US tariff threat leaves Russia less rattled than relieved

In the Oval Office on Monday, Donald Trump was talking tough, announcing new US arms shipments to Ukraine paid for by European governments, and threatening new tariffs which, if imposed, would hit Russia's war chest.

But, back in Moscow, how did the stock exchange react? It rose 2.7%.

That's because Russia had been bracing for even tougher sanctions from President Trump.

"Russia and America are moving towards a new round of confrontation over Ukraine," Monday's edition of the tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets had warned.

"Trump's Monday surprise will not be pleasant for our country."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62g6e8zvd4o

 

1 hour ago, Rimmer said:

In the Oval Office on Monday, Donald Trump was talking tough.......

But in stark contrast to this and since his 2016 election Trump has been praising Putin on and off over the years and here is a sound bite or two regarding the lovely things that Trump has said about Putin: –

 

– When Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine in 2022, Trump called Putin a “genius” for moving to seize large swathes of territory — applauding what he viewed as hard-line negotiation tactics.

AND....“How smart is that? And he’s going to go in and be a peacekeeper,” Trump said, adding: “Here’s a guy who’s very savvy. I know him very well".

As Putin's army slaughtered civilians in the Ukraine suburb and abducted Ukrainian children to Russia, Trump called such actions terrible, but stressed that he got along with him really well – – yeah right!

– Trump also said that although he got along well with Putin, "I'm not happy with Pres Putin at all", Trump said on July 7.

 

And now the absolutely stupendous piece of nonsense and rubbish that beats even what Trump has said previously (apart from stopping the war in 24 hours) when he said, "the Russian president has been duplicitous and he has fooled a lot of people. He fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, but Trump said "he didn't fool me". LOL.....

And Trump said he would be an exception to what he sees as the list of American presidents whom the Russian leader had outmanoeuvred. Laugh, I couldn't stop.

 

You poor demented soul Donnie, he's been playing with you and fooling you since way back in 2016 and despite all of the Trump threats and words, Putin has done exactly what he wanted to do and poor old Donnie has been helplessly watching from the sidelines. The art of the deal my derrière!

Trump is not the sharpest knife in the drawer by any means, but he has a lot of supporters and others with lack of similar mental sharpness........

 

 

 

33 minutes ago, xylophone said:

But in stark contrast to this and since his 2016 election Trump has been praising Putin on and off over the years and here is a sound bite or two regarding the lovely things that Trump has said about Putin: –

 

– When Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine in 2022, Trump called Putin a “genius” for moving to seize large swathes of territory — applauding what he viewed as hard-line negotiation tactics.

AND....“How smart is that? And he’s going to go in and be a peacekeeper,” Trump said, adding: “Here’s a guy who’s very savvy. I know him very well".

As Putin's army slaughtered civilians in the Ukraine suburb and abducted Ukrainian children to Russia, Trump called such actions terrible, but stressed that he got along with him really well – – yeah right!

– Trump also said that although he got along well with Putin, "I'm not happy with Pres Putin at all", Trump said on July 7.

 

And now the absolutely stupendous piece of nonsense and rubbish that beats even what Trump has said previously (apart from stopping the war in 24 hours) when he said, "the Russian president has been duplicitous and he has fooled a lot of people. He fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, but Trump said "he didn't fool me". LOL.....

And Trump said he would be an exception to what he sees as the list of American presidents whom the Russian leader had outmanoeuvred. Laugh, I couldn't stop.

 

You poor demented soul Donnie, he's been playing with you and fooling you since way back in 2016 and despite all of the Trump threats and words, Putin has done exactly what he wanted to do and poor old Donnie has been helplessly watching from the sidelines. The art of the deal my derrière!

Trump is not the sharpest knife in the drawer by any means, but he has a lot of supporters and others with lack of similar mental sharpness........

 

 

 

OOPS, nearly forgot this regarding the above post:-

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/he-didnt-fool-me-how-trump-changed-his-tone-on-putin-and-the-war-in-ukraine/TSNQZLRCQFBGTPWGJYCRFFZLWY/

 

 

A pair of Ukraine-supporting hacktivist groups have reportedly claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on a major supplier of drones to Russia's military called Gaskar Group.

 

The group stated that the attack was a joint effort among its members, another group known as the Ukrainian Cyber Alliance, and Ukraine's military intelligence agency.

 

This collaborative effort allowed the groups "to capture the entire network and server infrastructure of Gaskar Group," BO Team said, and "collect valuable information about manufactured and prospective UAVs with the subsequent destruction of information and disabling this infrastructure." 

