An expanding Russia

Pat494

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President Putin's Russia is set on a course of imperial expansion in all directions. Even though sanctions are biting severely into Russia's economic progress Putin who idolizes the era of imperial expansion under Catherine The Great is set upon the same course. As far as one can see his method follows the previous course of destabilising border areas and then moving in to bring order whether the locals want it or not. The means are as brutal as necessary to achieve this result, as in Chechnya..
This dangerous ideology could easily spark a major European war with NATO. Such an unnecessary waste of life to make the planet's biggest country even larger. Like inflating a balloon which could easily burst under the callous rule of yet another cruel Russian tyrant and they have had plenty of those.
 
There is a “real and present danger” that Vladimir Putin will launch a campaign of undercover attacks to destabilise the Baltic states on Nato’s eastern flank, the Defence Secretary has warned.

Michael Fallon said the Russian president may try to test Nato’s resolve with the same Kremlin-backed subversion used in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

A murky campaign of infiltration, propaganda, undercover forces and cyber attack such as that used in the early stages of the Ukraine conflict could be used to inflame ethnic tensions in Estonia, Lithuania or Latvia, he said.

The military alliance must be prepared to repel Russian aggression “whatever form it takes”, Mr Fallon said, as he warned that tensions between the two were “warming up”.

The Defence Secretary spoke as Ukrainian troops pulled out of the besieged town of Debaltseve yesterday after it was stormed by pro-Russian rebels.

The retreat was a severe defeat for Ukrainian troops, who had been encircled in the strategically important town by rebel forces since last week. The European Union called it a “clear violation” of the Minsk peace plan.

Mr Fallon said the latest negotiations to forge peace in Ukraine look similar to earlier doomed efforts. Talks in Minsk, Belarus, last week had failed to see Russia hand over control of the border.

David Cameron said that if Russia does not stop destabilising Ukraine then Europe must make it clear that Moscow faces economic sanctions for “many years to come”.

The Prime Minister said Europe could not “turn a blind eye” to events in Ukraine, where he said “effectively one country is challenging the territorial integrity of another country”.

“Those Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, they are using Russian rocket launchers, Russian tanks, Russian artillery, you can’t buy this equipment on eBay, it hasn’t come from somewhere else, it’s come from Russia and we know that,” he said.

The former Soviet states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia could be next to face a Russian-backed campaign to destabilise them, Mr Fallon warned.

The number of Russian military flights probing Baltic airspace has trebled in the past year, according to Nato. Estonia says that one of its security service officers was kidnapped on the border last year and is being held in Russia.

Many defence analysts have questioned whether Nato’s eastern members could cope with a covert campaign similar to that used in Ukraine last year — such as irregular troops, cyber attack and skilful propaganda being used to exploit internal tensions with ethnic Russian minorities.

Mr Fallon said: “It’s a very real and present danger. He was testing Nato all last year, if you look at the number of flights and the maritime activity.

“He flew two Russian bombers down the English Channel two weeks ago. We had to scramble jets very quickly to see them off. It’s the first time since the height of the Cold War, it’s the first time that’s happened.

"That just shows you, you need to respond, each time he [Mr Putin] does something like that, you need to be ready to respond.”

A sharp increase in Russian defence spending is “clearly worrying”, he added.

“They are modernising their conventional forces, they are modernising their nuclear forces and they are testing Nato, so we need to respond.”

He went on: “There are lots of worries. I’m worried about Putin. There’s no effective control of the border, I’m worried about his pressure on the Baltics, the way he is testing Nato, the submarines and aircraft.”

Asked if the world was facing a new Cold War, he said “It is warming up, you have tanks and armour rolling across the Ukrainian border and you have an Estonian border guard who has been captured and not yet still returned.”

Britain has so far refused to arm the Ukrainian government.

Mr Fallon said: “We are supplying non-lethal equipment. At the moment, our view is that lethal would escalate the conflict, but we will continue to keep that under review.”
 
