Assault on Kiev: Russian helicopters swoop above Ukraine's capital

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11 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Is that your expert opinion ?

Are you familiar with something called "facts"? You don't need to be an expert when you've got them to back you up.

 

Ukraine says it needs more weapons soon, argues it's paying 'a very high price' as defender of democracy

Ukrainian officials on Thursday said Kyiv needs more weapons as its war with Russia ensues for a fifth week, arguing it has shouldered the burden as the defender of "the values of a democratic world."

https://www.foxnews.com/world/ukraine-more-weapons-high-price-democracy

 

 

What weapons to send to Ukraine? How debate shifted from helmets to tanks.

Ukrainian officials are clear on what they want from the United States and Europe: weapons. Big, heavy weapons. American troops have been training Ukrainian forces to effectively use weaponry like Javelins, stingers, and grenade launchers, and the U.S. has pledged more than $2.5 billion in security assistance and humanitarian aid.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/09/nato-heavy-weapons-ukraine/

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56 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

They came to an agreement . 

The  $ can exchanged for Roubles at Central banks in Moscow .

So the Western Governments pay in $ to a Russian bank and the Bank gives the Russian Government roubles for the gas

Who came to an agreement? The West is still paying in dollars as per contract agreements. Putin required Gazprom to change those dollars into roubles. Putin backed down.

[Mac Mickmanus]

5 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Who came to an agreement? The West is still paying in dollars as per contract agreements. Putin required Gazprom to change those dollars into roubles. Putin backed down.

Is this a victory in the struggle against Russia  ?

[Kwasaki]

25 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Is that your expert opinion ?

I don't have a expert opinion on wars all I will say is Ukraine is getting slaughtered and if weapons or western involvement is not given the western & south parts of Ukraine will be occupied and it will turn into a conflict that will go on for years to come. 

 

Ukraine surrendering and the present government. leaving the country does not seem to be what Ukraine will do under any circumstances.

[placeholder]

22 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Is this a victory in the struggle against Russia  ?

You seem to think it's important. Why else would you falsely claim that they came to an agreement? The buyers didn't come to any agreement with Russia at all. Putin backed down.

I 

[Mac Mickmanus]

1 minute ago, placeholder said:

You seem to think it's important. Why else would you falsely claim that they came to an agreement? The buyers didn't come to any agreement with Russia at all. Putin backed down.

I 

Even if Putin did back down , that doesn't detract that they came to an agreement .

Both sides did indeed come to an agreement .

BTW , I am not at war with you and I don't want a confrontation .

[placeholder]

3 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Even if Putin did back down , that doesn't detract that they came to an agreement .

Both sides did indeed come to an agreement .

BTW , I am not at war with you and I don't want a confrontation .

Both sides did not come to an agreement. As always, Gazprom was paid in dollars. The bank account business is totally irrelevant to this issue. The reason that Putin pushed Gazprom to set up these accounts was to create artificial demand for the rouble by forcing Gazprom to use dollars to buy roubles. Nothing to do with the buyers at all.

[Mac Mickmanus]

10 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Both sides did not come to an agreement. As always, Gazprom was paid in dollars. The bank account business is totally irrelevant to this issue. The reason that Putin pushed Gazprom to set up these accounts was to create artificial demand for the rouble by forcing Gazprom to use dollars to buy roubles. Nothing to do with the buyers at all.

So Putin disagrees with the process of the money being paid to a bank and the bank then converts the money into Rubles ?

  Seems like he found that acceptable and thus is agreeing with the process and so both sides have an agreement . 

  Western Coutries pay a bank in hard currency , the bank then exchanges that to Rubles and pays the energy company in rubles 

[placeholder]

9 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

So Putin disagrees with the process of the money being paid to a bank and the bank then converts the money into Rubles ?

  Seems like he found that acceptable and thus is agreeing with the process and so both sides have an agreement . 

  Western Coutries pay a bank in hard currency , the bank then exchanges that to Rubles and pays the energy company in rubles 

He found what acceptable? He ordered Gazprom to convert dollars to roubles after Western buyers told him that they wouldn't accede to his demand. He absolutely backed down. The buyers did not change the way they did business. Putin's ultimatum failed. And it's significant because it shows he doesn't have the leverage to force buyers to do it his way.

[Bkk Brian]

10 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

So Putin disagrees with the process of the money being paid to a bank and the bank then converts the money into Rubles ?

  Seems like he found that acceptable and thus is agreeing with the process and so both sides have an agreement . 

  Western Coutries pay a bank in hard currency , the bank then exchanges that to Rubles and pays the energy company in rubles 

1) Putin demands all money for oil/gas be paid by unfriendly countries with Rubles by 1st April

2) Unfriendly countries refuse.

