When You ARE ...

 ... a rock star)) Antalya, Turkey and people try to get to see and hear Sergei Lavrov. Russia's "isolation" is complete)) 

Judge, Larry, Lavrov, Zakharova ...

 ... interview. 

Larry And Judge ...

 ... on meeting Lavrov. 

Yeah, That Didn't Age Well.

I mentioned today in my video Sy Hersh's "info" of allegedly US and Russia having some contact behind the stage. Well...

Российская сторона не ведет ни с кем каких-либо «подпольных переговоров» по теме конфликта на Украине, заявил министр иностранных дел России Сергей Лавров на пресс-конференции по итогам встречи с белорусским коллегой Сергеем Алейником. Лавров подчеркнул, что Запад отказывается организовывать переговоры на справедливой основе, передает ТАСС. Переговоры также невозможны, поскольку президент Украины Владимир Зеленский запретил руководству страны вести диалог с Москвой, добавил министр. Ранее американский журналист и лауреат Пулитцеровской премии Сеймур Херш заявил, что Москва и Вашингтон якобы провели приватные переговоры по урегулированию украинского конфликта.

Translation: The Russian side is not conducting any “underground negotiations” with anyone on the topic of the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference following a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleynik. Lavrov stressed that the West refuses to organize negotiations on a fair basis, TASS reports. Negotiations are also impossible, since Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has forbidden the country’s leadership to conduct a dialogue with Moscow, the minister added. Earlier, American journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh said that Moscow and Washington allegedly held private negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.

There you go. Plus, there is nobody in the West's political top to talk to.

Europe Is Written Off.

 And how do we know this? Easy, today, at Primakov Readings:

 

Вопрос: Каковы перспективы российско-европейских торгово-экономических отношений? Учитывая, что Россия является поставщиком почти одной трети углеводородов в Европу, которая, видимо, будет искать альтернативу. Как Москва представляет себе развитие этих отношений?

С.В.Лавров: Даже не буду пытаться гадать, что Европа собирается делать. Думаю, она (кроме Канцлера ФРГ О.Шольца и вице-канцлера Р.Хабека) поняла, где оказалась.

Почитайте статистику, во сколько раз США обгоняют экономический рост Европы. Франция, судя по всему, будет в «нулях». Некогда «локомотивы» европейской экономики (Германия, Великобритания) будут «расти» вниз. После серии законов, принятых американцами для борьбы с инфляцией и по другим темам, цены на энергоносители в США в 4-5 раз ниже, чем в Европе, где происходит деиндустриализация.

Думающий о своем будущем бизнес переезжает в Соединенные Штаты. Убежден, что это не просто стечение обстоятельств, а осознанная политика Вашингтона. Потому что Европа – это тоже конкурент, который США не нужен. Им нужна группа «серых» людей, выполняющих то, что прикажут. Не хочу обижать европейцев, но нынешние политические элиты действуют именно так.

Смотрим статистику. Полезно понимать, что происходит. Но на данном этапе нам не надо думать о том, как восстановить отношения с Европой. Сейчас нужно думать, как не зависеть от «вывертов» в европейской политике (прежде всего в торговой, экономической, инвестиционной сферах), которые они делают под воздействием Вашингтона. Мы должны обезопасить себя во всех ключевых отраслях нашей экономики (безопасности и жизни в целом), от которых зависит будущее страны. Мы должны самостоятельно производить всё, что нам нужно для безопасности, развития экономики, обеспечения решений социальных вопросов, внедрения современных технологий (недавно прошло очередное мероприятие по искусственному интеллекту), чтобы не страдать от новых «капризов», когда и если они захотят накинуться на нас с санкциями.

Рестрикции никуда не исчезли. Запад хочет закончить всё «втихаря», по-хитрому. Заморозить, выиграть время (как было с Минскими соглашениями), опять вооружить нацистский режим в Киеве и продолжать свою гибридную (или не гибридную) агрессию против Российской Федерации. Но даже когда всё закончится, большинство санкций останутся.

