How To Be Written Off...

Anybody who is anybody speaks openly about the fact that Russia's war is with the combined West non-stop for many years. This blog speaks about it for 8 years. So, when some begin to exclaim recently that Russia must understand that her war is with the West, the immediate question is--what stone did you sleep under for the last 8 years. So, in terms of the larger picture we have today Putin and Xi doing their thing in Samarkand, with Xi stating:

“China is willing to make efforts with Russia to assume the role of great powers, and play a guiding role to inject stability and positive energy into a world rocked by social turmoil,” Xi told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a leaders’ summit at the SCO. Putin likewise praised the “multifaceted ties” the two countries have forged, in particular their trade relationship. Highlighting the exchange of $140 billion in trade with Beijing last year, he noted that the volume had increased 25% in the first half of 2022 and said he hoped the figure could reach $200 billion by the end of the year.

And this type of statements is expected but as I am on record, there is a guy in Russian government who is so powerful that many in the West prefer not to talk about him directly very often. His name is Alexandr Novak and he is Russia's energy minister. While putin and Xi were busy making grand strategy statements, Novak, commenting on the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline to China stated this:

САМАРКАНД, 15 сентября. /ТАСС/. Газопровод "Сила Сибири - 2" может стать фактической заменой для России газопровода "Северный поток - 2". Об этом в четверг сообщил вице-премьер РФ Александр Новак в интервью для программы "Москва. Кремль. Путин", фрагмент которого был показан на телеканале "Россия-1". "Ну, фактически - да", - сказал вице-премьер, отвечая на вопрос журналиста Павла Зарубина, может ли газопровод "Сила Сибири - 2" стать заменой "Северного потока - 2". Новак напомнил, что проект "Сила Сибири - 2" обсуждается "на мощность 50 миллиардов" кубометров газа.

Translation: SAMARKAND, September 15. /TASS/. The Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline may become a de facto replacement for Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. This was announced on Thursday by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak in an interview for the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program, a fragment of which was shown on the Rossiya-1 TV channel. “Well, in fact, yes,” said the Deputy Prime Minister, answering a question from journalist Pavel Zarubin whether the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline could become a replacement for Nord Stream 2. Novak recalled that the Power of Siberia-2 project is being discussed "for a capacity of 50 billion" cubic meters of gas.

This is a very bad news for EU, which for many decades thought about Russia as a perpetual backward entity entirely dependent on West's industrial and technological expertise. So, seeing now how Russia doesn't give a damn must hurt. Like that:

Russia's natural gas exports to the European Union this year are expected to decline by 50 billion cubic meters (bcm)—or by one-third of last year's volumes—Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday. "According to estimates currently in the Ministry of Energy, exports will decrease by about 50 billion cubic meters," Novak said on the sidelines of an event in Moscow, as carried by Russian news agency Interfax.To compare, last year, Russian gas exports to the EU totaled around 150 bcm, per Reuters estimates.  

All the meanwhile Mr. Sechin is laughing all the way to the bank, as is Russia's budget and social and industrial programs. 

Russia’s largest oil producer, state-owned Rosneft, reported on Thursday a 13% increase in its first-half net income compared to the same period last year, boasting increased efficiency despite the Western sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. Rosneft’s net profit increased to $7.2 billion (432 billion Russian rubles) in the first half of 2022. The company’s oil and gas production rose by 1.5% to 4.85 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) as compared to the same assets it held last year, excluding assets disposed of in 2021. “In 1H 2022, Rosneft was under an unprecedented pressure of adverse external factors and unlawful sanctions. However, thanks to high operational efficiency and appropriate management decisions, we were able to ensure business continuity and demonstrate stable results,” Rosneft’s Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin – a long-time ally of Putin – said in a statement.

Boy, that's gotta hurt. Not Russia, of course, who is awash in cash. Nope, EU and a neocon cabal in D.C. who have issue of grasping pretty much any issue related to the reality. It is especially important against the background of this RAND and others' "plan" to sacrifice Europe at the altar of Pax Americana, hoping that this sacrificial lamb will extend America's life for any substantial time period. I doubt it to be the case, because the US is the cradle of globalism which goes not just through some cyclical crisis but through the terminal collapse, and in this case whatever value in Europe's sacrifice is, it is not going to change much in terms of systemic collapse of modern combined West and its leader, the United States. Another matter, the United States HAD an opportunity to make landing somewhat softer, but with three corporate figureheads in a sequence, such as Obama, Trump and zombiesque Biden, all opportunities to avert a complete crash have been wasted. America is in dire need of a serious statesman with balls of steel, which modern US "elite" preparation system cannot produce. 

Now, as you probably can sense yourself that this crisis around Kharkov which Western (and Ukie) media were trying to fan, as usual, simply fizzled out and a local tactical success, primarily for PR, of VSU was all for the optics and didn't result in any serious consequences, except beaten to death cliches and... fakes (in Russian). Or, in English:

Vitaly Sovin: The US propaganda machine is playing dirtier than ever in its information war against Russia. From Taliban ‘bounties’ to claims about North Korea, the US media’s ‘anonymous sources’ are weaponizing ‘fake news'. 

Truth is, never in my life have I experienced such a volume of the sheer BS poured over the heads of population of any modern country, with the exception of Ukraine, of course, as Western PR and propaganda machine produces. It is unprecedented and, remarkably, tells you everything you need to know about... weakness of this machine, because, as is the case across the board, it doesn't get any competent cadres and the only skill they have is a production of BS. Meaning literally inventing shit and "selling" it as news. I doubt many normal people work in US MSM--mostly psychopaths, the "proper" selection was set-up this way since 1990s. So, this is your primer for Thursday.