Some ex USSR states signed a deal with the EU today. Mission accomplished.
They look they are about to start singing "The more we are together".

Interestingly even the BBC admits that the EU was pressured by the US to not agree to a Ukrainian deal while the Ukraine still had a favoured status with Russia.

The US forced Ukraine to choose, whereupon Yanukovich had to choose the best option, which was Russia's. Well that was not the "right" choice, so trigger plan B, simply get rid of the government that made the "wrong" choice, and make sure a new one is installed that will choose "right". Now accomplished but to a higher price than the Machievellian plotters in the CIA anticipated.

Meanwhile these ex USSR countries are fooling themselves. The EU will not accept any new members for a long time, and these would be at the back of the queue anyway. Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova don't qualify for EU membership due to having unresolved border issues, and that is just the beginning. They will be third class associates, at best. This is a farce.


Quote Originally Posted by UhOhXplode View Post
The US Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers are NOT happy. They want the sanctions against Russia to stop and they plan to take out full-page newspaper ads to oppose any new sanctions against Russia.
Business groups oppose any new sanctions on Russia

If the Obama administration defies the wealthy American corporations, there could be some serious **** about to come down on the White House. It's those corporations that are keeping the US economy alive.
Interesting. For me it's gone so far that I have no issue with the USA carrying on with these sanctions. They hurt the USA a fair bit - China, India, Russia and others don't stick with sanctions. But in countries that are subject to the sanctions, to some degree it actually forces them to be inventive and prevent their countries from being "Americanised". Neither is necessarily a bad thing. The only tragic thing about it is when these countries can't get hold of patented medicine by US corporation; apparently leading to deaths.

And if general "human rights" and war-related matters were geniune causes for sanctions, then the US should sanction Saudi Arabia and China LONG before Russia. But wait, not possible. All this sanctions nonsense is totally hypocritical. Hopefully the US will be the country that loses out from it in the end.

During the cold war, a family member of mine made a lot of money from circumventing (legally) silly blockades of perfectly legitimate goods in a certain field, by NATO associated countries towards Comecon countries. All that the ban led to, was a middle man (my family member's company) making a profit. Blockades and sanctions are pointless, but why not let the US lose market shares and friends by doing it.