Larry Gives Excellent Summary...

... to G-7 (out of those G-7 only two are actual Gs--the US, and Japan. The rest...) and "Security Agreement" between US and 404. 

One thing is certain, neither Biden nor Zelensky will be around in ten years. This is an act of political theater and deception. Biden, backed by the G-7, insists that Ukraine has the military capability, with NATO support, to fight Russia to a standstill. To be impolite, that is bullshit! Biden’s promises are empty. The United States is unable to supply the air defense, artillery and armor weapon systems that Ukraine claims it needs to stop the Russians. They blithely ignore the fact that even if the United States could actually deliver those weapons, Ukraine does not have the manpower nor the ability to train up an army capable of stopping the Russians. The news from the battlefield in Ukraine is growing more dire with each passing day. Russia is methodically destroying Ukrainian forces and Ukraine’s ability to provide electricity to nonexistent industrial plants. Ukraine is the equivalent of a degenerate drug addict, utterly dependent on what the U.S. chooses to supply.

That's on target!

About Saving Face.

Alexander Mercouris gives a good explanation on the diplomatic situation around Ukraine and as I say and write for years: before any diplomatic moves always look at the military capabilities of the parties to this activity. 

As for NATO's build-up, it is merely a long-planned Defender-Europe 21 exercise whose timeline may have contributed to the Ukrainian stupidly with its own "build-up" and provocations, to make it look like a coordinated "effort". I can totally see those imbeciles in Kiev doing this and thinking themselves to be crafty. As Alexander correctly states, Russia, while having no desire to go all the way, especially having to take care of that shithole of a country which will fall into Russia's lap as a war trophy in case of real war, is ready for any contingency and that is the message, evidently, the West finally got. 

West, being culturally and politically superficial, is, obviously, all about the face and projecting outward of all kinds of pathlogies as a norm, so the projection of utter incompetence of its diplomacy and strategic planning is OK, in West's mind. Exposing that it is a domain filled amateurs and morons is not, even they understand that--they don't like to look weak and incompetent, despite these two being their defining traits. For the students of late Zbiginew Brzezinski pseudo-scientific geopolitical fantasies it took "merely" 20 years to figure out that Russia wants to be left alone but if need be, she will enforce this regime for herself. I am sure such a realization created a cultural shock when Brussels and D.C. started to suspect that Russia doesn't "want" Ukraine. What Russia wants is for this country to rot and implode without excrement from this implosion hitting Russia. West's paying for the clean up of this clusterfuck is also in Russian plans for Ukrainian Bantustan. 

It is a shocking development and revelation for the West since Brzezinski's geopolitical Bible revealed that Russia wants an empire and that such an empire is impossible without Ukraine. In fact, it was separation from Ukraine, and other freeloading former Soviet republics, which spurred Russia's revival. But then again....ahem. The "gas station masquerading as a country" with economy "left in tatters" and being "smaller than the economy of Spain". You all know the routine. But while at it:

The upward revision for Russia came as the IMF revealed a more optimistic forecast for the global economy amid vaccine rollouts. The fund now expects it to expand by 6% in 2021. The fund said that Russia’s fiscal policy was countercyclical in 2020. It also revised the figures for the crisis year, when Russia, like most countries, implemented lockdowns to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. According to its latest estimates, the Russian economy shrank 3.1%, not the previously reported 3.6%. “There will be some degree of consolidation in 2021 in line with economic recovery, and the deficit is likely to come back to the fiscal rule’s limit in 2022,” the IMF said.... The IMF improved projections for the Russian economy shortly after the World Bank did the same. However, the World Bank is less optimistic, projecting the country’s GDP to grow by 3.3% this year and 3.4% next year.

Well, just to give some comparison. Europe's "economic locomotive", Germany that is, sees the 28th month in a row of Germany's real economy (industrial processing and production) shrinking. That gives one a bit of insight into Russia's rather cool attitude to economic ties to Europe in a sense of seeing a rather grim mid to long-term picture of Europe's economy. So, here is the deal for today. 

Most German Politicians.

Are not very bright people. It is expected of them--very many of them went through the same degree mills in the US or in the US sponsored institutions which dumb people down to the point of no return and provide "skills" otherwise inapplicable in the real world. A case in point is Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. As you may have guessed it by now, he has a law degree, granted obtained in Germany, but still, one has to wonder what it takes to transition from the post of Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection to the position of Germany's Foreign Minister, but nothing should surprise us about modern German politics or economy, for that matter. 

