Obama threatens Putin

[angelina87]

The lates events show us that Obama tries to provoke EU and UA to undertake sanctions agains Russia. Is seems to be a little bit foolish taking into consideration the economic and political situation of the USA. Obama has gone bats

 

[HOSED]

Is he still talking mean to him? Or is it the threat of more sanctions (we see how well this has worked so far). BUt thank god the decision to go to war is not up to the hawks in congress like McKain.

 

[TechBoyJK]

obama just wants to sell more free ipads to Putin so they can play solitaire online

 

[angelina87]

Is he still talking mean to him? Or is it the threat of more sanctions (we see how well this has worked so far). BUt thank god the decision to go to war is not up to the hawks in congress like McKain.

It looks like Obama wastes words as nothing has been done since then

 

[angelina87]

obama just wants to sell more free ipads to Putin so they can play solitaire online

i suppose Putin is able to buy it on his own. It's not the country that needs our support.

 

[Daverino]

i suppose Putin is able to buy it on his own. It's not the country that needs our support.

Do you have job openings at the Russian Ministry of State?

 

[brycejones]

Do you have job openings at the Russian Ministry of State?

They should have one soon. The employee posting here sucks at their job.

 

[feralkid]

You Moscow girls really knock me out.

 

[glenn1]

Obama can't credibly threaten - Putin would kick Obama's ass in a 1-on-1 fight, Obama isn't stupid enough to use military force against Russia, and the EU needs Russian oil and natural gas and thus the U.S. and allies would be hurt by economic sanctions more than Russia would. Do you think Putin is going to be swayed by Obama's posturing and freezing the assets of some low-level government functionaries?

 

[Anarchist420]

if Dr. Paul was in the white house we wouldnt have this problem.

 

[brycejones]

This is one of many reasons as to why we should've elected Dr. Paul in 2012.

Well the standard by which it appears we're supposed to judge world leaders is by who could kick who's ass physically. In that regards Ron Paul would have been a completely worthless choice.

 

[AViking]

Putin is a demigod. Born to a Russian woman and God himself he will bring righteousness and justice to the world.

 

[Vic]

if Dr. Paul was in the white house we wouldnt have this problem.

Only because he would ignore the situation entirely.

 

[AViking]

I long for the days of George W Bush. He would have dealt with Putin man on man and brought justice to the world. What a true American hero he was.

 

[yllus]

It looks like Obama wastes words as nothing has been done since then

Not only that, the man cannot even hold his vodka! *pounds desk with shoe*

 

[fskimospy]

Obama can't credibly threaten - Putin would kick Obama's ass in a 1-on-1 fight, Obama isn't stupid enough to use military force against Russia, and the EU needs Russian oil and natural gas and thus the U.S. and allies would be hurt by economic sanctions more than Russia would. Do you think Putin is going to be swayed by Obama's posturing and freezing the assets of some low-level government functionaries?

Russia would undeniably be hurt far more severely by economic sanctions on gas than Europe would be. That being sad, both would be hurt fairly significantly. Russia's gamble is that their system would allow them to handle the pain longer, even though the overall pain to them would be much more severe.

I'm not sure if you realize just how utterly dependent on oil and gas revenues Russia, and Russia's government in particular are.

 

[AViking]

Unfortunately, as we have seen in Iraq and Iran, sanctions really affect the average Joe and in a bad way.

500,000 died in Iraq due to sanctions.

 

[glenn1]

Russia would undeniably be hurt far more severely by economic sanctions on gas than Europe would be. That being sad, both would be hurt fairly significantly. Russia's gamble is that their system would allow them to handle the pain longer, even though the overall pain to them would be much more severe.

I'm not sure if you realize just how utterly dependent on oil and gas revenues Russia, and Russia's government in particular are.

And I'm not sure you realize how utterly dependent the EU and Germany in particular are in Russian energy imports. Russian-sourced energy comsumption in the EU is 30% natural gas and 35% oil, 36% NG and 39% oil for Germany. Russia would be hurt by sanctions, Europe would be completely devastated.

http://www.dw.de/germanys-russian-energy-dilemma/a-17529685

 

[Stewox]

Sanctions are put on stuff you control. NWO or UK/US/UN/EU/NATO/ISRAEL does not control Russia.

"Sanction" is not a proper term. But they use it to make it feel like they have some kind of moral authority in dat "international community" - my ass laughs.

 

[fskimospy]

And I'm not sure you realize how utterly dependent the EU and Germany in particular are in Russian energy imports. Russian-sourced energy comsumption in the EU is 30% natural gas and 35% oil, 36% NG and 39% oil for Germany. Russia would be hurt by sanctions, Europe would be completely devastated.

http://www.dw.de/germanys-russian-energy-dilemma/a-17529685

No, I'm quite well aware and I think you have the situation backwards. Additionally, the ability to hurt one another is asymmetric. Russia depends on oil, not gas.

Approximately 50% of Russia's federal budget comes from oil revenues, which is what they would embargo. If Russia wanted to retaliate with a gas shutoff they would eliminate about 60% of the revenue for their federal government. Their only hope would be to use national financial reserves to tide the country over until Europe gave in, but that would dwindle very, very quickly. (not to mention the larger economic turmoil this would unleash) Europe would be absolutely hurt by this, but Russia would be devastated. I could see Russia cutting off gas in relation to European sanctions on oil, but this would be due to complete Russian panic on the issue.

Again, Russia's advantage would be their greater tolerance for economic pain, not that their moves would hurt Europe more.

 

[AViking]

The other thing to consider is that Russia's military had very low morale quite recently. I don't know if it's gotten better in the last few years but they might have a very hard time keeping control of it if their economy goes to complete shit and they refuse to change. Russians are only 2 generations removed from a revolution.

 

[OCGuy]

Are you some wannabe Anna Chapman sent here by the FSB?

 

[Genx87]

And I'm not sure you realize how utterly dependent the EU and Germany in particular are in Russian energy imports. Russian-sourced energy comsumption in the EU is 30% natural gas and 35% oil, 36% NG and 39% oil for Germany. Russia would be hurt by sanctions, Europe would be completely devastated.

http://www.dw.de/germanys-russian-energy-dilemma/a-17529685

What % of Russian exports go to the EU?

Your own link says Russia fears a reduction in their exports of gas and natural gas.

Russia doesn't want a 'gas war'

Russia's ambassador to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, has excluded the possibility of a "gas war" between Russia and the West. "Those are horror stories that have their origin in political fantasy," the diplomat told the Russian news agency Interfax on Wednesday. Chizhov emphasized that Russia is and will remain a reliable partner and energy supplier.
It's clearly in Russia's interest to preserve the energy status quo: According to the German research and consultancy firm Energy Comment, in 2012 natural gas sales earned Russia an estimated 68 billion dollars (50 billion euros), while oil sales brought in 290 billion dollars (211 billion euros). That means that natural gas contributes around 5 percent to the Russian national budget, while the profits from the export of oil make up around half of Russian government revenue. So what would hit Moscow hard financially wouldn't be a "gas war." It would be a freeze on Russian oil exports. Still, for the time being, Russian fossil fuels will remain an important pillar in the EU's energy supply.

They know if they are cut off from the EU they are in serious shit.

 

[gevorg]

 

[fskimospy]

*snip*

Do you believe any of that ridiculous nonsense?

I always figured people realized that all that Putin cult of personality stuff was transparent propaganda by the Russian government. I learned today that some people are actually foolish enough to believe it.