Just a game of chess

Timeline: How Crimea was annexed

22 February, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych flees Kiev after violent protests
23 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to rescue Mr Yanukovych and annexe Crimea
27 February, pro-Russian gunmen seize Crimea's parliament and other key buildings
28 February, unidentified soldiers in combat fatigues occupy two airports in Crimea
1 March, Russian parliament approves Mr Putin's request to use force in Ukraine
16 March, 97% of voters in Crimea agree to join Russia
18 March, Mr Putin signs a bill absorbing Crimea into the Russian Federation
 
Pat man stop you naabish analysis on this topic which you know nothing about repeating the same things you hear in the media... you think everything is just as simple as black or white?

What's are you trying to accomplish in this thread? Because there are many pretty ridiculous statements in here?
 
Pat man stop you naabish analysis on this topic which you know nothing about repeating the same things you hear in the media... you think everything is just as simple as black or white?

What's are you trying to accomplish in this thread? Because there are many pretty ridiculous statements in here?

nabbish ?
Perhaps you would care to enlighten us with your superior knowledge if you know better.
The reason I mention the whole mess of the Ukraine, Crimea is that fundamentals do affect the markets and if you are a trader you would know that. The fact that this crisis directly affects the major nuclear powers should also be of some interest. Putin or Obama plus some others could end life on planet earth with an all out nuclear attack. Too much power imho to be in the personal hands of a privileged few, but that is another issue.
Thailand's problem started a major financial crisis a few years ago, which you may remember. It doesn't take much.
 
yea man, naabish... because if you are starting an analysis the first rule is collect real, unbiased information. You are right about the things such as privileged few having too much power, etc., but that's a totally different topic to discuss.

"Putin's "dangerous ideology" could easily spark a major European war with NATO." - NATO was created to counter the 'Russian threat', has expanded all the way to the Russian borders over the decades with USA contributing the most to this organization. On the topic of Imperialism, Putin's is a total amateur compared to Uncle Sam and his puppets! The only ideology that can start war is when countries and political unions driven by their own agendas try to divide ignorant people in order to achieve this. This is the same what happened in all modern European conflicts and in Ukraine.

"Cameron said Europe could not “turn a blind eye” to events in Ukraine and "one country is challenging the territorial integrity of another" - These are great speeches and are easy to plant in peoples minds compared with the any kind of truth. He should have instead asked, how an organised organised group of people and nationalistic parties from one part of the country, financially and politically supported by foreign countries and their ministers managed to create enough chaos to overthrow a democratically elected president? To non-Ukrainians, its difficult to understand who these guys currently in power are, and what exactly is their agenda. The first thing they did when they came to power was to demote the status of Russian language... they are not here to unite the east, south and west of the country but rather force their own ideas. These kind of things create wars.

The Greeks choose a new idea of running things now (if might be wrong, but not the point) - the didn't get paid to do this. No European and American ministers travelled to Athens or politically and financially supported them. This is real support for an idea which wasn't created externally.

During the Scottish referendum, do you think the world would accept if Putin would spend a couple of billions in Scotland, make his foreign ministers hold support marches with Salmond, propose favourable trade and travel conditions and hand out biscuits in Edinburgh? I don't think so.

The former Soviet states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia could be next to face a Russian-backed campaign to destabilise them - Do you know that when USSR was broken up, the Russian minorities who lived for generation in these countries did not get citizenships? They were and still are given Alien passports compared with the rest of the population? Imagine for example if Romania said to all Roma Gypsies, sorry guys, we cant give you passports even though your ancestors have lived here - what an outrage that would have caused in Europe?

One has to understand the dynamics of a problem while analysing. If Crimea didn't join Russia, all what's happening in East Ukraine, Odessa, etc. would happen there too. No other government in the civilised world would accept 6-10,000 deaths in any kind of a situation (specially not in the one where negotiations are an option!) . The question here is not whether Putin's "dangerous ideology" is going to start a war but rather what are the governments of Europe doing to bring the peoples of Europe together and work on mutual understanding and respect.
 
