The Real War: The NATO/Econ Front
As readers will be aware, almost everything of concern that’s going on, swirling around the war on Russia, is connected. The sanctions regime that was supposed to bring Russia to its knees has backfired spectacularly, and the WEF and Anglosphere dominated coalition of the Great Reset—essentially, NATO and the EU—is suffering the economic consequences. Nevertheless, the Globalist Ruling Class appears determined to see through their long desired confrontation with Putin’s Russia. So, some of the events of the day to keep in mind.
A sure sign that the Globalist coalition is seeking to continue the war on Russia, and even to open new fronts, can be seen in Ukraine’s shutdown of Russian gas shipments through Ukraine to the EU. This is intended to exert pressure on the EU countries of NATO to open a new front against Russia—Georgia has already rejected any such notion.
Another sign is the plan of Sweden and Finland to apply for NATO membership. Each country is attempting to push NATO membership through without consulting the general population. Not surprisingly, the two female prime ministers are WEF groupies, meaning that they take their orders from George Soros. For the time being, however, there is some pushback. Hungary’s Orban has announced his opposition to the scheme and Turkey’s Erdogan has also done so. Of course, Erdogan, as he often does, may be seeking to leverage his approval to obtain concessions from the US linked to support for Kurd:.
Turkey Not Favorable To 'Terror Safe-Havens' Sweden, Finland Entering NATO: Erdogan
Russia, predictably, is threatening a “military/technical” response to Finland, as well as a gas shutoff as early as Monday.
Meanwhile US client states in Europe are banding together to call for regime change—meaning, Putin’s ouster:
UK & Sweden Say Relations With Putin Can Never Be Normalized, Sign Defense Pact
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson in Sweden on Wednesday and agreed that relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin should never be normalized.
“The leaders agreed that the aftershocks of Putin’s abhorrent invasion of Ukraine had fundamentally changed international security architecture,” a spokesman for Johnson said following the meeting. “They underlined that relations with Putin could never be normalized.”
The statement is the latest example of Western leaders suggesting they want to see Putin removed from office.
On Tuesday, Lithuania’s foreign minister explicitly called for regime change in Moscow, claiming it was the only way for regional countries to be safe from Russia. During his visit to Sweden, Johnson signed a military pact that vowed Britain would come to Sweden’s defense if it was attacked.
For a good laugh, look up Lithuania’s military on Wikipedia. Meanwhile, back in the UK:
As usual, bad economic news is “unexpected” or comes “sooner than expected”:
The UK's economy unexpectedly contracted in March due to high inflation and faltering growth, increasing the country's odds of slipping into recession much faster than anticipated.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the economy contracted by .1% in March. For the quarter, growth printed below expectations at 0.8%. Economists widely expected 1% growth for the quarter, but some feared a recession could be just ahead after the miss. Now economists are wondering how deep will the downturn be.
"Suddenly, our forecasts that GDP will be flat in both the second quarter and the third quarter seem pretty optimistic.
"A contraction in GDP or a recession now feels a bit more likely," Paul Dales, the chief UK economist at the consultancy Capital Economics, told The Guardian.
UK's monthly GDP growth is slipping into the abyss.
We’ve been talking a bit about diesel fuel lately, and last night I came across a fascinating article on the subject. Of course, Europe is desperate for diesel fuel, but there are now predictions of rationing in the eastern half of the US—imagine how that will work through into inflation numbers!
The East Coast of the U.S. is reporting its lowest seasonal diesel inventory on record. And some trucking companies appear spooked.
...
When relief is coming isn’t yet clear, and experts say higher prices are the only way to attract more diesel into the Northeast.
“I wish I had some good news for the Northeast, but it’s bedlam,” Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS, told FreightWaves.
Everyday Americans don’t fill up their cars with diesel, but the fuel powers our nation’s agriculture, industrial and transportation networks. More expensive diesel means the price of everything is liable to increase. Trucks, trains, barges and the like consumed about 122 million gallons of diesel per day in 2020.
The article goes on to explain why shipping diesel to the Northeast is financially risky, adding to other problems. Then:
The catalyst for this diesel shortage, of course, is the ongoing conflict in Ukraine — particularly Europe’s desperation for diesel after weaning off Russian molecules.
As CNBC reported in March, Europe is a net importer of diesel. Europe consumed some 6.8 million barrels of diesel each day in 2019; Russia exported some 600,000 barrels per day of that. Today, Europe has only eliminated one-third of its Russian diesel, so prices are expected to continue to climb amid that transition. Latin America, too, has been clammoring for U.S. diesel.
