© Sputnik/ Ilya Pitalev
New York Times: Waving Cash, Putin Sows E.U. Divisions in an Effort to Break Sanctions
NICOSIA, Cyprus — When Cyprus seized hundreds of millions of dollars from bank depositors, many of them Russians, as part of an internationally brokered deal two years ago to rescue its collapsing financial system, the Russian leader, Vladimir V. Putin, denounced the move as “dangerous” and “unfair,” warning of a sharp chill in relations.
But Mr. Putin was all smiles recently when he received Cyprus’s president, Nicos Anastasiades, in Moscow. He hailed relations with the Mediterranean nation as “always being truly friendly and mutually beneficial” and agreed to extend — on greatly improved terms for Cyprus — a $2.5 billion Russian loan.
The shift from fury to declarations of eternal friendship displayed Mr. Putin’s well-known flair for tactical back flips. But it also showed his unbending determination to break out of sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and the European Union for Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and support for armed rebels in eastern Ukraine.
WNU Editor: The big story is not Putin trying to buy friends and allies in Europe .... the big story is on international investors making the decision that Russia is a perfect place to park their money .... sanctions or no sanctions .... Russian ruble seen as world’s best performing currency, hits 2015 high (RT). This is a vote of confidence that most countries are not enjoying right now ... including much of the Euro zone.
Update: Apparently Putin's popularity continues to be high in Russia .... Putin’s popularity peaks a year into Ukraine conflict (France 24).
4 comments:
Does anyone except RT say that ruble is best-performing?
Actually Daniil, Bloomberg was the first to report on the story .... RT just picked up what they were reporting.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-05/ruble-whipsaws-top-forecasters-as-worst-currency-becomes-best
Ah, thank you. I'm sure RT is a reliable source on some things, but I can't help feeling that what it says about Russia (and Ukraine) generally ought to be taken with a grain of salt, as it is after all a state-funded organ... Bloomberg is a different story, though.
You are 100% correct Daniil. We must always be skeptical on reading the news from state supported news networks .... as well as everyone else. I should have also put the Bloomberg link in this post in the first place .... using different and multiple sources of news is something that I take great pride with in this blog.
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