather Russian, cynical and biting.

[Lord of the Dance]

Today at church they passed around the plate for Ukrainian aid - it brought in almost $20,000. As someone who has been involved with church finance for some time, I can tell you that this is unprecedented in our little church for foreign aid fundraising. All the old people are terrified that they're seeing the second coming of Hitler (most of them were kids during the Second World War).

Whatever you believe, it's very clear that the Kremlin's got a PR nightmare on their hands. Do you suppose Putin is surprised by this level of negative press or do you think he saw it coming anyway?

[Orchid]

Today at church they passed around the plate for Ukrainian aid - it brought in almost $20,000. As someone who has been involved with church finance for some time, I can tell you that this is unprecedented in our little church for foreign aid fundraising. All the old people are terrified that they're seeing the second coming of Hitler (most of them were kids during the Second World War).

Whatever you believe, it's very clear that the Kremlin's got a PR nightmare on their hands. Do you suppose Putin is surprised by this level of negative press or do you think he saw it coming anyway?

He does not care.
He had a bad reputation and was isolated from the West long time ago.

[Texan77]

Aeroflot is now only doing flights to Belarus from March 8th.

It will be interesting seeing which carriers will be flying to and from Russia.

Most likely mainly Chinese and Iranian airlines. 

[AvHdB]

Today at church they passed around the plate for Ukrainian aid - it brought in almost $20,000. As someone who has been involved with church finance for some time, I can tell you that this is unprecedented in our little church for foreign aid fundraising. All the old people are terrified that they're seeing the second coming of Hitler (most of them were kids during the Second World War).

Whatever you believe, it's very clear that the Kremlin's got a PR nightmare on their hands. Do you suppose Putin is surprised by this level of negative press or do you think he saw it coming anyway?

He does not care.
He had a bad reputation and was isolated from the West long time ago.

Orchid, Yes I suspect and fear you are right. But it was his choices and actions that brought this about.

Bravo Putin!

[Lord of the Dance]

He does not care.
He had a bad reputation and was isolated from the West long time ago.

Perhaps not for himself, but I would think he would care about the image of his government (to his own people, as well as to the world). Maybe you're right - maybe Putin really doesn't care at all how this situation looks from the outside.

The Russian military needs to accomplish their objective quickly. The longer they wait, the stronger the Ukrainian resistance becomes. The resolve of the Ukrainian people currently appears quite strong. Until that changes, Russia's only way forward (militarily) is to destroy all in their path with brute force. If they hesitate to kill civilians, the resistance will use this against them and either force them to halt their advance, or kill indiscriminately. I'm speculating that this is why their progress is so slow.

I'm just trying to get a handle on the situation. But it's difficult when everyone sees things so differently and twists facts to suit their own narratives. At this point I don't believe Putin is the next Hitler, but I don't agree with his actions and I can see how all these old folks at my church are worried of some sort of multi-nation conflict breaking out.

[Lord of the Dance]

He does not care.
He had a bad reputation and was isolated from the West long time ago.

Perhaps not for himself, but I would think he would care about the image of his government (to his own people, as well as to the world). Maybe you're right - maybe Putin really doesn't care at all how this situation looks from the outside.

The Russian military needs to accomplish their objective quickly. The longer they wait, the stronger the Ukrainian resistance becomes. The resolve of the Ukrainian people currently appears quite strong. Until that changes, Russia's only way forward (militarily) is to destroy all in their path with brute force. If they hesitate to kill civilians, the resistance will use this against them and either force them to halt their advance, or kill indiscriminately. I'm speculating that this is why their progress is so slow.

I'm just trying to get a handle on the situation. But it's difficult when everyone sees things so differently and twists facts to suit their own narratives. At this point I don't believe Putin is the next Hitler, but I don't agree with his actions and I can see how all these old folks at my church are worried of some sort of multi-nation conflict breaking out. 

[Orchid]

Putin does not care how he looks. He cares about power.`
He tremendously benefits from sanctions.
For example, Russian oligarchs were always pain in his batt.
He could not control them because they kept all money abroad.
Now, when the West takes their money and property, he is going to have full control over Russia.

[Orchid]

I also expected the military operation to be quick.
Now, I understand that he is waiting civilians to leave the country.
He is also waiting to see a backlash of sanctions on Western economy.
Millions of refugees, inflation, and energy crisis is expected pretty much soon.
Europe will sacrifice Ukraine for the own well being.

