{"id":251652,"date":"2022-04-01T07:43:07","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T07:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=251652"},"modified":"2022-04-03T08:06:29","modified_gmt":"2022-04-03T08:06:29","slug":"is-russia-the-real-target-of-western-sanctions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=251652","title":{"rendered":"Is Russia the REAL target of Western sanctions?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Soaring oil prices, energy and food crises on the horizon\u2026is it possible the REAL target of this economic war is us?<\/em><\/h3>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Kit Knightly \u2013 Off-Guardian March 31, 2022<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>The first tweet I saw when I checked my timeline this morning was from foreign policy analyst Clint Ehlirch, pointing out that the Russian ruble has already started recovering from the dip created by Western sanctions, and is almost at pre-war levels:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Russian Ruble is nearing its pre-invasion value.<\/p>\n<p>Sanctions were designed to collapse its value. They failed. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OLmVIsS34E\">pic.twitter.com\/OLmVIsS34E<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Clint Ehrlich (@ClintEhrlich) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ClintEhrlich\/status\/1508950650310180865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 29, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Ehrlich states, <em>\u201csanctions were designed to collapse the value of the Ruble, they have failed\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026to which I can only respond, well <em>\u201cwere they?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u2026and perhaps more importantly, <em>\u201chave they?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Because it doesn\u2019t really look like it, does it?<\/p>\n<p>If anything, the sanctions seem to be at best rather impotent, and at worst amazingly counterproductive.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not like the US\/EU\/NATO don\u2019t know how to cripple economies. They have had years of practice starving the people of Cuba, Iraq, Venezuela and too many others to list.<\/p>\n<p>Now, you could argue that Russia is a larger, more developed economy than those countries, and that\u2019s true, but the US and its allies have previously managed to hurt the Russian economy quite drastically.<\/p>\n<p>As recently as 2014, following the \u201cannexation\u201d of Crimea, Western sanctions were tame compared to the recent unprecedented measures, but crucially the US massively increased its own oil production, then later that year (following a visit by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-saudi-oil-idUSKBN0F300P20140628\">US Secretary of State John Kerry<\/a>) Saudi Arabia did the same.<\/p>\n<p>Despite objections from other members of OPEC \u2013 Venezuela and Iran chiefly \u2013 the Saudis <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2014\/12\/18\/why-would-the-saudis-crash-oil-markets-iran\/\">flooded the market with oil<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The result of these moves was the biggest fall in oil prices for decades \u2013 collapsing from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/opub\/btn\/volume-4\/pdf\/the-2014-plunge-in-import-petroleum-prices-what-happened.pdf\">$109 a barrel, in June 2014, to $44 by January 2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This kicked Russia into a full recession and saw Russia\u2019s GDP shrink for the first time under Putin\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n<p>Again, just two years ago, allegedly as part of competing with Russia for a share of the oil market, Saudi Arabia once more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/saudi-russia-disclose-dueling-output-plans-amid-intensifying-oil-market-war-11583835347\">flooded the market with cheap oil<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>So, the West does know how to hurt Russia if it really wants to \u2013 by increasing oil production, flooding the market and tanking the price.<\/p>\n<p>But has the US increased its oil production this time round? Have they leant on their Gulf allies to do the same?<\/p>\n<p>Not at all.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, in a point of beautiful narrative synchronicity, the US claims it\u2019s \u201cunable\u201d to increase its oil production due to \u201cstaff shortages\u201d caused by that gift that keeps on giving \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2022\/03\/02\/energy\/us-oil-production\/index.html\">Covid<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, Saudi Arabia is not tanking the oil market, but deliberately <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/oilprice.com\/Energy\/Crude-Oil\/Saudi-Arabia-Hikes-Oil-Prices-Despite-Record-Discounts-For-Russian-Crude.html\">increasing prices<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, right now, with the Western allies locked in an alleged economic war with Russia the price of oil is<em> soaring<\/em>, and may <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/a2bc0bbe-f43e-4927-8bd8-94c48e4fcdfc\">continue to do so<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This is good news for the Russian economy, to the point it <em>may<\/em> even make up for the damage done by the brutal sanctions.<\/p>\n<p>The high price of oil and need <em>\u201cnot to rely on Putin\u2019s gas\u201d <\/em>or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breakinglatest.news\/world\/german-energy-de-russification-minister-of-economy-at-least-2-years-germany-russia-energy-dependence\/\">\u201cde-Russify\u201d<\/a> our energy supply will doubtless <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/8e98393b-13d1-4ab7-a584-cec5a6c8fbff\">result in millions<\/a> being poured into <a href=\"https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/ukraine-war-invest-northern-renewables-solution-russia-energy-crisis-labour-leaders-1509411\">\u201cgreen\u201d technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Those Western sanctions are targeting other Russian exports too, including grains and food in general.