Нам надо жить своим умом. Когда и если к ним придет «протрезвление», и нам будут что-то предлагать, мы десять раз подумаем, взвесим, отвечают ли все предложения нашим интересам и насколько европейские коллеги надежны. Они свою договороспособность и репутацию сильно подорвали. Может быть еще не окончательно.

Translation:

Question: What are the prospects for Russian-European trade and economic relations? Considering that Russia supplies almost one third of hydrocarbons to Europe, which will apparently be looking for an alternative. How does Moscow imagine the development of these relations? 

Sergey Lavrov: I won’t even try to guess what Europe is going to do. I think she (except for German Chancellor O. Scholz and Vice-Chancellor R. Habeck) understood where she ended up. Read the statistics on how many times the US economic growth is faster than Europe. France, apparently, will be in the “zeros”. The once “locomotives” of the European economy (Germany, Great Britain) will “grow” downwards. After a series of laws adopted by the Americans to combat inflation and other topics, energy prices in the United States are 4-5 times lower than in Europe, where deindustrialization is taking place. Businesses thinking about their future move to the United States. I am convinced that this is not just a coincidence, but a deliberate policy of Washington. Because Europe is also a competitor that the United States does not need. They need a group of “gray” people who do what they order. I don’t want to offend Europeans, but this is exactly how the current political elites act. Let's look at the statistics. It's useful to understand what's going on.  

But at this stage we do not need to think about how to restore relations with Europe. Now we need to think about how not to depend on the “twists” in European politics (primarily in the trade, economic, and investment spheres) that they make under the influence of Washington. We must protect ourselves in all key sectors of our economy (security and life in general), on which the future of the country depends. We must independently produce everything we need for security, economic development, providing solutions to social issues, introducing modern technologies (another event on artificial intelligence was recently held), so as not to suffer from new “whims” when and if they want to attack us with sanctions. The restrictions have not disappeared anywhere. The West wants to finish everything “on the sly,” in a cunning way. Freeze, buy time (as was the case with the Minsk agreements), again arm the Nazi regime in Kyiv and continue their hybrid (or non-hybrid) aggression against the Russian Federation. But even when everything is over, most of the sanctions will remain. We need to live by our own mind. When and if they “sober up” and they offer us something, we will think ten times, weigh whether all the proposals meet our interests and how reliable our European colleagues are. They have greatly undermined their ability to negotiate and their reputation. It may not be final yet.

There, everything is answered. And yes, Russia will talk to Washington only and only when she sees that Washington is ready to talk. Well, this is what happens when the high-school basketball team tries to play with NBA squad. Everything has been calculated and forecasted.

Sergei Lavrov To The Rescue.

When even Sir Patrick Stewart is helpless, enter Sergei Lavrov. This is more than just a meme based on famous Lavrov's "Imbeciles, Fvck" (Debily, Blyat'), aimed in whisper at "glorious" representatives of Saudi "diplomacy":

It is an actual product in Russia:

Here is why it is relevant:

San Francisco (AFP) - Facebook said Tuesday it shut down more than 30 fake pages and accounts involved in what appeared to be a "coordinated" effort to stoke hot-button social issues ahead of November midterm US elections, but cannot identify the source despite hints Russia was involved.

It is surreal what this country is becoming. It is on its way to Orwellian nightmare.  

Lavrov And Gerasimov "Inform" Merkel.

It is rather a peculiar development. No, not the fact of Lavrov meeting Frau Kanzlerin in Berlin as was agreed prior with Vladimir Putin. Nothing special about that. What is special and peculiar is that Frau Merkel also met with:

The meeting, agreed last week by Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was also attended by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and the head of Russia’s military general staff Valery Gerasimov, said the spokeswoman in a statement.No further details were given.

Valery Gerasimov is not the kind of guy who attends diplomatic meetings, him being present in Berlin together with Russia's foreign minister signals something very important in the making. Discussing Syria? Sure, seems natural but as Russia's news agencies report and I quote: "The issue of Ukraine was also discussed". I think, that this is it. 

