EU must reconsider ‘hare-brained’ Russia sanctions – Orban
RT | November 15, 2024
The EU must reconsider the sanctions it has placed on Russia in connection with the Ukraine conflict, and work to end hostilities as soon as possible, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.
Speaking on Kossuth Radio on Friday, Orban explained that the current economic problems within the bloc stem from Brussels’ “hare-brained” decision to respond to the Ukraine conflict by placing restrictions on Moscow, which have driven up energy prices and overall inflation, hindering the EU’s competitiveness.
The EU declared the elimination of its reliance on Russian energy as a key priority after the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022. Sanctions and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines later that year led to a dramatic drop in Russia’s gas supplies to the bloc, resulting in a spike in energy prices and soaring inflation.
“Sanctions were a wrong, hare-brained answer to the [Ukraine conflict], the EU made a mistake… Energy prices must definitely be brought down. This means that the sanctions must be reconsidered, because the policy of sanctions… it will destroy the European economy,” Orban stated. He called for an “anti-bureaucratic rebellion” within the bloc so that decisions on EU policies will be made with the people’s welfare in mind, both in regard to sanctions and to peace.
Orban also said that European businesses and industries cannot focus on development goals and growth opportunities when there is a war going on, so everything needs to be done to end the Ukraine conflict.
“If we look at this conflict from the point of view of our pockets, our economy, our income, it is a scourge of God on us all… In order to be successful again, we have to end it, end it as soon as possible,” he stressed.
Orban said Hungary would continue its diplomatic efforts toward peace in Ukraine, but said that it needs “a protagonist” who will be “strong enough to not only want peace but also to be able to create it.” He reiterated his hope that the power shift in the US with Donald Trump’s election would help achieve that goal. The Republican has previously claimed that he could end the Ukraine conflict in 24 hours. Until Trump takes office in January, Budapest will work on “achieving change in Brussels” to make sure “EU bureaucrats” do not decide to “continue the war without the Americans,” Orban pledged.
Orban has long been at odds with Brussels over the approach to Ukraine, opposing both aid to Kiev and sanctions on Moscow. Tensions grew further after he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of his Ukraine ‘peace mission’ earlier this year.
Some EU leaders accused Orban of siding with Russia and abusing Hungary’s rotating presidency of the bloc. The premier clarified that he was representing only his own nation, but pledged to continue to work on changing the EU’s overall stance on the conflict.
India-Russia ties ‘helpful’ for the world – foreign minister
RT | November 14, 2024
Friendly relations between Moscow and New Delhi are an important element of international stability, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told Sky News Australia in an interview published this week. According to the diplomat, the West should be less concerned about countries enjoying good relationships with Russia and more about diplomacy and ending the Ukraine conflict.
The minister defended New Delhi’s decision to increase oil purchases from Russia after the US and its allies slapped Moscow with unprecedented sanctions over the Ukraine conflict, which targeted Russia’s financial sector and international trade.
“If we had not made the moves we had, let me tell you the energy markets would have taken a completely different turn and actually would have precipitated a global energy crisis. It would have caused inflation across the world as a consequence,” Jaishankar said.
Imports of crude oil from Russia currently constitute nearly 40% of India’s total oil purchases, up from less than 1% before the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Earlier this week, the foreign minister said that he expected bilateral trade between the two nations to reach a target volume of $100 billion before 2030.
The minister was responding to Sky News host Sharri Markson, who said that New Delhi’s close ties to Moscow were causing “angst” in Australia. Jaishankar hit back by saying that “countries don’t have exclusive relationships” nowadays. Using the same logic, India should be worried about any country who has a relationship with its regional rival, Pakistan.
“What India has done and is doing with Russia is actually… helpful to the international community as a whole,” the minister said. He said that not only had India’s actions helped to avert a potential global energy crisis, but may also contribute to ending the fighting between Moscow and Kiev.
New Delhi can talk to both parties and “try to find some intersection in those conversations” to eventually find a way to get them both to the negotiating table, according to the top diplomat.
“I think the world, including Australia, needs such a country that will help bring this conflict back to the conference table,” he stated, adding that “conflicts rarely ends on the battlefield, mostly they end [through] negotiations.”
When further pressed by Markson on whether India is concerned about growing cooperation between Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, Jaishankar replied that such developments, which were further encouraged by the Ukraine conflict, show that the West should also be primarily interested in ending the hostilities.
