Thread: How dangerous is Vladimir Putin?

Poor old Vlad rolled into Austria and whinged about how the sanctions against him are supposedly hurting those that applied them (HAHA!).

Only to get sent on his way with a suggestion that he fuck off out of Eastern Ukraine first.

Poor chap, he'll probably throw his toys out of the pram now.



https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-au...J12H4?rpc=401&

did you fix for Simon that Wifi bug in Windows Update yet ?

This paper says it a bit differently, doesn't it?

Austria rolls out red carpet for Putin despite Skripal controversy

Austria broke ranks with Britain and its European partners on Tuesday as it rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin three months after the attempted poisoning of Sergei Skripal.

The Russian leader was given full military honours as he met with Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, and Alexander van der Bellen, the country’s president, in Vienna.

Mr Putin used the opportunity to argue for the lifting of Western sanctions imposed over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, telling a joint press conference it would benefit all sides.

“The sanctions are harmful for everyone — both those who initiated them and those who are targeted by them,” he said.

The visit, just months after Western countries expelled Russian diplomats in a coordinated response to the Skripal poisoning, was an unabashed showcase for the benefits of doing business with Russia.

An Austria energy company signed a new deal with Russia’s Gazprom to secure gas supplies until 2040, and Mr Kurz spoke of how the two countries “cooperate well not only in the political but also in the economic sphere”.

Austria was one of the few European countries not to expel any Russian diplomats over the Skripal affair, and Mr Kurz has made no secret of his desire to preserve good relations with Moscow, saying he wants Austria to be a “bridge” between Russia and the West.

“Today we had the opportunity to talk about international issues, that Russia as a superpower has a great significance in Syria and eastern Ukraine, and that Russia has a great responsibility. We hope Russia will contribute to people finally seeing what they are longing for: peace,” he said after meeting with Mr Putin on Tuesday.

Mr Putin seized on Syria to make another pitch for improved relations with Europe.

“If Europe wants to reduce the flow of migrants, including from Syria and neighboring countries, we must help people to return to their homes, we need to help them to build a life in their own countries,” he said.

In an interview with Austrian television ahead of the talks, Mr Putin insisted he was not trying to split Europe. “We want a united and prosperous Europe,” he said, arguing the EU is Russia’s most important economic partner.

“The more problems at the heart of the EU, the more risks and problems there are for us,” he said.

Mr Putin also told Austrian television that he and Donald Trump “regularly talk over the phone” and that Mr Trump had expressed fears over a new arms race in a recent call.

“Donald said he was worried about the possibility of a new arms race,” Mr Putin said. “I fully agree with him -- however, to prevent a possible arms race, we should think about it, we should do something about it.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...stria-accused/

Also here it is more explicit:

Putin in Austria: Lifting Russia sanctions would benefit all

Western sanctions against Russia haven’t worked and both Moscow and the West would benefit from lifting them, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday as he visited Austria — one of the European Union’s more Moscow-friendly members.

Putin, making his first foreign trip since being sworn in for a fourth term, said the restrictions are “harmful for everyone — those who initiated them and those who are targeted by them.”

The United States, the European Union and other Western allies imposed a slew of sanctions against Moscow over its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine who are fighting the government.

Coupled with a drop in oil prices, the sanctions contributed to Russia’s two-year recession.

The Russian economy has rebounded, however, and Putin emphasized that lifting the sanctions would answer common interests. He said that both Russia and the EU would benefit from resuming full-scale co-operation.

Putin spoke after meeting liberal President Alexander Van der Bellen. He had meetings later Tuesday with conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, whose nationalist Freedom Party entered the government in December as the junior coalition partner.

Over the weekend, Strache — whose party has ties with the main Kremlin party, United Russia — called for the EU to lift sanctions against Russia.

Van der Bellen said Austria “has always striven to contribute to reducing tensions, and we will do so now and in the future.” But he stressed that, on sanctions, “Austria acts and will act in harmony with the European Union.”

Unlike many other EU countries, Austria didn’t expel Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning in Britain earlier this year of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Austria will take over the 28-nation EU’s rotating presidency for six months in July.

Putin’s sixth official visit to traditionally neutral Austria marks the 50th anniversary of the start of Soviet gas deliveries to the country.

Austria’s OMV is now among European companies involved in the planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would double the amount of gas Russia can send directly to Germany, skirting transit countries such as Ukraine — a project opposed by the U.S. and some other EU members.

Van der Bellen said some U.S. politicians claim that the EU is too dependent on Russian gas, but overlook the fact that American liquefied gas is much more expensive.

“Under such circumstances, it makes little sense — viewed from a purely economic point of view — to replace Russian gas with American liquefied gas,” he told reporters.

In Warsaw on Tuesday, Poland’s president expressed his country’s disapproval of the planned Russian-German gas pipeline to the visiting German president.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a joint news conference with Frank-Walter Steinmeier that he believes Nord Stream 2 would undermine the security of central and eastern Europe.

