"Imminent" That Russia will soon be unable to pay its debts...

[TOM4CWB]

Russia will soon be unable to pay its debts, according to a leading credit ratings agency.
Fitch Ratings downgraded its view of the country's government debt, warning a default is "imminent".
The move comes amid increasing international sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
A credit rating is intended to help investors understand the level of risk they face in buying a country's debt - or bonds.
A low rating means the chances of not getting repaid is considered to be high - and so an investor will charge more to lend to that country.
This week, Moscow itself said its bond payments may be affected by sanctions.
The ratings cut - to C from B - is the second time this month Fitch has downgraded its view of Russia's ability to pay its debts.
"This rating action follows our downgrade... on 2 March, and developments since then have, in our view, further undermined Russia's willingness to service government debt," the agency said.
"The further ratcheting up of sanctions, and proposals that could limit trade in energy, increase the probability of a policy response by Russia that includes at least selective non-payment of its sovereign debt obligations," it added.
The announcement from Fitch came after the US and UK said they will ban Russian oil, as they step up the economic response to the invasion of Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden said the move targeted "the main artery of Russia's economy".

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60672085

[TOM4CWB]

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/putin-is-angry-us-intel-chiefs-warn-that-russia-may-escalate-attacks-192751180.html

Yahoo NewsYahoo News
'Putin is angry': U.S. intel chiefs warn that Russia may escalate attacks
Tom LoBianco
Tom LoBianco·Reporter
Tue, March 8, 2022, 12:27 PM
WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence leaders on Tuesday floated the idea that Vladimir Putin may seek an exit from Ukraine if his war effort continues to stall, but that escalation of the conflict is likely to happen before the Russian president considers ending his attacks.

“We assess Putin feels aggrieved the West does not give him proper deference and perceives this as a war he cannot afford to lose. But what he might be willing to accept as a victory may change over time, given the significant costs he is incurring,” Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, told members of the House Intelligence Committee.

The heads of the nation’s intelligence agencies painted a bleak picture of the war as it winds through its second week. Intelligence agencies expect that food and water for some Ukrainians could run out in less than two weeks, and believe that between 2,000 and 4,000 Russian troops have died so far.

Although Russia possesses a military arsenal superior to Ukraine in almost every respect, the Kremlin has performed much worse than predicted and has so far failed to take any of the country’s biggest cities.

CIA Director William Burns, a former ambassador to Moscow, warned Tuesday that Putin now finds himself in an untenable position.

"I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now. He's likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties,” Burns said of Russia’s efforts, which have already resulted in an estimated 2 million Ukrainian refugees.

“But the challenge that he faces — and this is the biggest question that's hung over our analysis of his planning for months now … he has no sustainable political endgame in the face of what is going to continue to be fierce resistance from Ukrainians,” Burns continued. “So I think that's what his calculus has been. And I think that's the reality of what he faces today."

The intelligence leaders also said they are keeping close tabs on Putin’s “saber-rattling,” in which the Russian autocrat has reminded the world of his nuclear arsenal."

[bucket]

So everyone knows about Putin threats of escalation including nuclear.

Are they going to wait for it to happen or are they putting in preventive measure to disarm Putin's threats.

They watched him build the troops on the borders and waited for him to attack before sanctions happened.

if you nuke ukraine , its sort of too late to fix it with sanctions, it becomes a world problem for a very long time.

[TOM4CWB]

https://ca.yahoo.com/style/russian-ex-minister-says-invasion-163327953.html

INSIDER
Russian ex-minister says invasion of Ukraine is stalling because officials stole from military budget for 'mega-yachts in Cyprus'
Tom Porter
Tue, March 8, 2022, 9:33 AM


A former Russian foreign minister claimed that widespread corruption was among the reasons for the Russian military's apparently poor performance in the invasion of Ukraine.

In a Twitter thread over the weekend, Andrey Kozyrev, who served as the foreign minister under President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s, put forward what he said were misjudgments by President Vladimir Putin in ordering the invasion.

He suggested Putin had overestimated the Russian military — while Putin has dedicated billions of dollars to modernizing Russia's forces, this money, Kozyrev claimed, may have been lost to endemic corruption.


—Andrei V Kozyrev (@andreivkozyrev) March 6, 2022

"The Kremlin spent the last 20 years trying to modernize its military. Much of that budget was stolen and spent on mega-yachts in Cyprus. But as a military advisor you cannot report that to the President. So they reported lies to him instead," Kozyrev wrote.

Cyprus has long been a favored destination for Russian officials seeking to launder money, and it was infamous for its "golden passport" scheme that until 2020 allowed rich foreigners to effectively buy European Union citizenship.

Transparency International has ranked Russia as one of the most corrupt countries, identifying a particular problem in its defense sector.

Polina Beliakova, an expert at Tufts University, wrote in Politico this week that rampant corruption meant Russian troops were going into battle in Ukraine with out-of-date rations, faulty equipment, and inadequate fuel supplies."

[checking]

So everyone knows about Putin threats of escalation including nuclear.

Are they going to wait for it to happen or are they putting in preventive measure to disarm Putin's threats.

They watched him build the troops on the borders and waited for him to attack before sanctions happened.

if you nuke ukraine , its sort of too late to fix it with sanctions, it becomes a world problem for a very long time.

You know, I actually like snow. If it would only stay where it falls, but there is that pesky little thing called wind.

Putin is said to be 70 years old, and has no successor picked. Maybe he would like to go out with a bang. If he can't have it, no one can have it. It doesn't take nuking Ukraine, or America. Just nuke himself in Moscow that nukes the world through wind a dozen times over. Why put any pressure on the US doing it another ten times in retaliation. It is not like anyone is going to survive.

[agstar77]

You know, I actually like snow. If it would only stay where it falls, but there is that pesky little thing called wind.

Putin is said to be 70 years old, and has no successor picked. Maybe he would like to go out with a bang. If he can't have it, no one can have it. It doesn't take nuking Ukraine, or America. Just nuke himself in Moscow that nukes the world through wind a dozen times over. Why put any pressure on the US doing it another ten times in retaliation. It is not like anyone is going to survive.

Putin has two daughters, maybe that is keeping him from resorting to nukes.

[beaverdam]

Putin will become desperate and uncaring about the results of the war, or keeping Ukraine's assets intact for future use,,,

when he realizes that even if he were to back out of Ukraine, the sanctions and financial punishment from NATO and other countries will still continue, as well having to face ICJ(to get the sanctions dropped).

If there is no future for Putin,,, then I will fear for the world. Canada being targets of nuclear attacks will definitely become real.

Canada is insignificant in the world, but Putin should have paid attention to the "new 21st century method" of warfare, being,,, intimating banks into freezing bank accounts and locking down assets.
Thing is, the ChiComs are watching, and they have not likely reduced their ambition to repatriate Taiwan and HongCong. They're likely watching and devising away to avoid the traps Putin has found himself in. They have great hackers.

[sawfly1]

Putin may have the mentality of the Las Vegas shooter.
If he does the only thing that will stop him is his is the generals that implement the orders