The Gulf Coast has been happy to provide such diesel, amid “insane” prices for diesel abroad, said Johnston. Waterborne exports of diesel from the U.S. Gulf Coast hit record highs last month, according to oil analytics firm Vortexa.
All of which translates into higher—much higher—diesel prices here in the US. And don’t expect US energy policies to help matters.
Also:
"Diesel To Be Rationed On East Coast This Summer," Warns US Oil Billionaire
All this turmoil is also fueling negative developments for the Zhou regime in Latin America (which, above, is “clamoring for US diesel”). So what? That’s the attitude too many Americans have had toward Latin America for too long. Check these two articles (below).
Remember BRICS?
Brazil
Russia
India
China
South Africa
BRICS represents some very serious geo-political and economic leverage—especially on the natural resource front. It is also central to replacing King Dollar as the world reserve currency. Now:
Argentina will attend BRICS summits, at China’s invitation, in step toward ‘formal entry’
China invited Argentina to attend the 2022 summits of the BRICS economic bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Argentina’s ambassador says it’s a step toward “formal entry” to the grouping, an alternative to the US-dominated financial system.
There are other rumblings emanating from the Global South, as well. This is from Politico:
Biden’s Americas summit is drawing jeers and threats of boycott
Major Latin American leaders may skip next month’s Summit of the Americas amid criticism of who’s been left out and a seemingly thin agenda.
When was the last time something like this happened? It’s one more sign of two things: The decline in US prestige under the Zhou regime, and dissatisfaction with the US/Neocon policies:
What if the United States held a summit and nobody came?
The Summit of the Americas, which President Joe Biden is hosting in Los Angeles next month, isn’t quite at that point of crisis. But judging from the criticisms already leveled by Latin American leaders, congressional aides and others, U.S. officials will be on the defensive through much of the gathering.
Some foreign leaders are slamming Washington for planning to exclude three adversarial, non-democratic regimes — Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua — from the gathering, and threatening not to show up themselves. Others are simply wondering why the Biden administration hasn’t yet sent invitations for the
No, the countries threatening to be no-shows aren’t places like Costa Rica.
The criticisms are a signal of deep frustration in Latin America with Biden, whose policies toward the region many foreign officials and analysts deem as lackluster, driven by domestic politics and not all that substantively different from those of former President Donald Trump, who often bullied and berated the United States’ southern neighbors.
Among Latin America hands, there’s a sense that Biden just doesn’t prioritize the region, home to some of the United States’ biggest trading partners, including Mexico. Some wonder if a sudden crisis in Ukraine will be enough to keep Biden away from the summit altogether; Trump’s decision to skip the summit in 2018 still stings.
The critics include Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. On a visit to Cuba this month, he slammed the U.S. sanctions on the communist-led island and said he would urge Biden to invite Havana to the summit. He later said that if all the countries in the region were not invited, he personally would not attend the summit and send a representative instead.
“Nobody should exclude anyone,” López Obrador reportedly said. The Mexican leader and Biden have a relationship best described as cordial as they navigate differences over migration, energy and other policies.
On Tuesday afternoon, Reuters reported that Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro, who has often been at odds with the United States, planned to skip the summit, too.
Of course Latin American claims of neglect from the US are nothing new, but this degree of pushback is coming at a difficult time for the Zhou regime, which is desperate to hang on to “Hispanic” voters.
Russia’s closest ally, China, has weighed in to criticize the summit and the US enforced exclusionary rule. This, at the same time that China is courting countries—like Argentina—that are resentful of the US:
Latin American leaders want Biden to unveil new investment and financial support for their countries, but having seen little emerge so far, some are instead turning to Beijing, analysts and former U.S. officials said.
Lots of balls to keep in the air for the Zhou regime. What was it that Obama said about Zhou?
Last week, the Ukrainian newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda reported that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson used a visit to Kyiv last month to pressure Zelenskyy to abandon the prospects of peace talks with Russia.
Based on unnamed sources from Zelenskyy's inner circle, the Ukrainian media outlet's report appeared to vindicate concerns that the West is more interested in inflicting damage on Russia than securing a diplomatic resolution to the war, which is now in its third month.
Regime change? Hmmm....
I'm sure the rocket surgeons over at Foggy Bottom have already identified just the perfect "leading person" to succeed a Russian President with an 83% approval rating* and 81% support* for his war effort. In this case, the "cure" would almost certainly be worse than the disease. Putin can be brutal, but, at least, he is somewhat measured and calculating and, thus, readable.
**Yes, Russian polling is inherently sketchy, but these figures came in early April from Levada, the same group that the NYT heralded as Russia's most-reliable pollsters when celebrating a brief 2021 dip in Putin's approval rating (down into the high 50s).