Scott Ritter (@RealScottRitter): "The #US and #Europe are doing #Putin a huge favor, with current sweeping #sanctions giving him the ability to separate #Russia from its economic association with the West without the politically fatal consequences of being seen to do this on his own volition. https://www.energyintel.com/0000017f-797c-df49-abff-fffdd6cf0000" | Nitter | PussTheCat.org – https://nitter.pussthecat.org/RealScottRitter/status/1502345505917050887#m

All That Glitters Is Not Necessarily Russian Gold — Strategic Culture – https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2022/03/17/all-that-glitters-is-not-necessarily-russian-gold/

As of February 1, three weeks before the start of #OperationZ, the #Russia n Central Bank held $630.2 billion in reserves. Almost half –

$311.2 billion – were placed in foreign securities, and a quarter – $151.9 billion – on deposits with foreign commercial and #CentralBank s. Not exactly a brilliant strategy.As for the physical #gold, #$ 132.2 billion – 21% of total reserves – remains in vaults in Moscow (two-thirds) and St. Petersburg (one-third).

The key problem is that more than 75% of Russian Central Bank reserves are in foreign currency. Half of these are #securities, like government bonds: they never leave the nation that issued them. Roughly 25% of the reserves are linked to foreign banks, mostly private, as well as the #BIS and the #IMF.

#Sanctions and #sovereignty – https://rentry.co/sanctions-and-sovereignty

Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald): "The #propaganda in the €West about this war is like nothing seen since 2001, arguably even worse. The day before invading, #Putin said the goal was to ensure the independence of two regions of Eastern #Ukraine from #Kyiv, along with #Crimea, along with Ukrainian neutrality." | Nitter | PussTheCat.org – https://nitter.pussthecat.org/ggreenwald/status/1508831524854059008#m

"In light of the resurgence of the Russian ruble, we unlocked this freelance report from Russia-based @DimitriASimes on how Western #sanctions may not just fail, but have the opposite effect of their stated goals. Really well-reported and well-analyzed: https://outsidevoices.substack.com/p/reporting-from-moscow-sanctions-may?s=w"

Gas flows via Yamal-Europe pipeline fall to zero, other flows steady | Reuters – https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russian-gas-flows-europe-remain-steady-2022-03-29/

#RussiaRoubles #Gas #pipelines #YamalPipeline #sanctions #nordsream

United States weighs largest ever draw from emergency oil reserve -sources | Reuters – https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/biden-will-give-remarks-thursday-efforts-lower-gas-prices-white-house-2022-03-31/

The latest amount of U.S. #oil release being considered, which is equivalent to about two days of global demand, would mark the third time the United States has tapped its strategic reserves in the past six months, and would be the largest release in the near 50-year history of the #SPR.

The White House said Biden will deliver remarks at 1:30 p.m. ET (1730 GMT) on "his administration's actions to reduce the impact of Putin's price hike on #energy prices and lower #gas prices at the pump for American families.

Given that the United States is taking a "muscular stance toward Moscow, promising more #sanctions, we believe the SPR release is being used as a tool to blunt the impact of these foreign policy decisions for US consumers," RBC Capital said in a note to clients

The Economic Consequences of a Stop of Energy Imports from Russia – https://www.cae-eco.fr/the-economic-consequences-of-a-stop-of-energy-imports-from-russia

This Focus provides an estimation of the effects of a Russian stop of energy imports. The main results are as follows:

The impact for #France would be modest, with a decline of around 0,15 to 0,3% in gross national income. For Germany, the negative impact on gross national income is real (around 0.3% and up to 3% in the most pessimistic scenarios) but overall moderate and can be absorbed. The same is true for the EU as a whole, although there is significant heterogeneity in the magnitude of the shock across countries. For some #EU countries, the consequences are much greater: #Lithuania, #Bulgaria, #Slovakia, Finland or the #Czech Republic may experience national income drops of between 1 and 5%.

https://www.cae-eco.fr/staticfiles/pdf/cae-focus84.pdf

#Gazprom #gas #Pipelines – https://eegas.com/fsu.htm

#Russia #Ukraine #sanctions

Elijah J. Magnier 🇪🇺 (@ejmalrai): "The #US President @JoeBiden: "Harsh sanctions on #Russia, boycott energy and commerce; Europe can pay more for the US #gas and stop importing the Russian one; suspend #NordStream2.......but we and only we can keep buying the Russian oil"." | Nitter | PussTheCat.org – https://nitter.pussthecat.org/ejmalrai/status/1511283028009660419#m

Yawen Xu (@YawenXu17): "#US increases imports of Russian crude oil by 43% over the past week while Washington does not allow Europeans to take similar measures. That’s just hypocrisy at another level. #Russia #oilprice" | Nitter | PussTheCat.org – https://nitter.pussthecat.org/YawenXu17/status/1510894479795924992#m

#Ukraine #Sanctions

🇷🇺⚠️ Which Nations are on Russia’s ‘Unfriendly’ List?

On May 13, 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law the List of Unfriendly Nations, which included the United States and the Czech Republic. On March 5, 2022, as Russia’s military operation in Ukraine progressed, the list was updated to include 45 more nations and jurisdictions. The countries and territories mentioned in the list have imposed or joined the sanctions against Russia.

🔗 Follow this link to find the full high-res infographic.

✌️©You are free to repost, reproduce and print this infographic.

#Diplomacy #Sanctions #Ukraine

@strategic_culture

Bloomberg Energy (@BloombergNRG): "With a coal ban, the EU plans to sanction Russian #energy imports for the first time. #Oil may follow. Read the Brussels Edition. https://trib.al/QdSW3Gc" | FDNitter – https://nitter.fdn.fr/BloombergNRG/status/1511593639121666049#m

#Russia #Ukraine #EU #US #sanctions

Javier Blas (@JavierBlas): "CHART OF THE DAY: A surge in European energy prices means the region is now spending almost 10% of its GDP on energy, the highest share since 1981, according to calculations by @BlackRock | Full report here: https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/literature/market-commentary/weekly-investment-commentary-en-us-20220404-impact-of-the-drive-for-energy-security.pdf #OOTT" | FDNitter – https://nitter.fdn.fr/JavierBlas/status/1511691197231865856#m

#Russia #Ukraine #EU #Sanctions

Bloomberg Energy (@BloombergNRG): "Growing calls for the European Union to ban Russian oil imports may be overlooking a crucial flaw in its strategy to punish Moscow: India https://trib.al/S6NmLCG" | FDNitter – https://nitter.fdn.fr/BloombergNRG/status/1514490016491360259#m

#Russia #sanctions #EU #gas #gaz #pétrole #oil #crudeOil #India

US takes aim at China’s chip industry

New export rules restrict selling to Beijing certain semiconductors made with US technology

The US published a new package of export restrictions on Friday targeting China’s semiconductor industry by further curbing the country’s access to US chip technology.

The document, published on the Department of Commerce’s website, includes a ban on exporting to China chips made with US technology and intended for use in artificial intelligence and supercomputers without an export license. The new restrictions also limit the sale of chip manufacturing equipment and technology to Chinese companies and restrict US citizens and entities from working with Chinese chip producers unless they are granted special permission.

https://www.rt.com/business/564322-us-china-chip-industry-restrictions
#sanctions #chips #semiconductor

📡 @NoGoolag