 

Ukrainian hackers say they compromised a major Russian drone company, destroying data, backups, and systems

Yesterday, July 17, the cyber unit of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) attacked the network infrastructure of Gazprom, which is involved in supporting the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, according to RBC-Ukraine sources in the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.

 

As a result of the cyberattack, serious damage was inflicted on Gazprom's network infrastructure, in particular, a large amount of databases was destroyed and special software was installed.

 

Ukrainian intelligence hacks Gazprom: Massive data destruction and network disruption

the Russian were completely destroyed by the Ukrainians, that's good news and these type of news are always welcomed

 

Strategic Victory: Russian military crossing annihilated by Ukrainian fighter jet strike

 

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/strategic-victory-russian-military-crossing-annihilated-by-ukrainian-fighter-jet-strike/ss-AA1Iyeyu

Russians don't understand the concept of OpSec, with these photos.

 

 

Note the logo, top right. These are official Russian MOD photos. Whats more, they are using new Dodge pickups, Made in USA/

 

 

In an Iranian style propaganda video, of a style that tends to backfire.

 

So now we know the inside layout of the largest Russian drone factory. We can see loading doors, identify the manufacturer and specs of said doors. A good idea of headcounts. From analysing the parts bins, also more detailed views of production rates. The Russians are keen to let people know they are employing 9th Graders on the line. What every top nation does, child labour. Surely not indicative of looming labour shortages now affecting the defense sector.

 

Fleets of Iranian style scary looking Dodge trucks; straight out of the Isis/Taliban propaganda playbooks, usually indicative of a paper tiger. Dodge trucks I'd imagine are fairly unusual in Russia. Steps will be made to find out which Dodge dealer in likely Kazazhstan has been flogging all black trucks. They need spare parts, servicing, like any other Dodge, opening up another line of intel to identify depots etc. It gets funnier (not for the Russians). These trucks are fitted with Uconnect ("RAM Trucking"), which enables operators to manage their fleets via GPS. Besides locating the said trucks, you can remotely lock, unlock, start engines. In the past, hackers have exploited the system to apply the brakes, flash the headlights, even take over the steering (the hack was used before to crash cars into ditches). Maybe it was fully patched, maybe there is still a backdoor.

 

 

This is not an isolated event.

 

Reports from Ukraine’s eastern front suggest a growing breakdown in the Russian military, with soldiers now rebelling against their own officers.

 

Amid skyrocketing casualties and relentless pressure from Ukrainian forces, Russian units are reportedly refusing orders, killing their commanders, and surrendering en masse.

 

Russian Soldiers Kill Commander, Then Surrender to Ukraine

Nice going LG!

“Trump’s About to Put a Whooping on Your Ass”: Graham Warns Putin Over Sanctions

 

https://united24media.com/latest-news/trumps-about-to-put-a-whooping-on-your-ass-graham-warns-putin-over-sanctions-10054

Partisans infiltrated the warehouse of Russia's 12th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment, which is based in Sevastopol, Crimea, the partisan movement Atesh reports.

 

According to Atesh, a sudden change in the structure of the deployment of personnel and equipment of the enemy was observed. In particular, the Russian command decided to relocate the majority of servicemen outside the unit's premises.

 

"The reason is the fear of being struck by the Ukrainian Defense Forces," Atesh writes.

 

Ukrainian troops force Russians to evacuate S-400 and flee Crimea base (photos)

 

 

 

 

A view on how Russia treats its soldiers. 

Ender's Game, Russian style.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/22/russia-using-children-design-test-military-drones-investigation-finds

19 hours ago, sharot724 said:

Nice going LG!

“Trump’s About to Put a Whooping on Your Ass”: Graham Warns Putin Over Sanctions

 

https://united24media.com/latest-news/trumps-about-to-put-a-whooping-on-your-ass-graham-warns-putin-over-sanctions-10054

 The definition of evil - LG

5 hours ago, TedG said:

 

A view on how Russia treats its soldiers. 

 Pure comedy 

On 2/17/2025 at 6:40 PM, scottiejohn said:

When did Putin tell you that lie/piece of propaganda?

 It's actually the truth, but you should continue watching CNN

On 2/3/2025 at 6:23 AM, tgw said:

 

Godspeed.

Slava Ukraini !

 When do you go?