The pipeline project has become a deeply divisive issue in Europe since it deliberately skirts eastern nations like Poland and Ukraine.

Putin in Austria: Lifting Russia sanctions would benefit all | Financial Post

What the German write:

Putin visits his best buddy in the EU: Austria's Sebastian Kurz

Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz has friends in high places, inPutin visits his best buddy in the EU: Austria's Sebastian Kurz

Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz has friends in high places, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he will host in Vienna today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Austria today, his last friend among the western European EU states, for talks with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and President Alexander Van der Bellen.

The country’s new government of conservatives and populists, headed by the youthful Mr. Kurz, 32, is more pro-Russian than ever due to the presence of the far-right Austrian Freedom Party in the coalition formed last December.

Deputy Prime Minister Hans-Christian Strache, leader of the Freedom Party, went as far as to agree to a “cooperation pact” with Mr. Putin’s United Russia party. It’s no coincidence that Austria, unlike virtually all the other EU member states, decided not to expel Russian diplomats after the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Britain.

Mr. Kurz’s government has emerged as one of the biggest advocates in the EU for a more constructive relationship with Russia, and that approach will likely impact the EU when Austria takes over the rotating presidency of the bloc from Bulgaria on July 1.

Come July, the EU will also have to decide whether to keep its sanctions against Russia in place for Moscow’s unlawful annexation of Crimea — or whether to risk a rapprochement with the Russian strongman. It’s an open secret in Vienna that Mr. Kurz wants to lobby the EU to loosen the sanctions, but he’ll need the support of Germany and France.

“It’s high time that we end these wretched sanctions and normalize our political and economic relations with Russia,” Mr. Strache, Austria’s deputy chancellor, told Austrian newspaper “Österreich.”

Austria, a neutral country that does not belong to NATO, has long seen itself as a bridge between East and West.

Mr. Putin has even called Mr. Kurz a “friend” and, given Europe’s mounting anger with Mr. Trump, the Russian leader has spotted a chance to drive a wedge between the EU and the US. Mr. Putin’s trip to Vienna is the second in four years, and his sixth visit overall.

The EU’s hard line on Russia is already starting to soften and there’s an increasing readiness among EU leaders to engage with Russia, especially after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on European steel and aluminum, and his withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

Austria, a neutral country that does not belong to NATO, has long seen itself as a bridge between East and West. The 2015 Iran deal was partly negotiated in Vienna, and Mr. Kurz, who was foreign minister at the time, was proud of Austria’s contribution to the agreement that raised the prospect of billions of euros worth of contracts, not just for German and French companies, but Austrian ones as well.

One focus for Mr. Putin during his visit is the controversial second underwater Baltic Sea pipeline to import gas from Russia, Nord Stream 2, which Ms. Merkel recently cast doubt on when she said it could not go forward if it left Ukraine empty-handed. But the Austrian government is in favor of the project, not least because Austrian energy group OMV, in which the government has a direct stake, has already invested hundreds of millions of euros.

Mr. Kurz, meanwhile, is scheduled to visit Ms. Merkel in Berlin on June 12. There he will meet another fan, Donald Trump’s new ambassador to Berlin, Richard Grenell, who called the Austrian leader a “rockstar” in an interview with conservative news website Breitbart on Sunday. “I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders,” said Mr. Grenell.

He even plans to host a lunch for Mr. Kurz at his residence next week – a gesture that is raising eyebrows in Berlin.

https://global.handelsblatt.com/poli...an-kurz-931582

Double post

An Independent (UK) Voices piece, from Robert Fisk.

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices...-a8373796.html

Originally Posted by OhOh

An Independent (UK) Voices piece, from Robert Fisk.

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices...-a8373796.html

Ah bless, the poolside "war correspondent" who hates America as much as you do.

Independent indeed.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Here is the official posting of the meeting and press announcements, held after the meeting. Whose words will be studied, analysed etc.

You forgot some:

“We hope that through more intensive dialogue there will be progress in the relations between the EU and Russia,” Kurz told reporters.
“In particular we hope that there is progress eastern Ukraine to ... lift the sanctions step by step.”

my padawan, yes master

No need for Europe to buy US gas at triple the price, will continue imports from Russia – Austria

Published time: 5 Jun, 2018 16:12 Edited time: 5 Jun, 2018 17:29

"The US is force-feeding Europe its liquefied natural gas, which is three times more expensive that buying it from Russia, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said after signing a gas-supply contract with Moscow until 2040.

While US politicians are accusing Europe of being dependent on Russian gas, they forget that “American liquefied gas is two or three times more expensive than Russian gas. Under such circumstances, it makes little sense in purely economic terms to replace Russian gas with American LNG,” Van der Bellen said at a press conference after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vienna on Tuesday.


Putin noted that Austria is a major transportation hub for Russian gas being exported to Europe. “Austria has become one of the key, if not to say, one of the most important units of Russian gas transportation to Western Europe and plays an important role in ensuring the energy security of the entire European continent,” Putin said.
He recalled that Russia has exported more than 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Austria in the past 50 years. After the meeting, Russia’s Gazprom and Austria’s OMV signed a gas supply contract until 2040.


