Some more good news; alas, I’m guessing the Russian car industry doesn’t depend all that much on foreign components.
Ehh, it depends what you think are important components. They’ve been going without air bags, ABS, stability control, emissions controls, and auto-tensioning seatbelts since the invasion started in earnest. So they haven’t even been making the same quality of cars for years. This looks like it might be near the last gasp for that industry in the country.
The article is about a collapse in demand, not production capability. Equally bad if you’re an employee or shareholder of a Russian automaker.
But very different in terms of the impact on the war from the Russian POV.
Well yeah, but I’d guess some of that lack of demand comes from the more recent models not being as nicely appointed or safe as the used cars that might be available. If I could buy new without an airbag or ABS and stability control, or used with all of those options, I’d be shopping the used cars and ignoring the new market.
The lack of demand is mostly down to a the central bank’s 20% interest rate. Also, the tight labor market (2.5% of Russian labor left the country to avoid conscription) increased wages in 2022 and 2023 meaning most who were in the market for a car have already made that purchase.
Very clearly it’s a sign of an economy in major turmoil from lots of different sources. Which is, strategically speaking, all to Ukraine’s advantage vs. the Russian war effort.
Wouldn’t help, see Roman Starowoit: he had to shoot himself, his car’s windows were closed:
Probably several times, in the back. Before Putin even fired (no pun intended) him, it seems. At least some claim so. That is foresight and obedience. Commendable. May he be an example to all, particularly his superiors.
In Putin’s Russia, Hara Kiri go in back.
W apologies to Yakov Smirnoff.
This is interesting, suggesting some shifting positions, or at least that certain parties want to be perceived as potentially willing to do so.
Mentioned in the Omnibus Football thread, but fitting here as well:
UEFA has paid over 11 million as “solidarity funds” to Russian clubs since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, but has denied those same payments to Ukrainian clubs:
Have I mentioned yet that UEFA (and FIFA, of course) is an amoral corrupt organisation and that I hate and despise them?
It’s pretty remarkable that Trump got Armenia to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan. The war was a bitter one, and it looks like Azerbaijan achieved its main aims.
So Trump has just formally settled a longstanding conflict in what Russia sees as its own sphere of influence. However immense Trump’s hubris was before, it must now be even larger.
Here’s where reality steps in. In a bid to end the Ukraine war, Trump has invited Putin to Alaska for talks. In his peremptory way, Trump declares that “there’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Ukraine and Russia [?!].
But Russia is not Armenia. There’s zero chance that the Kremlin will make any meaningful concessions. Thus Trump will be frustrated that Putin is denying him his coveted Nobel Peace Prize.
Meanwhile, Trump’s pressure tactics on Russia will remain stubbornly off-kilter from anyone else’s. Secondary tariffs on India?
What’s UEFA’s rationale? I read the article but couldn’t quite figure out what was meant by banking sanctions. Are they saying Ukraine is in so much turmoil due to the war that they don’t want to send money to a war region, but Russian clubs are more insulated from chaos?
Not only will Ukraine refuse to sign such a deal, their Constitution forbids it.
Zelenskky has already made his statement: “The answer to the Ukrainian territorial issue is already in the Constitution of Ukraine. No one will and cannot deviate from this. Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.”
Trump does not seem to understand that is not a war about territory - it’s about political control of the whole of Ukraine. There is no concession that the Ukrainian government could possibly make even if they were able to sacrifice parts of their territory.
The fact that the military situation is in stalemate makes any concession by either side even more unlikely.
Putin understands this. Russia’s only goal from these talks is to pacify American support for Ukraine and maybe get some easement on sanctions to give them more space to execute the objectives of their war.
I don’t know what the official rationale is.
Unofficially I guess they say Putin good, Zelenskyy bad. Zelenskyy never organized a World Cup that made us even richer. He also worked with our pals from the IOC, he is reliably corrupt, he is one of us. Russia has weight in international sports orgaizations, old tradition. They are good at blackmail, bribes and doping. Ukrainians are no saints, but one or two leagues below Russians.
There have probably been kickbacks, and they hoped it would not be published too prominently. You heard it here first, in an article that would fit into a postcard? During the holidays season? Maybe it is working as they planned? Just my guess.
The deal will be confirmed as a bad one if Ukraine also has to pledge not to join NATO. Because that means that Russia will be back for the rest of it.
The proper way to deal with that would be for Ukraine to pledge not to join NATO, and then to join NATO.
Even if NATO allowed Ukraine to apply, wouldn’t unanimity make it almost impossible to ratify? I imagine there would have to be at least one, if not multiple, member states that would obstruct. Even non-controversial applicants like Sweden and Finland got bogged down for years by Turkey.
There’s no deal if Zelenskyy (or his assigned reps) don’t sign it. And I don’t think they were even invited.
This is purely trumply theater in service of Putin.
There is no geopolitical or military logic to the idea of peace talks now.
And Hungary.
That’s just politics at that point though. What do the holdouts think they can extract from the rest of NATO for their vote? If the US/UK/France/Germany/Poland/whoever all want Ukraine in I think it would eventually happen.
Short of NATO though you could have bilateral security arrangements. Have some tripwire Polish troops in Ukraine. Even if not a NATO mission, having to kill troops of another country would raise the stakes a lot.