”It’s in everybody’s interest that the sooner the conflict ends the better,” the minister said. “The longer the conflict drags out… all sorts of things are going to happen. Not all those things could necessarily be to Australia’s advantage or… that of Western countries.”
European lackeys in panic mode as Trump signals detente with Russia
By Finian Cunningham | Strategic Culture Foundation | November 12, 2024
It’s early days yet. However, there are signs that President-elect Trump is moving toward a detente with Russia over Ukraine.
One good sign is that Trump will not invite Mike Pompeo or Nikki Haley to join his cabinet when he is inaugurated as the 47th U.S. president on January 20. Both of these figures were rabid anti-Russia hawks during Trump’s previous administration. There were suggestions that Pompeo and Haley might return with senior posts in his second administration. But Trump has announced the pair will not be offered new positions.
Another positive sign is from people close to Trump’s inner circle who are letting the Kiev regime know – rudely – that the U.S. military aid spigot is being turned off.
Donald Trump has yet to hold a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Kremlin. But both leaders have already expressed a willingness to negotiate a peaceful settlement over the Ukraine conflict.
Another promising sign of potential detente between the United States and Russia is the sheer panic among European leaders. The news of Trump’s election last week has caused most European elites to scramble like scared children on hearing “boo!”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron are consoling themselves by urging Europe to “come together” in the wake of Trump’s stunning election victory. The collapse of Germany’s coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz is an early casualty of the Trump impact.
European leaders fear that if Trump pulls the plug on military aid to the Kiev regime they will be left holding the can to fund the proxy war against Russia, which the weak European economies have no chance of sustaining.
It’s no secret that the main European states were betting on Democrat candidate Kamala Harris winning the race to the White House. Harris would have ensured the continuation of NATO’s backing for the Kiev regime. With Trump becoming president, all bets are off.
The political price will be ruinous for European leaders who have invested huge political capital in waging war to “defend Ukraine from Russian aggression.” Trump has shown skepticism toward that false narrative. He has told Europe to go it alone if it wants to. And the European Russophobes know they can’t do that.
If Trump follows through on his election promise to negotiate with Putin on a settlement in Ukraine, then the Europeans are going to be left with serious amounts of egg on their faces.
One thing about Trump that is of concern to the Europeans is his frustration with them as being, in his view, freeloaders on American protection. Another is Trump’s vindictive streak. He’s not going to forget that most of the European leaders wanted him to lose the election.
Take Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer. His Labour Party sent volunteers over to the U.S. to advise Harris on winning the election. The British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has also been reminded that he previously disparaged Trump as a racist “sociopath.”
Trump’s election is bad news for Britain and there is no doubt that Starmer is now trying to repair post-Brexit relations with Europe as a hedge against the expected chill from Washington during the next four years.
When Britain pulled out of the European Union after its 2016 Brexit referendum, there were high hopes that it could negotiate a special trade deal with the U.S. That deal didn’t work out and looks even less likely now. Hence, Starmer has been busy since taking office in Downing Street trying to restore relations with the EU.
This week, the British leader attended the Armistice ceremony in Paris to commemorate the end of the First World War. The last time a British leader honored that event in Paris was in 1944 when Winston Churchill visited the French capital following its liberation from Nazi occupation.
Macon invited Starmer to lay wreaths in the Champs-Elysee and the Arc de Triomphe.
The choreographed caper of European unity is a reflection of the panic gripping European leaders in the aftermath of Trump’s return to the White House.
But everything is up in the air for the European politicians. Starmer was bending over backward to renew relations with Germany as a way to forge a warmer connection between London and the European Union after years of post-Brexit bitterness, only for that to be thrown into doubt.
Last month saw a landmark security deal between Britain and Germany in which German arms maker Rheinmetall would open a new factory in Britain, and the German Luftwaffe would be able to fly warplanes from an RAF base in Scotland. The deal was touted as “a sign of joint European security in the face of Russian threat.”
With the collapse of the government in Berlin over the unbearable financial costs of the Ukraine war to the German economy, the British security treaty may not materialize. That means a big setback to Starmer’s reset plans with Europe.
Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Slovakia’s Robert Fico are in the minority of European politicians who genuinely welcomed Trump’s election as an opportunity to wind down the NATO proxy war in Ukraine against Russia.