3) 1st April unfriendly countries carry on as normal

4) No agreement reached

[Mac Mickmanus]

2 minutes ago, placeholder said:

He found what acceptable? He ordered Gazprom to convert dollars to roubles after Western buyers told him that they wouldn't accede to his demand. He absolutely backed down. The buyers did not change the way they did business. Putin's ultimatum failed. And it's significant because it shows he doesn't have the leverage to force buyers to do it his way.

It is Gazprombank that now does the money converting , the money now goes through Gazprombank, rather than going directly to the Gazpron gas  company . Buyer pays in $ and Gazprom get paid in Roubles 

   The buyer now pays the bank, who convert the money and give it to the gas company .

That is for the current contracts and I believe that the new contracts are up for renewal next month

  

[sammieuk1]

[Nojohndoe]

16 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

It is Gazprombank that now does the money converting , the money now goes through Gazprombank, rather than going directly to the Gazpron gas  company . Buyer pays in $ and Gazprom get paid in Roubles 

   The buyer now pays the bank, who convert the money and give it to the gas company .

That is for the current contracts and I believe that the new contracts are up for renewal next month

  

That was the  mechanism that was set up originally to accomodate Putin's demand.

It effectively adds to Putin's foreign reserves while paying an SOE in roubles.

[coolcarer]

49 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

It is Gazprombank that now does the money converting , the money now goes through Gazprombank, rather than going directly to the Gazpron gas  company . Buyer pays in $ and Gazprom get paid in Roubles 

   The buyer now pays the bank, who convert the money and give it to the gas company .

That is for the current contracts and I believe that the new contracts are up for renewal next month

  

European countries paid Gazpron gas company directly before? Did they deliver it in suitcases? Do you have a link for this claim?
 

I was under the impression they have always paid via either Sberbank or Gazprombank in dollars, nothing has changed whatsoever.

[Mac Mickmanus]

1 hour ago, coolcarer said:

European countries paid Gazpron gas company directly before? Did they deliver it in suitcases? Do you have a link for this claim?
 

I was under the impression they have always paid via either Sberbank or Gazprombank in dollars, nothing has changed whatsoever.

"Putin ................In March, he proposed that energy buyers open accounts at Gazprombank, where payments in euros or dollars would be converted to roubles."

 

 

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russian-deputy-pm-says-several-buyers-agree-pay-roubles-russian-gas-2022-04-15/

[coolcarer]

58 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

"Putin ................In March, he proposed that energy buyers open accounts at Gazprombank, where payments in euros or dollars would be converted to roubles."

 

 

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russian-deputy-pm-says-several-buyers-agree-pay-roubles-russian-gas-2022-04-15/

Did you read my post where I asked for the link to your claim that they paid Gazpron company directly before? Still waking for that. The article you sight is paywalled for me but it’s also available at 

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-04-15/russian-deputy-pm-says-several-buyers-agree-to-pay-in-roubles-for-russian-gas

It’s purely reporting on a claim made by the Russian Deputy PM and in that claim he won’t even mention which countries.

 

Meanwhile they all continue to pay in dollars as normal.

[Mac Mickmanus]

6 minutes ago, coolcarer said:

Did you read my post where I asked for the link to your claim that they paid Gazpron company directly before? Still waking for that. The article you sight is paywalled for me but it’s also available at 

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-04-15/russian-deputy-pm-says-several-buyers-agree-to-pay-in-roubles-for-russian-gas

It’s purely reporting on a claim made by the Russian Deputy PM and in that claim he won’t even mention which countries.

 

Meanwhile they all continue to pay in dollars as normal.

There was a new proposal that the buyers pay a bank first who will then convert the money to rubles , This new proposal was made last month .

   If its a new proposals that the money will go through  bank, it stands to reason that previously it didn't go through a bank, otherwise it wouldn't be a new proposal .

   I didnt think that I would need to explain that to you , I thought it would have been obvious  

[coolcarer]

28 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

There was a new proposal that the buyers pay a bank first who will then convert the money to rubles , This new proposal was made last month .

   If its a new proposals that the money will go through  bank, it stands to reason that previously it didn't go through a bank, otherwise it wouldn't be a new proposal .

   I didnt think that I would need to explain that to you , I thought it would have been obvious  

You don’t need to explain to me, correct because I already know. When the EU first banned certain banks in Russia from the swift system back on 2nd March, they left Sberbank and Gazprombank off the ban because that’s where they’ve always made their pavements for Russian energy. There has been no change in that since.

 

“Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, and Gazprombank were not included because they are the main channels for payments for Russian oil and gas, which EU countries are still buying despite the conflict in Ukraine.”