Finally people are standing up against the out of term illegal actor,  hoping more news of the corruption and censoring of all  opposition will be shown 

1 minute ago, frank83628 said:

Finally people are standing up against the out of term illegal actor,  hoping more news of the corruption and censoring of all  opposition will be shown 

 

1 minute ago, frank83628 said:

Finally people are standing up against the out of term illegal actor,  hoping more news of the corruption and censoring of all  opposition will be shown 

I hear your rich guys are now committing suicide or getting arrested, seems your leader is worried about a large payout to stop the madness, eh, comrade..

10 minutes ago, frank83628 said:

Finally people are standing up against the out of term illegal actor,  hoping more news of the corruption and censoring of all  opposition will be shown 

Your credibility would improve if you were to refrain from lies like 'illegal'.

2 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Your credibility would improve if you were to refrain from lies like 'illegal'.

He is over 1 year out of official office. Refused to hold election and banned opposition.... that's what you call others 'dictators' for...  guess that only counts for those not on your side.

Just now, frank83628 said:

He is over 1 year out of official office. Refused to hold election and banned opposition.... that's what you call others 'dictators' for...  guess that only counts for those not on your side.

But, you support a dictator............

It turns out that Zelensky and his associates are mired in corruption something that’s not sitting well with a nation that has fought bravely. There's even talk now of another Maidan uprising. Some of us tried to raise the alarm earlier, but were met with accusations and dismissal. It’s a tragedy all around for Ukraine, for Russia, and for a West that was unnecessarily drawn into an internecine conflict between two Slavic nations.

 

https://kyivindependent.com/editorial-dark-hour-for-ukrainian-democracy/

 

Just now, beautifulthailand99 said:

It turns out that Zelensky and his associates are mired in corruption

Well who would have thought it !!!   5555  been pointed out since forever but ignored by the MSM.

 And the excellent Vlad Vexler who, sadly, is unwell but has been one of the most steadfast and thoughtful pro-Ukraine voices has weighed in, and it’s damning for Zelensky. He argues that Zelensky’s actions have played directly into Putin’s hands.

 

 

2 minutes ago, johng said:

Well who would have thought it !!!   5555  been pointed out since forever but ignored by the MSM.

I know I got bored by the pushback and went elsewhere and now there's a lot of informed talk about the front collapsing. We have entered the end game. 

 

 

At the most patriotic Reditt the posters are feeling betrayed - and rightly so - he was a good actor though that made problems of it's own. 

 

 

The signing of such law is very bad to the Frontline. 

First of all, it reduces morale ('why do we have to fight and die when the president tries to usurp the power and not being responsible for his actions?')

Second, it won't be left unanswered, and will likely end up with reducing the international assistance (because many international institutions that provide assistance are already fed up with the cycle 'institution provides assistance in exchange of reforms - Zelensky promises reforms - the parliament votes for some bat<deleted> proposal - institution said that's not okay - the parliament scrambles at the last moment and retracts the bat<deleted>, often with some tiny pieces of bat crap stuck in corners').

Ukraine already had failed several critical checkpoints in reforms because of that. And it's not okay. Compared to the tempo of 2022 when Ukraine often moved ahead of the plan and passed the checks long before the deadline. Looks like having russian troops in proximity to the precious parliament asses is deeply invigorating - maybe they should move to Zaporizhya or Kherson for regular sessions?

You can read Yaroslav Zheleznyak's account for the second take.

 

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/zelenskys-corruption-crackdown-is-a-disaster/

 

It's worse than you can imagine  - well not to us that did of course. 

 

Perhaps more seriously, Zelensky seems to have badly misread the room in terms of the impact on his backers in the West. International anti-corruption bodies, Ukrainian civil society groups, the independent Ukrainian press and Western diplomats have all been warning Zelensky that passing this law could jeopardise Ukraine’s EU accession process, cancel its visa-free regime, and even trigger EU sanctions against Ukraine. But he went ahead and did it anyway.

In the wake of the Rada vote, Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Centre published a mock up of a Time Magazine cover featuring Zelensky – but with half his face covered by that of Viktor Yanukovych, his corrupt predecessor. Yanukovych’s wholesale plundering of the state was one of the main triggers of the 2014 Maidan revolution. Just a year ago, any equivalence between Zelensky and Yanukovych would have seemed absurd. Today, many of those making exactly that grim comparison were once Zelensky’s most passionate supporters.

3 hours ago, transam said:

But, you support a dictator............

 Elections were held in Russia, despite what CNN reports. Do you know many Russians?  Ever been there?  Your O Level in politics is wasted  lol