[Lord of the Dance]

Putin does not care how he looks. He cares about power.`
He tremendously benefits from sanctions.
For example, Russian oligarchs were always pain in his batt.
He could not control them because they kept all money abroad.
Now, when the West takes their money and property, he is going to have full control over Russia.

This is interesting, I did not know. I assumed he was close to these so-called oligarchs. I guess I can understand how ties to them might weigh him down.

[Texan77]

I read that 4,600 Russians were arrested today for protesting the war. I am sure for now Putin does not care but still, more Russian are getting the idea there is something not right about this military campaign. The oligarchs are going to find their new lifestyle much more limiting. I am sure they are not happy neither. The military prisoners in Ukraine seem to not have any interest in supporting him. Putin seems to have set himself up to where he will lose the popularity he seemed to once enjoy. We will just have to wait and see how this discontent grows over the next few years.

[Lord of the Dance]

I also expected the military operation to be quick.
Now, I understand that he is waiting civilians to leave the country.
He is also waiting to see a backlash of sanctions on Western economy.
Millions of refugees, inflation, and energy crisis is expected pretty much soon.
Europe will sacrifice Ukraine for the own well being.

The problem is that it seems many 'civilians' (some / many of whom are likely combatants at this point) are intentionally staying in Ukraine in an attempt to save it from Russian occupation. The Russian military will have to either wait them out or destroy them.

Gas prices are already increasing here in the US as well of course, but we may be able to compensate for them with additional production. Europe not so much. The number of refugees fleeing Ukrainian soil is another unprecedented crisis of this conflict. I recently spoke with RUA member Maxx in Georgia who said that they're already concerned about potential refugee over-saturation.

[Orchid]

Putin does not care how he looks. He cares about power.`
He tremendously benefits from sanctions.
For example, Russian oligarchs were always pain in his batt.
He could not control them because they kept all money abroad.
Now, when the West takes their money and property, he is going to have full control over Russia.

This is interesting, I did not know. I assumed he was close to these so-called oligarchs. I guess I can understand how ties to them might weigh him down.

Oligarchs appeared before Putin.
They are extremely powerful and difficult to control.
If he is able to control them he will be very popular in Russia.

[Orchid]

I read that 4,600 Russians were arrested today for protesting the war. I am sure for now Putin does not care but still, more Russian are getting the idea there is something not right about this military campaign. The oligarchs are going to find their new lifestyle much more limiting. I am sure they are not happy neither. The military prisoners in Ukraine seem to not have any interest in supporting him. Putin seems to have set himself up to where he will lose the popularity he seemed to once enjoy. We will just have to wait and see how this discontent grows over the next few years.

Nobody wants a war.
Putin sends to Ukraine only military personal on contract. They are paid for that.

[Lon]

But currently I hope they sanction everything they can.
Because the only way this ends if average Russian people
do something, so as innocent people are being bombed in Ukraine.

IMO the sanctions are almost worthless!  they, the sanctions, are only effectively targeting average Russian people.
and, just like previous sanctions/attacks on civilian populations, they are hardening the hearts and minds of those people.
the average Russian person is not going to rise up against Putin at the behest/instigation of NATO, western countries or the US...IMO

[Orchid]

But currently I hope they sanction everything they can.
Because the only way this ends if average Russian people
do something, so as innocent people are being bombed in Ukraine.

IMO the sanctions are almost worthless!  they, the sanctions, are only effectively targeting average Russian people.
and, just like previous sanctions/attacks on civilian populations, they are hardening the hearts and minds of those people.
the average Russian person is not going to rise up against Putin at the behest/instigation of NATO, western countries or the US...IMO

Exactly!
The sanctions are affecting simple Russian people who has nothing to do with the war.
The sanctions are just a loud bluff to keep a good face during bad game of giving $722 million directly to Putin every day!
The sanctions will make Putin much stronger!!!

[Texan77]

Ok Orchid, what do you think we should do?

[Orchid]

Ok Orchid, what do you think we should do?

Keep the world completely open and available for Russian people.
Putin is nothing without people.

[Texan77]

I thought about that too. Give every Russian with basic high school education under 30 years old, a green card or resettle to EU country. It will not take many.

[Markje]

мир or Mir means peace! That was how they translated it when The United States assisted Russia with there Mir space station program.

But yes world is another translation, in fact either way it is rather Russian, cynical and biting.

мир во всем мире.

[Steveboy]

I thought about that too. Give every Russian with basic high school education under 30 years old, a green card or resettle to EU country. It will not take many.

Yep every poor bugger wants to re-settle in the EU for the wonderful life and lifestyle , huge salaries, 4 bedroom house comes as standard..lol