Rumours continue to swirl about the Russian president’s apparent vanishing act amid claims his long-denied girlfriend has given birth.

The Kremlin has consistently denied any relationship between 62-year-old Vladimir Putin and former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva, 31.

The Russian leader, who remains the country’s most popular politician, enjoying – according to a state broadcaster – an approval rating of 88 per cent, has been unusually silent in the past week, prompting a flurry of speculation over his whereabouts.

The latest theory is that Mr Putin, who formally divorced his first wife Lyudmila in 2014, had flown to Swiss Clinic Sant'Anna witness the birth of his child, RIA news agency claimed.

Reports that Ms Kabayeva had checked into the exclusive clinic near Lugano last week could not be confirmed – and the Kremlin denied the former politician had given birth, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Ms Kabayeva, one of the most decorated gymnasts in the history of rhythmic gymnastics, became a Russian MP in 2005, holding the title of State Duma deputy from 2007 to 2014.

Both her and Mr Putin have denied long-standing rumours of a relationship between the pair, but this has not prevented widespread speculation in the Russian media – culminating in 2008 when reports claimed there were plans for the pair to marry following Mr Putin’s retirement from government.


Mr Putin and Ms Kabayeva separately scotched the news article with Mr Putin claiming “there was not a single word of truth” in it.

The Russian leader’s relationship is just the latest in a series of rumours speculating over his disappearance.

Another popular claim is that Mr Putin has fallen ill. The rumours were sparked after the Russian leader postponed a trip to Kazakhstan, with a Kazakh government official telling Reuters news agency: “It looks like he has fallen ill.”

But these allegations have been repeatedly denied by Kremlin officials.

Asked by Reuters to confirm Mr Putin's good health, his personal spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Yes. We've already said this a hundred times. This isn't funny any more."

The spokesperson has also vehemently denied that Mr Putin was attending the bedside of his girlfriend and newborn child.

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62 year old Vlad probably needs a rest from his young gymnastic girlfriend. Hippon ?
 
I heard a rumour that Putin is on the shortlist as a Top Gear Clarkson replacement and he's been away doing secret auditions with our lefty trendy friends at the BBC. Apparently he qualifies because he can outdo Clarkson in the objectionable/overgrown schoolboy/bigmouth/get up people's noses/large following/macho stakes.
 
President Putin's Russia is set on a course of imperial expansion in all directions. Even though sanctions are biting severely into Russia's economic progress Putin who idolizes the era of imperial expansion under Catherine The Great is set upon the same course. As far as one can see his method follows the previous course of destabilising border areas and then moving in to bring order whether the locals want it or not. The means are as brutal as necessary to achieve this result, as in Chechnya..
This dangerous ideology could easily spark a major European war with NATO. Such an unnecessary waste of life to make the planet's biggest country even larger. Like inflating a balloon which could easily burst under the callous rule of yet another cruel Russian tyrant and they have had plenty of those.

Tyrant?:LOL:

Throw TV in garbage and Lurk wiki "propaganda" to calm down a bit :whistling
 
Who wouldn't take time off to be with the gorgeous Kabayeva.

Come to uncle Vlad красивый кролик
 

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Tyrant?:LOL:

:whistling

From the year dot through Peter, Catherine, Stalin etc. Aren't they enough for you ?
I don't know what the murder/disappearance rate is but I guess it is high. Only last week that dissident got shot outside the Kremlin !
 
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nabbish ?
Perhaps you would care to enlighten us with your superior knowledge if you know better.
The reason I mention the whole mess of the Ukraine, Crimea is that fundamentals do affect the markets and if you are a trader you would know that. The fact that this crisis directly affects the major nuclear powers should also be of some interest. Putin or Obama plus some others could end life on planet earth with an all out nuclear attack. Too much power imho to be in the personal hands of a privileged few, but that is another issue.
Thailand's problem started a major financial crisis a few years ago, which you may remember. It doesn't take much.