Syria, no matter how important it is for the world today, would not have necessitated the Chief of General Staff to be in Berlin and meet the head of German State. After all, Berlin plays secondary role in Syria and, in fact, failed to participate in any meaningful military way there in supporting all kinds of terrorist groups, aka "rebels", "Free Syrians", unikorns etc. Ukraine, however, is a totally different issue. It was Frau Merkel and her cabal of sycophants both internal and external, who made Germany one of the main driving forces behind Ukrainian catastrophe which followed a violent coup inspired and financed by the combined West. So, Germany is one of the major culprits in creating a black hole in the midst of Europe and, accidentally, one of the main drivers behind hysterical Russophobia in Europe. We all know very well how "free" and "independent" German media are.         

So, is anything drastic expected to happen in Ukraine which is in a tail spin economically and mentally? Consider this:

1. Triumphant World Cup in Russia is over. 

2. Russia is surprisingly nonchalant about all those economic sanctions (hey, Deutschland, rings a bell?) by EU and here are two among a vast stream of facts which tell that Russia is getting ready to react "dramatically" to something (Ukrainian violence against Donbass).

Fact A: Russia is to completely localize (in Russian) manufacturing of high power gas turbines by 2019, moreover huge tax breaks will be given to companies using Russian-made equipment.  Recall who played huge role in this business in Russia prior to Ukrainian events? Right, Siemens.  Recall who is also a major player in this field in Russia? Right, General Electric. Hm. This is not manufacturing of lingerie, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are talking here about. 

Fact B: Russia raised, entirely legitimately, the pain threshold for Ukraine in and around Azov Sea. Now Ukraine will pay dearly for taking hostage the crew of Russian fishing vessel Nord. All, in violation of the mutually-agreed status of Azov Sea. This is not to mention, of course, some threats to blow up Kerch bridge which periodically heard from Ukraine. 

3. Ah, yes. Helsinki. Recall Putin's offer to hold referendum in Donbass, recall his very own warning to Ukraine not to do stupid things since it will be...well, the end of current Ukrainian statehood.   

Now, once one considers that Ukraine is an anti-Russia asset for globalist cabal in Washington and is, in fact, under the external control of Obama's operatives, against the facts that this whole Russiagate thing goes nowhere and fast, it is not only possible, but highly probable that people such as former VP Biden or HRC's State Department operatives (never discount McCain here), DNC and others will not be, in their desperation, against some conflagration in Ukraine. In fact, it becomes a very probable scenario--anything to sabotage Russian-American relations in general and Presidency of Donald Trump in particular.  It is a general scenario but this is precisely a scenario which would necessitate highly professional explanations from Chief of General Staff to some German state bureaucrat, however highest of them all, what she and her vassals in Europe must expect if their very own German Sons of Bitches in Ukraine will unleash a provocation which will provide enough Casus Belli for Russia's Southern Military District to start the final countdown for criminal Kiev regime and its pure Nazi accomplices. But these are just my thoughts. Boy, would I love to hear at least 5 minutes of Trump-Putin conversation tete-a-tete in Helsinki. In the same time, I can only imagine what kind of revulsion both Lavrov and Gerasimov felt towards this German leader who managed, after almost 70 years of Germany being denazified to help spawn a truly Nazi regime in Kiev.     

UPDATE: Lavrov and Gerasimov are already in Paris (in Russian) and met with Macron. In case of Paris visit, discussing Syria is natural, yet Ukraine was discussed there too. Hm. Syria, I can understand, Ukraine--well, one is left guessing now. 

Lavrov's Missed Message?

On March 23rd, Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, spoke to  "students" (in Russian they are slushateli--listeners, a title of officers attending such institutions as General Staff Academy), officers of Russian Armed Forces, who continue their study in the Academy Of The General Staff (VAGSH). Lavrov's speech was grand in a tradition of Russian diplomacy of the past two centuries. There was a lot of Count Gorchakov in it.  It was also a very Russian speech. 