On the other hand, the ardent NATO warmongers in Europe, including Britain, Germany, France, Poland and the Baltic states now face a desperate dilemma. Along with EU leaders like Von der Leyen and the Dutch NATO chief Mark Rutte, they have all nailed their colors to the mast for continuing the reckless proxy war against Russia.
Trump seems to be showing good sense in calling off that proxy war and finding a way to negotiate sensibly with Russia on detente. Moscow wants its long-term security demands to be met. That means no NATO membership for Ukraine, an end to the NeoNazi regime in Kiev, and recognition of its historical lands in Crimea and the Donbass.
This is all eminently negotiable, and Trump might just be ready to cut a deal to avoid World War Three, as he has repeatedly indicated he would do. That would mean Trump dumping the false narrative that Biden, Harris and the Democrats – and their European vassals – contrived about “defending Ukraine”.
That would leave the European lackeys in a disastrous lurch. How will they explain to their electorates the three-year slaughter in Ukraine? How will they justify the tens of billions of Euros and Sterling wasted on pushing a war that not only destroyed millions of lives but their economies as well?
The stupid European leaders are in panic mode, and that’s a good thing.
Threats to Provide Ukraine With German Cruise Missiles Are Merely ‘Paper Tiger’ Moves
Sputnik – 12.11.2024
CDU party leader Friedrich Merz, who seeks to become Germany’s new chancellor, has boasted that, if he gets the job, he would present Russia with an ultimatum: cease all combat operations in the Ukrainian conflict zone in 24 hours or Kiev gets German Taurus cruise missiles along with permission to use them to strike deep into Russian territory.
Merz’s bellicose rhetoric seems to be a product of the current political instability in Germany where the ruling coalition collapsed amid a “deep economic recession” and the loss of “residual hopes of good transatlantic relations” due to Donald Trump’s victory in the US election, says Paolo Raffone, a strategic analyst and director of the CIPI Foundation in Brussels.
“Merz understands that the heavyweights of Germany are the financial-industrial conglomerates who are openly against the war against Russia in Ukraine and the crazy sanctions against Russia and China. However, Merz must appease the war-minded Green [Party] who are also ideologically anti-Russian and anti-Chinese, to embark them in a possible government coalition,” he explains.
However, forming a new government might necessitate forming a coalition with the SPD, who, Raffone points out, “would not support Merz’s intent to lift restrictions on long-range armaments supplied to Ukraine and even less the idea of issuing an ultimatum to Russia.”
“Merz’s harsh rhetoric is a paper tiger – a desperate attempt to have a role in Ukraine after Trump’s win – that would probably also irritate the new US administration that has signaled the intention to de-escalate the confrontation,” the analyst remarks.
NATO support of Merz’s ultimatum initiative also seems unlikely as it would require unanimous approval of the military bloc’s members who would probably first wait for the United States, their “real ‘tutor’,” to weigh in on the matter.
“Trump (as also his predecessors and some EU leaders) is not a fan of NATO playing any direct concrete role in the war or post-war in Ukraine. Even Poland, that is genetically anti-Russian, would be very careful to support any Ukrainian capacity to strike inside Russia with West-provided missiles,” Raffone suggests.
He also warns that, with all the serious “domestic confusion” in Germany, “anything that any German leader says may just be reversed in the blink of an eye.”
“Moreover, the US, that is still occupying Germany with military bases and personnel and nuclear capacities, would not like to be dragged in any direct military confrontation with Russia,” Raffone adds. “None of the EU countries can be taken seriously without the consent of the US.”
EU Now Has Two Choices: New Arms Race or Mend Fences With Russia – Swedish Military Veteran
By Ekaterina Blinova – Sputnik – 12.11.2024
The European Commission may redirect some €392 billion ($416 billion) from the 2021-2027 cohesion funds to support their defense industries and military mobility projects, The Financial Times reported on November 11.
The Ukraine conflict and Donald Trump’s return to the White House are likely to impose pressure on the EU to boost defense investments, according to the newspaper.
“After Trump’s victory, European leaders no longer can rely on a secure US backing and only have two choices, either rapprochement and resumption of good neighborly towards Russia or continued belligerence with its following an arms race and risk for escalation,” Mikael Valtersson, former Swedish military officer and ex-chief of staff with the Sweden Democrats, tells Sputnik. “Unfortunately most of the European leaders are supporting the second alternative.”
Many in the bloc would love to become more independent from the US in terms of defense, but it would require gargantuan military budgets which European countries are unable to afford, Valtersson argues.