I guess a reasonable question then would be: how are you incorporating these views into your trading especially as Russia is one of the best performing markets ytd.
 
I guess a reasonable question then would be: how are you incorporating these views into your trading especially as Russia is one of the best performing markets ytd.

Really ?
Nobody else seems to think so.
 

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Really ?
Nobody else seems to think so.

ytd = year to date, just to spell it out...

Micex up 16.5%, ruble down 2.5%, so call it up 13.5% in dollar terms. Not shabby given the issues you raise. A lot of GEM funds have lost a lot of performance this year fom zero weighting Russia.
 
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Vladimir Putin has said Russia was so fearful of attack at the height of the Ukraine crisis that it was preparing to arm its nuclear weapons, in extraordinary claims aired on state TV on Sunday night.


Amid ongoing Russian media speculation that the President was watching the Crimea documentary from his sickbed, Mr Putin’s full interview with Rossiya One provided new insight into his country’s involvement in the annexation of the Black Sea peninsula.

In the documentary, which marks a year since the referendum that saw Russia take control of Crimea, Mr Putin described the Ukrainian revolution to oust Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 as an armed coup “masterminded by our American friends”.

He said Washington tried to “trick” the world into thinking the regime change was “supported mostly by the Europeans”, according to a translation of the interview on Russia Today.

But he instead accused the US of orchestrating the crisis, saying: “They helped training the nationalists, their armed groups, in Western Ukraine, in Poland and to some extent in Lithuania. They facilitated the armed coup.”

Mr Putin expanded on comments aired ahead of the full documentary that well-armed forces known as the “little green men” who helped bring about the referendum in Crimea were indeed Russian soldiers.


He also revealed that as part of the operation to take control of the peninsula, Russia deployed K-300P Bastion coastal defence missiles “in a way that made them seen clearly from space” as a military deterrent to the perceived threat of attack from the West.

And on Russia’s willingness to arm nuclear weapons if necessary, Mr Putin said: “We were ready to do this ... (Crimea) is our historical territory. Russian people live there. They were in danger. We cannot abandon them.” 9 controversial Putin quotes

The documentary comes as speculation continues to grow about Mr Putin's 10-day absence from public view. After a number of cancelled meetings in the past week, the opposition TV station Dozhd reportedly cited anonymous sources on Sunday saying the leader was recuperating from the flu in one of his country manors outside Moscow.

On Monday, he is scheduled to take part in a meeting with the president of Kyrgyzstan, in what would be his first public appearance before the news media since 5 March.

Other admissions made by Mr Putin in the documentary, which was entitled “Crimea: The Road Back Home”, were that he ordered the defence ministry to deploy elite units to Crimea “under the cover of strengthening the protection of our military facilities”.

But despite admitting this subterfuge, Mr Putin said Russian troop numbers in the peninsula never exceeded the 20,000 allowed under the terms of basing its Black Sea fleet there.

The comments were reported on the state broadcaster’s website, after the documentary aired in the Russian Far East but before it was due to go out in Moscow.

Mr Putin also confirmed that Russian forces oversaw the movement of the ousted president Yanukovych from Kiev to Russia, and suggested that those who benefited from the “armed coup” had plotted to assassinate him.

“I invited the heads of our special services, the Defense Ministry and ordered them to protect the life of the Ukrainian president,” he said. “Otherwise he would have been killed.”
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If nuclear bombs flying about and taking out whole cities doesn't affect trading then I don't know what does. The US can't be relied upon to make de-escalating decisions so it's not so unlikely. The 2 sides both live in the unreality of the other backing down ! Again very dangerous.
 
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I guess a reasonable question then would be: how are you incorporating these views into your trading especially as Russia is one of the best performing markets ytd.

Personally I don't trade that market as having just 1 man in Russia and 1 man in America aggressively pushing against each other makes it too risky and uncertain.
What if one of them hears voices in his head telling him to launch ? The pressures on both must be immense and they are both only human. To think the planet's future lies with them !! Dreadful imho. It will be too late afterwards..................