Lavrov's definition of (real) power was sharp and, without unnecessary humbleness on my part, the one I wrote about since the start of this blog (in reality much-much earlier):

Of course, it takes more than just the size of a country’s territory for it to be considered “big and strong” in today’s world. There is also the economy, culture, traditions, public ethics and, of course, the ability to ensure one’s own security and the security of the citizens under any circumstances. Recently, the term “soft power” has gained currency. However, this is power as well. In other words, the power factor in its broad sense is still important in international relations. Its role has even increased amid aggravated political, social, and economic contradictions and greater instability in the international political and economic system. We take full account of this fact in our foreign policy planning.

Remember Correlli Barnett's definition? Definitions which real, not self-proclaimed, realists operate with. 

But, within Russia's grand vision of a new global order, which Lavrov so calmly and firmly articulated, was one point which I find to be one of the main pillars on which Russian vision is based and which concisely defines the main global trend. Here it is:

The world is really changing fast. Another “industrial revolution” is unfolding, and a new, more technologically advanced way of life is taking shape.  Uneven development, a wider gap in the wealth of states and nations, and the battle for resources, access to markets, and control over transport arteries are exacerbating differences. Competition is acquiring civilisational dimensions and becoming a rivalry of values and development models.

How many times have we heard before from US "elites" that we all live in a post-industrial society? Well, we don't. We never did, in fact such a preposterous construct, courtesy of all those faux-scholars in economy, does not exist. We live in a full blown industrial world where the only currency which matters are not some balance sheets of some investment bank or brokerage firm, much of them being virtual money, but a sequence of enclosed technological cycles which spreads from extraction of resources to R&D and manufacturing of a final, often very complex, product. But this is not what was an American view of economy for the last decades. Today, we all can observe some of those, rather dramatically bad, results of living in make-believe world. Lavrov, of course, is being too... diplomatic when speaking of "becoming", there is no becoming--the rivalry simply exists and always existed. Today, in the age of internet, it is simply impossible to block and sabotage easily the values which still appeal to a majority of decent people of the "West". We saw which values deindustrialization brings, the values of an office plankton--from a mindless consumerism, lousy work ethics to a totalitarian ideologies of SJWs, ranging from promotion of sexual perversion to a destruction of a family, to mobs of tattooed pot-heads and drug junkies who are good for nothing. We also see what happens to public education in US (and Europe) which is dominated by social indoctrination at the expense of valuable social, scientific and aesthetic skills. We have too many young kids who are ready to talk about global "problems" and can not solve a simple quadratic equation or basic mechanics problem in Physics course. Wait, they do not teach Physics as a separate subject in most public schools in US. These are not "values" which work, they never did, those are "values" of decay and eventual death.

Restoration of an industrial base of any nation can not happen on the foundation, or lack thereof, of a financial capital and "values" it, together with Wall Street, promotes. Yes, one needs money to jump-start re-industrialization but at this stage it is yet to be seen if President Trump will be able to convince nominally American, in reality supranational and not bound by any interests other than own, capital to start to invests in the US. This investing may provide, now desperately needed, arresting impulse to an unfolding American catastrophe whose features, sadly, are becoming clearer and clearer with each passing day. New industrialization is not a panacea but an ultimately necessary condition under which any kind of workable new deal, a new social contract, may be worked out. This contract's pivot will be jobs, normal ones, in manufacturing, with decent pay, with decent safety net. Present system can not provide this. It is obvious that the system doesn't work anymore and it may resort, albeit Trump's presidency so far makes it less likely, to an insane last ditch attempt on "saving" itself--unleashing a major war. I can not see how it can reform. So, the choice for this system is not even a Boolean: it is to die and let new (in reality old) productive forces take its place. If not, US is doomed for steady decline and eventual disintegration--what it means in a nuclear superpower with her citizens armed to the hilt? I do not even want to contemplate. Lavrov, however, offers Russia's vision, and a hopeful one:

It is clear that there simply isn’t any other way except painstaking daily work to achieve the compromises necessary to peacefully overcome the numerous problems in the world. History shows that betting on hegemony and one’s own exceptionalism leads to greater instability and chaos.        

In general, listen to the speech. it is a great one.