The World According to Andrei (Martyanov) / THE WEST DOUBLES DOWN ON DISINFORMATION, INCLUDING PUTIN’S HEALTH.

Impotence can make men do foolish things and evoke helpless rage. While erectile dysfunction can be resolved, at least temporarily, with the help of a little blue pill, there is no remedy for political impotence other than reality. One example of Western political flacidity is Europe’s decision to impose a new batch on sanctions on Russia, which include trying to muzzle RT. Strong nations that are prevailing in a conflict do not resort to such feckless, useless measures. These are the actions of weaklings.

The Western nations should never walk out of talks with Moscow, regardless of how big the "differences"between the two sides are, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Germany’s SZ newspaper in an interview published on Friday. Dropping out of any talks with Moscow would only make the task of ending the ongoing conflict in Ukraine harder, the chancellor believes. "What is important is that, despite major differences in [our] positions, we do not let the thread of talks with Russia be broken," Scholz said, adding that "if we do not talk, Russia would be even less likely to end the war." The chancellor still blames Moscow for its ongoing conflict with Kiev and maintains it is Russia that should be proactive in halting military action. Yet, the chancellor also advocates a negotiated solution rather than a military one. "For this, it will be necessary to talk," he told SZ.

Urgently negotiating an end to hostilities in Ukraine would prevent another world war, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger argued in an essay published on Friday. The 99-year-old statesman noted that, in 1916, the US government had the chance to end the First World War through diplomacy, but missed it for reasons of domestic politics. Kissinger laid out his reasoning in the December 17 issue of The Spectator, describing the current conflict as a “war in which two nuclear powers contest a conventionally armed country,” a clear reference to Ukraine being a proxy war between the US and Russia. The “peace process”Kissinger proposes would “link Ukraine to NATO, however expressed,” as he believes neutrality for Kiev is no longer an option. He also wants Russia to withdraw to the lines before February 24, while the other territories Ukraine claims – Donetsk, Lugansk and Crimea – “could be the subject of a negotiation after a ceasefire.” 

Somebody explain to him what this is and what, actually, defends those silos, before he spews the next portion of geopolitical delirium. But Henry's desperate attempts to save NATO from what is coming to it are just another manifestation of what is highlighted in yellow in Larry's quote from his Western Hysteria piece.  Yes, losing hurts. Especially against this news which underscores my point of many years--Dollar economic figures are meaningless when measuring against real, physical economies and real militaries and their actual combat capabilities. Absolutely meaningless and, in fact, nothing more than a propaganda shtick to represent Western economies as the largest ones in the world. 

The US dollar may soon disappear from Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) trade statistics, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says, as member-states are cutting use of the currency in mutual settlements. Lavrov noted that trade between the countries of the union is rapidly growing, and said it is high time statistics were calculated in the currencies they use. The EEU, which is based on the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, was established in 2015. It was later joined by Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. “The EEU is one of the most dynamically developing regional associations. It unites almost 185 million consumers, and its total gross income is more than $2 trillion. Although, it is time to switch over to calculating statistics in other currencies, so far we count in dollars out of habit,” Lavrov said at a conference on Wednesday.