I don't know what or who prompted Maas to express his opinion on this: 

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany has rejected a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin back into the Group of Seven (G7) most advanced economies, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a newspaper interview published on Monday. Trump raised the prospect last month of expanding the G7 to again include Russia, which had been expelled in 2014 following Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region. But Maas told Rheinische Post that he did not see any chance for allowing Russia back into the G7 as long as there was no meaningful progress in solving the conflict in Crimea as well as in eastern Ukraine.

But, speaking in plain language each German politician from top (post of Chancellor) down to a local level should memorize these simple truisms: 

1. Germany is a geopolitical midget in a transition to an economic midgetship and nobody in Russia gives a shit about what Maas or, for that matter, Merkel think;

2. Russia doesn't want and is absolutely not interested in G-7 because it is between Russia and the US and European midgets are in the G-7 merely for entourage, Germany included. 

Why this dead horse of useless G-7 is being brought back into conversation by Germany remains a complete mystery to me, as well as to many other people who do actual count of capabilities. Europe as a whole is a pathetic exhibit A of incompetence, phantom pains of lost greatness, military midgetry and of cultural suicide. One has to ask a question, why exactly should Russia want to join this cabal of perverts? Russia is an antithesis to European "values" and new Russian Constitution established this fact on a fundamental level. Russia is ready to do business with those who want to do business with Russia, but Russians remember very clearly a role Germany played in unleashing hell in Ukraine and, in general, Germany's attempt to take a "high ground" vis-a-vis Russia are dismissed by Russians outright, as they should be. Swinging from one extreme of Nazism to another, of a complete moral debauchery and cultural suicide, does not provide Germany with any right, let alone capability, to offer any advise to Russia. 

In the end, Russia joining anything is not up to Trump either, let alone to some colorless lawyer from Germany who has zero real expertise in foreign relations and foreign policy on the level which is way out of Germany's league and is nothing more than a typical German lefty political bureaucrat who cannot possibly generate any ideas on serious geopolitical matters. Nobody in Europe can--today it is a cultural and intellectual wasteland which still tries to live off the material heritage of once proud Western Civilization. And even that Europe cannot do well. It is a world of great powers' global rivalry today we live in, Germany is not one of them in this game and, as an object of history should avoid trying to play one. Great power she is not and Heiko Maas better learn this fast to avoid future embarrassments.    

Why?

As news have it (in Russian) Trump wants to see Russia, India, Australia and South Korea at what used to be G-7 meeting some time in the future (in Russian). As you may have noticed already, one entity which is conspicuously absent from this is the largest, by far, economy in the world, which is China. This is not to mentio0n that the fact that Trump's desires mean absolutely nothing for Russia, who has a committed relations with China. Trump also has to understand that Russia was in decoupling mode with Europe for a few years no. Sure, selling Russian energy to Europe is important, so is important to sell finished and agricultural products, but here is a short view of what Russian-European trade relations look like today:

Russia is the EU's fifth largest trading partner and the EU is Russia's largest trading partner, with a two-way trade in goods value of €232 billion in 2019. In 2019 Russia was the origin of ca. 40% of EU imports of gas and 27% of EU imports of oil. Due to the large value these imports, EU’s trade deficit with Russia (€ 57 billion in 2019) is only second to EU’s trade deficit with China.

The issue here, of course, is the fact that this trade is represented for a whole Europe, 4 of the major nations of her, constitute a bulk of G-7. By far the most important dynamics here is this: 

EU-Russia bilateral trade in goods peaked in 2012, dropping by 43% between 2012 and 2016 from two-way €322 billion in 2012 to €183 billion in 2016. Since 2016, bilateral trade has partially recovered. However, Overall EU exports to Russia were in 2019 25% lower than in 2012, agri-food exports were 38% lower.

These are the effects of a non-stop trade war (sanctions) on Russia supported by all those Europeans and, quoting, Karen Shakhnazarov, "sanctions are good for Russia", because sanctions allow increasing decoupling from EU, including by means of import substitution, and the only way Europe can still retain interest for Russians is EU being a market, which will increasingly, due to a sheer stupidity of EU bureaucracy, will be destabilized due to confluence of macroeconomic and cultural factors. Russia is just fine dealing with Europeans on a bilateral level. But here is another dynamics to consider:

Look at this dynamics, which brought Russia-Chinese trade to $107 billion in 2019 and continues to grow, eventually projected to hit volume of $200 billion by 2024. Comparable to the volume of trade of Russia with Europe, which hates Russian guts and will behave as the US lap dog in the future. So, Russia's choice is quite obvious here. Especially when one considers a puny trade relations between the US and Russia and Russia having a full grasp of US enmity towards herself. Aw, just look at these numbers:

Russia ranked No. 28 in total trade value through March with a total of $6.61 billion. Exports totaled $1.18 billion and Imports totaled $5.43 billion, a deficit of $4.25 billion.