 

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2022-03-02/eu-excludes-seven-russian-banks-from-swift-official-journal

 

 

 

[metisdead]

A post with unattributed content has been removed as there was no valid link to the source of information provided. 

[Chris.B]

Russia and China nightmare as UK scientists analyse secrets of Putin's prized fighter jet

BRITISH and American scientists are analysing the secret long-range targeting mechanism of Russia's most advanced fighter jet, sources confirmed last night.

And their findings could make a "huge difference" in how the West conducts air-to-air combat with both Russia and China. Ukrainian troops shot down the Sukhoi Su-35S using short-range missiles two weeks ago. 

 

Daily Express

 

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3 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

It is Gazprombank that now does the money converting , the money now goes through Gazprombank, rather than going directly to the Gazpron gas  company . Buyer pays in $ and Gazprom get paid in Roubles 

   The buyer now pays the bank, who convert the money and give it to the gas company .

That is for the current contracts and I believe that the new contracts are up for renewal next month

  

A distinction that makes no difference.

[Chris.B]

11 minutes ago, placeholder said:

A distinction that makes no difference.

????

[placeholder]

7 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

????

 

1 hour ago, coolcarer said:

You don’t need to explain to me, correct because I already know. When the EU first banned certain banks in Russia from the swift system back on 2nd March, they left Sberbank and Gazprombank off the ban because that’s where they’ve always made their pavements for Russian energy. There has been no change in that since.

 

“Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, and Gazprombank were not included because they are the main channels for payments for Russian oil and gas, which EU countries are still buying despite the conflict in Ukraine.”

 

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2022-03-02/eu-excludes-seven-russian-banks-from-swift-official-journal

Some people just can't quit despots or their fanboys. Let's see what effect your post has on Mac Mickmanus

[Bkk Brian]

aaaah he wants to go home to Russia:

 

#UPDATE Ukrainian security services on Monday published a video showing Viktor Medvedchuk, a detained pro-Russia Ukrainian tycoon and politician, calling to be exchanged for Ukrainian forces fighting in the besieged port city of #Mariupol

 

While Ukrainians are returning at record rates.

 

For the first time since February 24th, more people left Poland for Ukraine than entered Poland from Ukraine. The Ukrainian spirit lives on!

 

 

[Slip]

19 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

aaaah he wants to go home to Russia:

 

#UPDATE Ukrainian security services on Monday published a video showing Viktor Medvedchuk, a detained pro-Russia Ukrainian tycoon and politician, calling to be exchanged for Ukrainian forces fighting in the besieged port city of #Mariupol

 

 

<snip for brevity/focus>

 

I seem to remember reading earlier today or yesterday (but don't have a link, sorry) that the official RU reaction was eff off Medvedcuk is not a russian national.

 

 

[Chris.B]

Britain's most powerful nuclear submarine arrives in Gibraltar hours after Putin's threat

BRITAIN's most powerful nuclear submarine has arrived in Gibraltar just hours after Russian president Vladimir Putin issued a threat against the West. HMS Audacious is one of the UK’s newest submarines and is considered one of the world’s most deadly underwater vehicles. The Astute class vessel is a hunter-killer submarine used for attacking and sinking other subs and surface ships with its torpedoes and is capable of attacking land targets with its Tomahawk cruise missiles.

 

 

Daily Express

 

[Chris.B]

9 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

Britain's most powerful nuclear submarine arrives in Gibraltar hours after Putin's threat

BRITAIN's most powerful nuclear submarine has arrived in Gibraltar just hours after Russian president Vladimir Putin issued a threat against the West. HMS Audacious is one of the UK’s newest submarines and is considered one of the world’s most deadly underwater vehicles. The Astute class vessel is a hunter-killer submarine used for attacking and sinking other subs and surface ships with its torpedoes and is capable of attacking land targets with its Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Audacious is capable of striking targets up to 1,200km from the coast with pinpoint accuracy.

 

Daily Express

 

 

 

 

Hmmm, needs to move a little closer....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

Second British soldier in Russian custody, I saw this reported on the BBC news tv yesterday but this is now published so we can have a link.

 

 

Captured Briton Shaun Pinner's family hope for quick resolution

 

The family of a British man who has reportedly been captured by Russian forces while fighting in Ukraine have said they are hoping for a quick resolution to his situation. Mr Pinner and Mr Aslin appeared on the Rossiya 24 state television channel on Monday and both spoke, although it is not clear if they were doing so under duress. A Foreign Office source condemned "the exploitation of prisoners of war for political purposes".

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61139735

 

 

 

[rudi49jr]

2 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

if they were doing so under duress

I think that’s a given.

[Hellfire]

Very emotional and very true

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wDmEPFO_hd0