“Without the US the EU has very limited power projection capabilities and even less nuclear deterrence capability,” he explains. “Building and keeping a strong nuclear capability will be extremely expensive for the limited European defense budgets.”
A possible way out is a shift from the expensive militarization and growing dependence on the US to resuming working relations with Russia, the pundit alleges. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly called for discussing common European security for all.
“A wise European policy in this environment would be to seek better relations with Russia,” Valtersson says. “Better relations with Russia is also a sentiment with growing support among the European population. It’s not improbable that several new governments will be elected in the next years that will share the will of a rapprochement with Russia.”
Why Trump’s Triumph Sows Sorrow for Soros
By Ilya Tsukanov – Sputnik – 09.11.2024
Billionaire hedge fund shark-turned liberal ‘philanthropist’ George Soros’ financial interests and political projects may be in trouble when Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office, with tens of millions in campaign funding, smear jobs and even involvement in the Trump prosecutions failing to stop the former president from making a comeback.
Bloomberg reported on Friday that Soros Fund Management plans to shut down its Hong Kong office as part of a surprise “administrative reorganization” after 14 years of operations.
The move may signal preparations by the Soros family to make major changes in the way their soft power empire operates with Trump back in power.
The campaign by the elder Soros and his son and heir apparent Alex to keep a Democrat in the White House has failed to pay dividends, despite the Soros’ Fund for Policy Reform’s transfer of $60 mln to Future Forward, a pro-Democrat dark money super PAC. That’s on top of a $15 mln donation by an Open Society Foundations subsidiary in 2023.
Along with money, the Soros family invested significant personal capital into the campaign against “MAGA-style Republicans” in 2024. In the spring of 2023, Alex Soros announced a dramatic scaling back of OSF’s operations in Western Europe to focus on Ukraine, Moldova, the Western Balkans, and the United States, with the effort to stop Trump becoming a top priority.
George Soros first sounded the alarm over Trump’s “America First” foreign policy in 2016, when he pumped millions into Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign but failed to see his preferred candidate elected. After Trump won, Soros funded an anti-Trump “resistance movement,” manifesting itself in street protests, court challenges to his domestic agenda, secret lobbying of members of his administration, support for lawmakers promoting a neoliberal foreign policy, and even $1 mln in cash spent on the infamous debunked ‘Trump-Russia collusion’ dossier.
During Trump’s first term, Soros lobbied tech giants to regulate social media, funded a campaign to support dozens, if not hundreds, of liberal prosecutors and judges, gubernatorial candidates, congressional hopefuls, and other state and local officials in 2018 and 2020.
Soros and the OSF’s noticeable shift away from meddling abroad to interfering in US domestic politics earned the ire of Trump backers, who sought to declare him a “domestic terrorist,” strip him of his assets, and expel the Hungarian-born billionaire from the country.
When Joe Biden won in 2020, a Soros-linked think tank lobbied his administration to support policies favoring OSF principles in nearly two dozen different policy areas, and laid out $20 mln to create ‘grass roots organizations’ to sell Biden’s $1.2 trln infrastructure bill.
In 2022, Soros channeled $125 mln into a ‘Democracy PAC’ to support anti-MAGA candidates in the midterms.
In 2023, as criminal indictments began to come down on Trump, the former president immediately linked the political “witch hunt” against him to Soros and his “hand-picked and funded” Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, to whose 2021 campaign Soros is known to have donated at least $1 mln.
“I expect that Trump will be found guilty at least in some cases, and will be in jail by election day in November 2024,” Soros said in an August 2023 interview. “If I am right, he is unlikely to win the election. But if I am wrong, the US will face a constitutional crisis that is likely to bring on an economic crisis as well.”
Something seems to have gone terribly wrong in the billionaire’s calculations, with Soros’ ex-money manager, Stan Druckenmiller, warning in mid-October that the markets were “very convinced” that Trump would win.
With the Soros family dealt a major blow in Tuesday’s election and set back to where it started in 2016, only time will tell whether the OSF empire will restart its anti-Trump “resistance” movement, and if the president-elect’s inner circle – steeled by over eight years of efforts to sabotage Trump and undermine his ability to govern – will tolerate Soros-style attacks on the US political system and constitutional order.
