The End of Vladimir Putin
Could the war in Ukraine bring down the Kremlin?
www.politico.com / By BEN JUDAH / July 31, 2014
Could the war in Ukraine bring down the Kremlin?
www.politico.com / By BEN JUDAH / July 31, 2014
Does Germany want its own personalized pipeline? Excellent. Now, we only want Berlin to be a little more understanding on human rights… Would France, or Italy, like special military and energy deals? Fabulous. This could be arranged, but please, no more lectures on how to behave. Would Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania or perhaps Austria like our latest pipeline routed through sovereign territory? Wonderful. But remember, we need you to stand up for us in Brussels. Would London like to be the destination of choice for our lovely oligarchs? Superb. Now, let’s not look too closely at offshore finance.
These sanctions – limited though they might be – open the door to more. Russian elites now fear Western sanctions will become routine answers. This is why the Kremlin is dreaming about China. The men who run Russia are paranoid they will slowly have to swap London living for Shanghai nights. Their foremost hope is that they can make up for sanctions on Western financial markets by moving their financial activity to Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Russian bankers and lawyers who know the Asian markets well are suddenly overloaded with oligarchs and officials investigating opening Far Eastern accounts. With gritted teeth, they are prepared to get to know Chinese nightlife.
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