I happen to subscribe to this little online newspaper called “The Moscow Times”. They are based out of Amsterdam and are an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. Well, then. They emailed me recently, and I ran across this very *interesting* article.
“U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies, once seen as a potential lifeline for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, are finally delivering a harsh and unintended punishment to Moscow. In a stunning irony, Trump’s tariff war and reckless trade policies have sent Russian stocks plummeting and oil prices crashing to their lowest levels in four years, potentially sinking the Russian economy in the very way he sought to avoid. Brent crude is now at just $63, while Urals, Russia’s key export blend, plunged to almost $50 per barrel. This is far below what the Kremlin needs to break even, delivering a severe blow to an already fragile economy. These rock-bottom prices threaten Russia’s strapped budget and all but guarantee another devaluation of the ruble in the coming months.” This is highly ironic since the ruble *increased* in value yesterday, making it the best-performing currency in the world thus far in 2025. I’m pretty sure it will devalue again, going by the article.
This is not what Putin signed up for with Agent Orange in the White House, not at all. The opportunity to turn things around that he thought he was going to get is now no longer possible, unless some sort of miracle happens. Who knows? Maybe Traitor Tot will change his mind again (normal for dementia), and the tide will turn back in Russia’s favor. Or, it could get worse. I’m pretty sure Pootie does not want that, do you?
This economic slump is directly due to Putin’s reliance on oil exports. If he had diversified, he might not be hurting as badly as he is now, and it’s only going to get worse. Trump’s trade war has increased Russia’s dependence on China and has pushed them further into economic isolation. “With oil and gas revenues making up about 30% of Russia’s budget, the slide in energy prices poses a major fiscal threat. This correction in commodities could destabilise the federal budget, particularly as skyrocketing military spending on the Ukraine conflict has already expanded the deficit and drained the nation’s rainy-day reserves.” Putin is too proud to accept a ceasefire in Ukraine. If anything, he’ll dig in with what he has taken over so far and refuse to stop the war. I think if I was Russian, I might be really tired of that damn war by now. How many people have they lost? How many military resources have been used up?
The slump in oil prices is a direct result of tRump’s trade war. I haven’t seen any data on other suppliers, but I would think they are having trouble too. Add in tRump’s reckless trade policies (as was stated above) and *BOOM*! Russia is in trouble. I wish I could feel bad for Vlad, but I don’t, because he brought it on himself. Now it’s up to him to figure out how to get everything back. Will he even be able to? Is his reputation still frightening in his country? I don’t think anyone would want to overthrow him because then they’d have to clean up his mess, and that’s going to be a slog. They’re likely just quietly backing away. To close: “The Trump slump reveals just how fragile Putin’s position truly is. The idea that the Russian leader could exploit a cosy relationship with Trump for economic and geopolitical gain has proven to be a naive miscalculation.” You wouldn’t have expected that from Putin, would you?
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It’s all to do with the unintended consequences of undermining the worldwide trust in the US economy. The Trump crowd took it for granted that despite what they did, trust in the US economy and US dollar would remain unchanged.
It didn’t and it hasn’t. Strange effects in the pricing of things in US dollars will continue as the USD ceases to be the world’s reserve currency.
And, of course, if the world’s most trusted currency is now worth less, how much less worth is there in currencies and product values from discredited, sanctioned, corrupt economies, like Russia?
Susan…true…these are checker players…not chess players. Unintended consequences are beyond the thinking of narcissistic child killing dictators. That being said…not easy to stand up when the dictator shows the lengths he/she is willing to use to take YOU out. Look at the most protected rich politicians HERE quaking in their Hokas and their million dollar townhouses in Georgetown. In Russia you disappear easily…that day is now here in the good old USA. Get on trump’s radar and expect evil. In the movie Sacarrio, the former lawyer turned assassin, hired by the black ops US military to help escalate the war between cartels, became an assassin after they chopped his wife’s head off and put his deaf living daughter in a vat of acid. I won’t divulge the entire turns and twists, but a woman cop from Phoenix DEA was assigned to help. She struggled with the tactics, etc., and the assassin had to save her life. He later advised her to return to the states where ‘the rule of law still held’. He noted Mexico was now a ‘land of wolves’ and she was no wolf, and she wouldn’t survive. We are quickly becoming a land of wolves. I’ve personally been trained by violence since I was a toddler. It served me well when thrown unjustly into the penitentiary. There I rediscovered I was actually a wolf…I had forgotten since I abhor violence. That being said…try to use violence against me and discover a werewolf is hard to spot until the wolf appears ready to rip your throat out. I can only hope the poor soul thrown into that hellhole in El Salvador has some wolf in him. It doesn’t guarantee survival, but it increases his chances. Too bad Jesus isn’t around…he’d see it’s not sheep and goats…it’s sheep and wolves. Plan on more dead and damaged sheep.
Sicario
Thanks…interesting movie by the same guy that created Yellowstone. Now that Trump has declared war on the cartels,(knowing he lies as he breathes, hard to say it’s real), he is asking for an informal war…they have the guns, the money, and an unlimited supply of cash to recruit and arm people with nothing to lose. Kinda like whacking a hornets nest with a stick.