DNC still whines about Russia
By Drago Bosnic | November 9, 2024
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. This old saying, usually (mis)attributed to Albert Einstein, perfectly encompasses two very prominent mental health conditions of our time – the infamous Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) and Russia Derangement Syndrome (RDS). Symptoms of either of these can be disastrous if left unchecked. However, when combined in a single person or an organization, the consequences of TDS and RDS are virtually guaranteed to be catastrophic. The absolute failure of the DNC has left it without both the presidency and US Congress, giving the Republicans an unprecedented political advantage.
Obviously, numerous top-ranking GOP officials are assets of the Deep State, particularly unadulterated warmongers and war criminals such as Lindsey Graham and John Bolton. Their hatred for Russia and particularly President Vladimir Putin is also quite obvious. However, this animosity is strangely “rational”, based on the simple idea that they consider Moscow a threat that keeps US aggression against the world in check, preventing its so-called “full-spectrum dominance”. Thus, surprisingly enough, it cannot be said that every Russophobic Republican suffers from RDS. However, the same cannot be said about the Democrats, who are still obsessed with the “evil hand of Putin and the Kremlin”.
Namely, the DNC simply refuses to take responsibility for its countless shortcomings (there are so many of them that it’s virtually impossible to name a single good thing about the Democratic Party). Cities, counties and states they run are in such a horrible condition that the United States now has millions of “blue-state refugees”, i.e. people who left DNC-run states to escape the absolute chaos resulting from the neoliberal/woke extremist policies and so-called “values” that are absolutely repulsive to any remotely sane and decent person. Thus, the definition of insanity mentioned at the beginning fits perfectly into this, as the Democrats simply keep refusing to change the way they do things.
Worse yet, it seems they’re even more overzealous in defending the policies that have now left them politically impotent. It should be noted that this defense is based not on any sustainable logic or viable reasoning, but on constant whining, screaming and crying. This sort of behavior is more adequate for toddlers and preschool kids, as it’s pretty embarrassing to see grown people throwing hissy fits instead of facing their shortcomings. However, it’s far worse when those same people keep blaming the same phantoms for those flaws. This is where TDS and RDS come in again, as the DNC is still trying to recover from the election loss “shock” (only they didn’t really see it coming).
Thus, they simply won’t stop talking about the “evil hand of the Kremlin” and its alleged “role in electing Trump”. The sheer disparity between their various ludicrous propaganda narratives concerning Russia is truly mind-boggling. Namely, the Democrat-run mainstream propaganda machine has spent the last well over two and a half years trying to convince everyone that Moscow is “losing in Ukraine”, while simultaneously claiming that Russia is “so powerful” it can actually “elect” US presidents (including “through Facebook ads”, of all things). This doesn’t strike the DNC as completely illogical. Quite the contrary, to them, it’s not only “completely sensible”, but the “only explanation” on how they could’ve lost.
CNN, the neoliberal mouthpiece infamous for its pathological hatred for Trump, couldn’t wait a single day after the election and immediately (re)launched the so-called “Russiagate” conspiracy theory. To that end, it invited Bob Woodward, a Deep State-controlled “investigative journalist” who is usually cited as the “man who uncovered the Watergate scandal”. Woodward himself immediately proved that he’s a Deep State asset by claiming that “Putin might be blackmailing Trump”. He failed to explain how exactly the Russian president is doing that, but alas – the narrative simply needs to be kept alive somehow. The DNC has been fighting tooth and nail to push “Russiagate” for nearly a decade at this point.
It seems that this remains its flagship “strategy” in fighting Trump and the Deep State is entirely in line with it. However, the majority of the American people remain unconvinced. In fact, it can even be argued that the narrative has become a meme of sorts, as virtually anything can be “blamed” on those “evil Russians”. The Democrats also seem to think it can be a good way to shift attention away from their numerous corruption and financial scandals, the latest of which involves a $20 million debt they managed to accrue during their failed election campaign. According to multiple sources, the Kamala Harris campaign burned through over a billion dollars, even leaving the aforementioned $20 million in debt.
According to Politico’s Christopher Cadelago, “after raising over $1 billion and left with $118 million in the bank as of October 16, the Harris campaign ended the 2024 election season with at least $20 million in debt”. Cadelago, the California bureau chief for Politico, shared the information on X, citing “two separate sources familiar with the situation”. Breitbart CEO Matt Boyle confirmed this, adding that “a Kamala campaign staffer said there is a massive scandal here worthy of an audit” and that Jen O’Malley Dillon, the Harris campaign chair, “blew through a billion dollars in a few months”. It seems the largest amount of that money was wasted on celebrity concerts organized precisely by O’Malley Dillon.