Too much depends on the decisions of too few. It's only a matter of time unless Russia and the USA change their antiquated systems.
 
Who wouldn't take time off to be with the gorgeous Kabayeva.

Come to uncle Vlad красивый кролик

Face too round, no cheekbones, not for me.

Anyway, here's what I think. Boris Nemstov's murder was too 'obvious' to be placed at Putin's door. Cui bono? No elections due until 2018 and why further antagonise the West and risk more sanctions? But... In recent months most other opposition politicians have been shut up or fled Russia, Nemstov was the only remaining one with the power base to get the required number of signatories to stand for President should Putin step aside. So I think his murder now most benefits those who would gain from a post-Putin coronation, and would rather avoid a democratic process. And then, almost immediately afterwards Putin goes AWOL for 11 days... To me, this looks like a 'soft coup' where Putin has been negotiating the terms of his exit (ie what influence and filthy lucre he gets to retain) in a dacha somewhere. The mobilisation of the armed forces for large scale exercises in the Arctic is him proving that he still has the Generals' support as much as anything, ie a show of strength to whoever is trying to unseat him, rather than to NATO and the West. So who is the eminence gris? God knows and it will be a concert party not an individual, but Putin has made enough enemies on his way to the top and he can't have killed, bribed or intimidated everyone. Trading it? Long for now and for when Putin steps down, and then short the bejaysus out of it before everyone realises that the new boss is worse than the old one. Obama, be careful what you wish for...
 
Face too round, no cheekbones, not for me.

Anyway, here's what I think. Boris Nemstov's murder was too 'obvious' to be placed at Putin's door. Cui bono? No elections due until 2018 and why further antagonise the West and risk more sanctions? But... In recent months most other opposition politicians have been shut up or fled Russia, Nemstov was the only remaining one with the power base to get the required number of signatories to stand for President should Putin step aside. So I think his murder now most benefits those who would gain from a post-Putin coronation, and would rather avoid a democratic process. And then, almost immediately afterwards Putin goes AWOL for 11 days... To me, this looks like a 'soft coup' where Putin has been negotiating the terms of his exit (ie what influence and filthy lucre he gets to retain) in a dacha somewhere. The mobilisation of the armed forces for large scale exercises in the Arctic is him proving that he still has the Generals' support as much as anything, ie a show of strength to whoever is trying to unseat him, rather than to NATO and the West. So who is the eminence gris? God knows and it will be a concert party not an individual, but Putin has made enough enemies on his way to the top and he can't have killed, bribed or intimidated everyone. Trading it? Long for now and for when Putin steps down, and then short the bejaysus out of it before everyone realises that the new boss is worse than the old one. Obama, be careful what you wish for...


Rumour - his taken two weeks off in paternity leave :whistling
 
Russia looks like a good investment opportunity as the oil price creeps up to $40 a barrel and there is a lowering/elimination of sanctions.

If you are a contrarian investor, I think this is the time to really take a deep look at Russia. There has been a lot of negative news and so it is safe to say that the worst case scenario has been priced into the stock market for Russia. The Russian market is very cheap and it looks very attractive for a long-term buyer. After all, we are talking about the biggest country in the world here.

There are a few ETFs that focus on Russia: RSX, the iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF (NYSEARCA: ERUS), the Daily Russia Bull 3x Shares (NYSEARCA: RUSL), the Daily Russia Bear 3x Shares (NYSEARCA: RUSS), the Market Vectors Russia Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA: RSXJ), the SPDR S&P Russia ETF (NYSEARCA: RBL).

Keep in mind, the war in Ukraine is over. Putin is a former KGB agent and a shrewd leader keen to consolidate his power. Therefore, he will look to try and minimize putting Russia in unnecessary conflicts.

This time last year the Russian stock market hit lows not seen since the Great Depression. This seems like a great time to start buying into the Russian story, contrary to popular belief.
 
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