Are the gas pipelines crossing the Ukraine still functioning?

Yes. Both Russia and Ukraine need them, probably the only thing that they are aligned on.

Yes, they are. There's a prioritization of objectives. Security trumps business as without security there's no business. The inability of these two countries' leaders to grasp the seriousness of the situation makes them, in my eyes, incompetent leaders. Full stop.

Just take Vekselberg as an example. Blacklisted by the US, lives in Zug and partially owns a couple of Swiss companies. He‘ll have bank accounts here as well.

Yes. And SWIFT is used for payments on gas and oil.

Which is probably why Germany is opposed. No more gas supply from Russia as they cannot pay. And the green alternatives they so want are nowhere near supplying the energy they need…..

Boris gets ( and justifiably so ) a lot of stick but he’s played a pretty straight bat here.
That the Italians and Hungarians don’t want to block the Russians from SWIFT doesn’t surprise me in the least.
The Germans however should be ashamed of themselves. Disgusting attitude… short term decisions yield long term consequences, they have a once in a generation chance, if not to wipe the slate clean but certainly to massively improve their historical reputation.

so, its a hot war between russian occupants and UA. where the battalion?
no even single line in news. hiding? killed? or never existed?

I think SWIFT already decided

What is your source? I just read this and it makes me even more sick!
Now the German government is hiding behind "cutting Russia off SWIFT technically difficult". Technical difficulty is the most absurd argument they could come up with. Shame on them!


https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-02-2...9ZC/index.html

Hu? Don‘t they know they have to do nothing but agree? SWIFT for sure is able to do that with some effort. Yikes….

UA Foreign Secretary Kuleba

Exactly my point. It has been done in the past, it could be done now. Citing "technical difficulties" is the most lame and absurd excuse an intelligent person could come up with. Or it might be a sign on the increasing pressure on Germany and they can't openly say "we'd rather support the Russians rather than helping Ukraine and Europe"

Well, their former Chancellor Schröder clearly prefers Putin, his best buddy…..

probably they want some guarantee regarding gas supplies and money to be reimbursed they will lost in ru banks, so this is kind of negotiations in russian style

I have several friends working at the SWIFT headquarters in Belgium and giving technical difficulties as a reason is just bullshit.
They could do it without too much effort if they really wanted to.

I see why the Russians need the pipelines open, but I seriously doubt the Ukrainians now get any value from them.

TSMC going to stop providing supplies to RU. not confirmed yet

btw, I was thinking precisely about TSMC the other day when I was wondering if the west/east alliance will allow China to take Taiwan as easily as they allowed Ukraine to fall into Putin. I think the stakes are much much higher in Taiwan and TSMC could be the major difference in the response which could turn into a military confrontation rather than merely sanctions.

I suppose ru fail in UA will be a lesson for China as well for Nato

It's absolutely clear that China is taking very careful notes and using this as an acid test to plan what would be the response from the west if/when it "liberates" Taiwan. But TSMC could be a major reason for a military confrontation. The West imposed sanctions on Russia in terms of high-tech equipment and IP and it would work as Russia doesn't have a high-tech sector and is heavily reliant on imports. China is touted as a tech-savvy leader, but in fact it is reliant on IP and on TSMC. Without them they are at a significant disadvantage.