According to Zero Hedge, which cites data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Harris campaign received over a billion dollars up until October 16, including when the incumbent Joe Biden was still campaigning for reelection. Over the same period, the Trump campaign got $392 million and spent $345 million, meaning that it managed to save nearly $50 million and also win the election. In addition, the Democrats wasted another $1.1 billion on “aired advertising and associated reservations”, according to AdImpact – a website that monitors the cost and content of ads. The DNC’s financial appetites are very well known, as evidenced by numerous scandals involving the funneling of the so-called “Ukraine aid”.
Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst.
Kremlin responds to claim of ‘secret’ Trump congratulations
RT | November 7, 2024
The Kremlin has denied reports suggesting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has secretly congratulated Donald Trump on his US election win, describing the claim as unreliable and inaccurate.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Thursday that he had “no knowledge” of any congratulatory message from Putin to Trump.
Peskov’s statement follows a report from an anonymous Western-funded media outlet alleging that Moscow had already sent a private congratulatory message to the US President-elect.
The Kremlin spokesman was firm in dismissing the claim, adding “we are talking about an unfriendly country that is directly and indirectly involved in the war against us.”
The US is currently viewed as a hostile state by Russia due to Washington’s backing for Ukraine in what the Kremlin sees as a proxy war.
Peskov did not rule out the possibility of a direct conversation between Trump and Putin before the US President-elect takes office in January. “He [Trump] said he would call Putin before the inauguration. Here are his words, we have nothing else to say yet,” Peskov explained to reporters.
While no specific meeting or agenda has been arranged, the Kremlin press secretary noted that such a call is “not excluded.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has also weighed in on the US election results, describing Trump’s win as reflective of widespread dissatisfaction with the direction taken by President Biden’s administration. Nevertheless, the ministry tempered expectations of a major shift in relations, stating “the ruling political elite in the United States, regardless of party affiliation, adheres to anti-Russian attitudes.”
Moscow “has no illusions” about Trump’s ability to significantly alter this stance, but Putin, according to Peskov, remains open to “constructive dialogue” on principles of “justice, equality, and a readiness to consider each other’s concerns.”
As to whether Russia would be represented at Trump’s inauguration, Peskov said that it remains undecided, dismissing any idea of Kremlin communication with Trump’s team, stating simply “No, why should we get in touch?”
Trump’s first term was dogged by conspiracy theories – heavily amplified by US corporate media – alleging Russian interference in the 2016 election. Some observers think lingering memories have made both sides more cautious about interactions now.
Rachel Maddow threatens Musk over ‘Russia ties’
RT | November 6, 2024
Elon Musk can’t possibly keep his US government contracts because of his alleged secret contacts with “America’s worst enemy,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has said.
The Wall Street Journal claimed last week that Musk had communicated with Russian President Vladimir Putin and withheld the services of his Starlink network to Ukraine’s military. Both Musk and Moscow have dismissed the report as fake news.
Maddow, however, proceeded as if the Journal’s reporting was a proven fact in her election day show on Tuesday evening.
“You really can’t have the head of a company that is the primary rocket launcher for the defense department and NASA, you can’t have the head of that company in secret communications with America’s worst enemy while America’s enemy is actively waging a war against one of our allies, especially once you learn that he’s using his businesses to help the other side, to help Russia in that war,” Maddow said.
“Now that we know what we know about Elon Musk, this election – regardless of who wins – has produced a national security problem,” she continued, arguing that it will likely produce “tons of drama.”
“So, buckle up. Even if [Donald] Trump doesn’t win, the Defense Department and NASA are gonna need a new arrangement for all their rockets and for all the multi-billion-dollar contracts Elon Musk’s companies have with the US government,” Maddow said. Either the government will have to get out of those contracts, or Musk’s companies “will have to unwind from him.”
Musk has denied the Journal’s claims, pointing out that Starlink was “the BACKBONE of Ukrainian military communications at the front lines, because everything else has been blown up or jammed by Russia.”
The founder of SpaceX and owner of X (formerly Twitter) addressed Maddow’s comments shortly afterward, speaking to journalist Tucker Carlson in a livestream from Mar-a-Lago.
“Rachel Maddow is a crazy person,” Musk said, describing her as “frothing-at-the-mouth crazy fascist, basically, sort of pretending to be a liberal.”