Pretty much sums it up, doesn't it? So, Trump wants to exclude China from "international community" by holding this gathering which decides nothing and is worthless in terms of any practical solutions to an unfolding catastrophe which is global economic crisis. So, anyone can explain what Russia is to gain, other than some photo-ops for Trump, from this meeting? Why should Vladimir Putin even be there? Moscow and New Delhi have a direct line and can solve their issues by talking directly, Europe, frankly, is economically suicidal, Australia is a non-entity for Russia, so why? I don't know, but Trump, evidently thinks that this is a good idea. I think it is a waste of time, because the settling of global issues must happen first between G-3: China, US and Russia. Until something is decided within this triangle no other meetings will produce any sensible world order which will reasonably satisfy everyone. The United States is not ready to deal with this issue yet, but US has only two options here: war and getting back to the reality. What will be this choice we don't know yet, hopefully the latter one.  

Operation "Detachment".

This "operation" is combined West's crude attempt to woo Russia into useless Western "fold" by "detaching" her from China. Of course if one wanted this operation to fail, no better candidacy for this operation's handler could be found than Emmanuel  Macron, who would fit the bill perfectly. In a moment of, possible, sincerity Macron waxed Huntingtonian and concluded this: 

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron says it's time for Europe to reach out to Russia — to keep it in the Western fold, check its global ambitions and avoid being caught in the middle of a new Cold War. Macron didn't say outright whether he wants to lift EU sanctions imposed over Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, the heart of East-West tensions for the past five years. But he said new sanctions "are not in our interest." In a sweeping diplomatic speech Tuesday after hosting the G-7 summit , Macron sketched out a role for France as a "balancing power" — between Russia and its rivals, between the U.S. and Iran, between rich and poor countries. "Pushing Russia from Europe is a profound strategic error," Macron said. Europe's "weaknesses and mistakes" have helped lead Russia to boost its alliance with China and revive its influence in Syria, Libya and around Africa.

Macron makes one mistake here. Well, several mistakes, actually. For starters "Pushing Russia from Europe" was not a "strategic mistake"--that was the plan and main objective of Washington, headed then by Obama and being continuously implemented now by Trump Administration. Moreover, "pushing Russia" out is not just about Russia, but by implication about Europe itself. Europe as it exists today is of no interest to Russia in any metaphysical sense, except for purely economic interest as a market, but majority of Russians are counting their blessings now because of this "pushing out" largely succeeding. Europe, meanwhile, is a sacrificial lamb for the United States, which, in a desperate attempt to save herself, will demolish Europe economically because European elites are a pathetic parody on a required political leadership, some of them are outright imbeciles, not to mention that vast swathes of them are effectively products of the American selection. So, no--let Europe deal with the US, or vice-versa, and keep Russia out of it. 

Then, the other question arises--and what is France? What's so "special" about France that Macron proclaims her a "balancing power"? France has none to balance anything. As pretty much any European nation France is ran by the cabal of globalists, of whom Macron is an exhibit A, and thus cannot operate in the world of serious geopolitical, economic, military and cultural realities. In the end, Europe is an American slap-bitch and will remain so until fully consumed by the United States which will take Europe down with herself. So, I don't think anyone in Russia, with the exception of few urban liberals and Western NGOs' grant-eaters, wants to be in the Western "fold" or in present day emasculated, multi-"cultured", gender-fluid post-modernist Europe. As the Russian proverb (from anecdote about resurrection of mother-in-law) goes--if it is dead, let it remain dead. The only negotiations between Russia and the West in geopolitical sense can be on the conditions of surrender. If not, the West can go to hell. Russia doesn't need any "balancing" intermediaries. Last time I checked, Sergei Lavrov's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is one of the best diplomatic institutions in history. The deal is done and Europe, and combined West, must face what's coming for them and leave others be. Especially Russia, who saved Europe on few occasions in XIX-XX centuries.  Plus, please, French overwhelmingly do not even count Russia as European country and so be it.