Sitrep From Davos
Today Alex Mercouris’ video presentation (below) focuses heavily on events at Davos, although it begins with a report on the military situation in Ukraine. Mercouris’ segment on Davos follows naturally from the military report, since it is the Globalist who are fanatically pushing the war on Russia. Mercouris covers the Davos meeting by reading, in its entirety, an article by Ambrose Evans Pritchard from the Daily Telegraph, starting at around the 20 minute mark of the video:
UK Media Says Russia 'Close to Major Victory' in Donbass, Western Unity Crumbles in Davos
I’ve excerpted the article. Whereas Pritchard spends a fair amount of time on Henry Kissinger’s remarks—which we’ve already covered—as will as the rant by Green German Robert Habeck along with Zelensky’s pleas for more weapons, I’ve excerpted to emphasize American concerns, including the fragility of mindless support for Ukraine. Most Americans aren’t really up for “global recession and violent demand destruction” (see below). From that standpoint, it may be that Pritchard is offering us some good news:
Veteran US statesman Henry Kissinger has urged the West to stop trying to inflict a crushing defeat on Russian forces in Ukraine, warning that it would have disastrous consequences for the long term stability of Europe.
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He told the World Economic Forum that Russia had been an essential part of Europe for 400 years and had been the guarantor of the European balance of power structure at critical times. European leaders should not lose sight of the longer term relationship, and nor should they risk pushing Russia into a permanent alliance with China.
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The comments came amid growing signs that the Western coalition against Vladimir Putin is fraying badly as the food and energy crisis deepens, and that sanctions may have reached their limits.
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Eleven Republican senators and 57 congressmen in the US voted against the colossal $40bn aid package for Ukraine, an early sign of fragmenting cohesion in Washington.
“Putin is counting on the West to lose focus and that is our real challenge. People are as concerned, or more concerned, about the rising price of gas and groceries,” said Senator Christopher Coons.
“I’m not sure the unity will last. We may not get the next vote,” said Eric Cantor, former House Whip and a key figure in the sanctions policy against Iran.
Nobody is sure whether the US is trying to punish Russia for its aggression or whether the goal is a subtler use of policy that gives the Kremlin a “route out of sanctions” if it changes course. The fundamental divisions over the West’s war aims in Ukraine have so far been masked by an outpouring of solidarity and emotion, but these rifts are coming to the fore.
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It is doubtful whether the West can maintain a united front in pursuit of such far-reaching war aims with absolutist aims. Mr Cantor said it would require secondary sanctions against other countries, putting the West in a head on clash with China, India, and almost 60 states that refused to back a UN resolution denouncing Russia’s invasion.
Mr Cantor said the US was in danger of overplaying its hand. “We have got to have multilateral support. We are already being accused of weaponising the world’s reserve currency. Even allies and friends are starting to ask, if you are using it in this way, we too could one day be subject to these sanctions,” he said.
The US Congress is split on the ultimate war aim. Senator Joe Manchin said the US should keep going until there was a clear “win” that restored all of Ukraine’s territory and led to the toppling of Vladimir Putin but other members of the Congressional delegation in Davos want a negotiated outcome.
Saudi Arabia and the Opec states have made it clear that they will not draw on their spare capacity to cover the lost Russian supply of oil ...
Francisco Blanch from Bank of America said the oil market is now extremely tight. “The energy buffer is nearing a vanishing point. Crude oil inventories are down to a dangerously low point across Europe, North America, and OECD Asia. Inventories have also fallen to precarious levels for middle distillates and even gasoline as the market heads into the peak of the US driving season,” he said.
Unless there is a global recession and violent demand destruction, crude prices could soon spiral higher. “We’re not living in a dream world: we have to replace the lost oil with other oil,” said Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency.
Mr Birol said that the OECD bloc of rich states are releasing 1.5m barrels a day of oil to stabilise the market, and have so far depleted 9pc of their stocks. This is before the European embargo against Russia even begins. “This winter in Europe will be tough,” he said.
And some brief takes. Some time in the past I did a post on how Germany has finally won the series of World Wars:
One of my go to sites is the Duran with Alex Mercouris. I find him very well informed, articulate and engaging. He always reminds us to remember the human cost of this current conflict.
Often what is discussed on the Duran with him and Christoforu is cutting edge.
Alex brings together alot of different geopolitical issues for us. As Mark said, it is very hard to get credible information about the situation between Russia and Ukraine.
Highly recommend The Duran, Andrei Martyanov, and The Saker.