Asked how much pressure he has been under because of his support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Musk resorted to a joke.
“Well, apart from multiple Democrats saying they want to put me in jail, take away government contracts from my companies, nationalize my companies, deport me as an illegal, and have me arrested for apparently being Putin’s best friend, nothing besides those things,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Journal’s claims were untrue, “most likely linked” to Musk’s support for Trump, and should not be taken seriously.
While the official count of votes in the US presidential election is still pending, Trump has secured the needed 270 electoral votes, according to multiple media organizations.
EU will not lift Russia sanctions – MEPs
RT | November 5, 2024
EU restrictions on Russia are unlikely to be lifted in the foreseeable future due to pressure from the US, two members of the European Parliament told Izvestiya newspaper on Tuesday.
Even an eventual end to the Ukraine conflict would not necessarily mean a scaling back of Western barriers to trade, finance and travel, French MEP Thierry Mariani told the Russian daily.
“It would be logical to lift them, but I am not sure that this will happen,” the lawmaker said. “It is likely that the US will ask to keep the sanctions in place to make sure that… economic relations with Russia do not resume immediately.”
America’s energy sector has benefited greatly from the EU’s sanctions against Russia, which was previously a leading energy supplier to the bloc, Izvestiya wrote. Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Brussels chose to shun Russian natural gas, replacing cheap pipeline supplies with more expensive liquified natural gas (LNG).
Last year, the US was the largest LNG supplier to the EU, representing almost 50% of total LNG imports, having tripled the supply volume since 2021, according to the European Council data.
“The end of the military operation in Ukraine will undoubtedly push some economic players in the West to demand that the sanctions, especially in the energy sector, be lifted,” Luxembourg MEP Fernand Kartheiser told Izvestiya. The lawmaker went on to warn, however, that “influential circles” in the West, including American shale gas producers, will seek to maintain the restrictions, as they benefit from them.
“So far, no senior EU official has given any indication that sanctions could be lifted if the Ukraine conflict ends… Even if Russian negotiators succeed in convincing the EU to lift the restrictions, it will not happen immediately, and it would take years for trade relations to get back to normal,” according to EU law expert and former MEP Gunnar Beck.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was reelected in July for another five-year term, has been one of the main backers of increasing pressure on Russia.
Last month, Politico reported that Brussels was preparing its 15th package of sanctions, aimed mainly at Russian LNG exports that are still sold to the EU. According to the newspaper, the bloc’s members plan to resume discussions on new restrictions in January.
No new measures will be introduced against Russia this year during Hungary’s presidency of the bloc, Polish media reported earlier this week. Officials in Brussels are reportedly waiting for Warsaw to take over the Council’s leadership on January 1 before they roll out any new restrictive measures.
Finnish Defense Minister Says More EU Funding for Ukraine Needed Through Taxes
Sputnik – 04.11.2024
The European Union will need to find more funds “in the wallets of European taxpayers” to support Ukraine if assistance from the United States weakens, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said on Monday.
He added that now was not the time for “war fatigue.”
“This means that more funds need to be found in the wallets of European taxpayers to support Ukraine,” Hakkanen told Finnish broadcaster when commenting on the potential decline in support for Kiev from Washington after the US presidential election.
In October, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said in an interview that the West was getting tired of supporting Ukraine, hoping for some form of resolution to the ongoing conflict.
Western countries have ramped up their military and financial aid to Kiev since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. Russia has repeatedly said that arms supplies to Ukraine hinder the conflict settlement and directly involve NATO countries in the conflict.
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Prominent American “Anti-Racist” Jews Are Funding Racist Gangs Attacking Arabs In Israel
By Eric Striker | National Justice | May 8, 2021
American Jews are bankrolling Zionist paramilitary groups that have been assaulting and terrorizing random Arabs on the streets of East Jerusalem.
Two weeks ago, 100s of Israelis chanted “Death To Arabs” as they attacked non-Jewish men, women and children during a demonstration organized by Lehava.
Lehava describes itself as a group militantly opposed to race-mixing and openly calls for the killing and expulsion of Christians and Muslims alike.
According to a recent investigation into the groups funding, a number of wealthy Jews who support pro-Israel and liberal causes in the United States have been funding Lehava’s activities.
Two names that stand out are Adam Milstein, a real estate speculator, and the Falic family, which controls all the duty free shops that operate in US airports. … continue
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