Before Putin’s trip to Austria, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also spoke about the importance of Russian gas shipments to his country. “I would like to note that fruitful cooperation of the two very important companies – OMV and Gazprom – which seems to me extremely beneficial for both sides,” the chancellor told TASS news agency in an interview.


OMV and Gazprom are now implementing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which seeks to double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream. The project has faced opposition from the US, which is seeking to ramp up LNG exports to Europe."

Originally Posted by OhOh

Not me 'arry, possible an overenthusiastic biased, fake "reporter".

That phrase does not appear in the release I posted, you must have imagined it.

For clarity for all I have copied the complete paragraph I posted, to show the absence of of 'arrys quoted addition.



My reading of the three sentences is that:

1. progress will also be achieved in eastern Ukraine and that the Minsk agreements will be implemented.

2. This is the scenario we want for our continent.

3. deeply convinced that solely through cooperation and joint actions we can make further progress in relations between the two sides.

progress will be made, it is wanted and relations improved.

What other interpretation are you suggesting?

As I've yet to find the Austrian readout of the press conference maybe we should await it's publication, prior to relying solely on the Russian official version or a MSM version.

Reuters reported his comments to the press.

Do you really expect your Kremlin propaganda site to report that he told Putin sanctions would be lifted if he stopped pissing about in Ukraine?

You fucking mug.

It has to be very depressing for some (please no names here) to read only good things about somebody who they hate so much.
Hence, digging desperately between the lines to pick up any stupid idea, finalizing always just with a ugly slur ad hominem...

Interesting that America is trying to sell Europe gas to wean them off Russian gas when they themselves are importing Russian Gas :

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-quicktake-q-a

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.e186f9525855

Sanctions? they are for others we do as we please.

^An old trick: buy cheaply and sell dearly, all have to buy only from me. Wondering is there a name for it?

Originally Posted by birding

Interesting that America is trying to sell Europe gas to wean them off Russian gas when they themselves are importing Russian Gas :

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-quicktake-q-a

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.e186f9525855

Sanctions? they are for others we do as we please.

Well they aren't "importing Russian Gas" so much as they are importing European gas, some of which is probably itself bought from Russia. From your first link:

this would be the first time that the U.S. imported a cargo from northwest European storage tanks, some of which undoubtedly came from the $27 billion Yamal LNG plant Russia started a month ago.

And from your second:

The LNG cargo in Boston Harbor did not come directly from Yamal, but rather through a chain of companies and locations.
The blue-hulled tanker in Boston Harbor is owned by Engie. The cargo was picked up three weeks ago at a storage terminal in Britain called Grain, according to the industry newsletter LNG World News.

I suppose the only way to stop this is to issue sanctions again Britain and Northwest Europe. Mind you, with baldy orange cunto, anything is possible.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Well they aren't "importing Russian Gas" so much as they are importing European gas, some of which is probably itself bought from Russia. From your first link:



And from your second:



I suppose the only way to stop this is to issue sanctions again Britain and Northwest Europe. Mind you, with baldy orange cunto, anything is possible.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Well they aren't "importing Russian Gas" so much as they are importing European gas, some of which is probably itself bought from Russia. From your first link:



And from your second:



I suppose the only way to stop this is to issue sanctions again Britain and Northwest Europe. Mind you, with baldy orange cunto, anything is possible.

Harry that is straight out bullshit.

The gas came from Russia, that it made a stopover in Europe does not make it any less Russian gas.

The US is defying ts own sanctions by buying this gas that it knows comes from Russia.

Originally Posted by birding

Harry that is straight out bullshit.

The gas came from Russia, that it made a stopover in Europe does not make it any less Russian gas.

The US is defying ts own sanctions by buying this gas that it knows comes from Russia.

Mate, they're your links I quoted.

If they're bullshit, stop posting fucking bullshit, eh?

^
If I see "white" I say it is "black"...

A tanker carrying a liquefied gas from a sanctioned project in Russia's Arctic...

The giant Tanker is carrying the first LNG exported by the Yamal facility, a 27 billion project whose majority owner is the Russian company Novatec.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Mate, they're your links I quoted.

If they're bullshit, stop posting fucking bullshit, eh?

Yes Harry you cherry picked quotes that you thought you might be able to con someone with, didnt work did it.

Originally Posted by birding

Yes Harry you cherry picked quotes that you thought you might be able to con someone with, didnt work did it.

I really don't understand what your quibble is.

It's quite obvious that they aren't buying gas from Russia.

But the Russians are sneaking it in through the back door.

That's all I've pointed out.

Well they aren't "importing Russian Gas" so much as they are importing European gas, some of which is probably itself bought from Russia.

You can't contradict that, so what the fuck are you whinging about?

Didn't I say it?

^
If I see "white" I say it is "black"...

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

It's quite obvious that they aren't buying gas from Russia.