<\/p>\n<p>Russia is a <em>net exporter<\/em> of food, meaning they export more food than they import. Conversely, many countries in Western Europe rely on imported food, including the UK which imports <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foodsecurity.ac.uk\/challenge\/uk-threat\/\">over 48% of its food supply<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If Europe refuses to buy Russian food, the net effect is that Russia <em>has<\/em> food\u2026and the West <em>doesn\u2019t<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>And, just as with oil, increasing food prices will help rather than hinder the Russian economy.<\/p>\n<p>Take wheat for example, of which Russia is the biggest exporter<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_countries_by_wheat_exports\"> in the world<\/a>. The vast majority of this wheat is not even sold to Western countries \u2013 but instead to China, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Nigeria and Pakistan \u2013 and so is not even subject to sanctions.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the sanctions, and the war, have actually driven the price of<a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2022-03-russia-war-ukraine-wheat-prices.html\"> wheat up almost 30%<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This is <em>good<\/em> for the Russian economy.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2022\/03\/24\/economy\/economy-russia-ukraine-war\/index.html\">according to CNN<\/a>, the US is likely to enter a full-blown recession by 2023, France is considering food vouchers and countries all over the world are expected to begin rationing fuel.<\/p>\n<p>So, the sweeping sanctions imposed against Russia by the West, allegedly in response to the invasion of Ukraine, are not having their stated aim \u2013 tanking the Russian economy \u2013 but they <em>are<\/em> driving up the price of oil, creating potential energy and food shortages in the West and exacerbating the \u201ccost of living\u201d crisis created by the \u201cpandemic\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>You should always be wary of anybody \u2013 individual or institution \u2013 whose actions accidentally achieve the <em>exact opposite<\/em> of their stated aim. That\u2019s a simple rule to live by.<\/p>\n<p>Remember how Orwell described the evolution of the concept of war in 1984:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">War, it will be seen, is now a purely internal affair. In the past, the ruling groups of all countries, although they might recognize their common interest and therefore limit the destructiveness of war, did fight against one another, and the victor always plundered the vanquished. In our own day they are not fighting against one another at all. The war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact.<\/p>\n<p>Recall that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2020\/jun\/09\/world-faces-worst-food-crisis-50-years-un-coronavirus\">\u201cthe worst food shortages for fifty years\u201d<\/a> were predicted as a result of Covid. But they never materialised.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, we were due to experience Covid-related energy disruptions and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/coronavirus-update-lockdown-power-cuts-blackout-electricity-advice-a9437691.html\"> power cuts<\/a>. Short of the UK\u2019s damp squib of a <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/world\/live-news\/uk-fuel-crisis-09-28-21\/index.html\">\u201cpetrol crisis\u201d<\/a>, they never really arrived.<\/p>\n<p>But now they are heading our way after all \u2013 because war and sanctions<\/p>\n<p>Increased food prices, decreased use of fossil fuels, lowering standards of living, public money poured into \u201crenewables\u201d. This is all part of a very familiar agenda, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of what you feel about Putin, Zelensky, the war in general or Ukrainian Nazis, it\u2019s time to confront the elephant in room.<\/p>\n<p>We need to be asking: <em>What exactly is the <\/em><strong><em>real <\/em><\/strong><em>aim of these sanctions? And how come they alignso perfectly with the great reset?<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8212;<\/p>\n<h3>Can you spare $1.00 a month to support independent media<\/h3>\n<p>Unlike the Guardian we are NOT funded by Bill &amp; Melinda Gates, or any other NGO or government. So a few coins in our jar to help us keep going are always appreciated.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?cmd=_s-xclick&amp;hosted_button_id=CKFB3MH8CGB9U\">Paypal<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/liberapay.com\/OffGuardian\/donate\">Liberapay<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/off-guardian.org\/2022\/03\/30\/is-russia-the-real-target-of-western-sanctions\/\">Source \u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We need to be asking: What exactly is the real aim of these sanctions? And how come they align so perfectly with the great reset?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":251654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-Commentary","category-Current_Affairs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=251652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251655,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251652\/revisions\/251655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/251654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=251652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=251652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=251652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}