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Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions

reuters.com

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Re: Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions

#41

Post by hericium »

imwillofficial wrote: post #25
hericium wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how many of those promises will actually be fulfilled before Putin gets frustrated.

I don’t get comments like these. Does Putin strike you as an overly emotional guy who gets frustrated easily? My take is that he is cold and calculating. Not one I’d take lightly.

> Does Putin strike you as an overly emotional guy who gets frustrated easily?

He's a hardliner, I would not say that he could be frustrated easily but this absolutely is not an easy situation. His currency has collapsed and his country is on the brink of defaulting on foreign debt. He has no support anywhere but from his puppet dictator Lukashenko.

I think Putin did not expect such coordination and global effort in sanctioning Russia over Ukraine invasion. I believe that he wanted to take over Ukraine in just a few days and was surprised by Ukraine's defence and multiple desertions in his own army. He has decisions to make and choices are poor.

Re: Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions

#42

Post by dukeofdoom »

abofh wrote: post #30
donw wrote: post #5

sigh Fifty years ago, the dollar had value because America was the one-stop-shop for everything. Cars, electronics, appliances, all of it. Nowadays, that's China. China makes everything, or the parts to make everything, and increasingly to a higher standard than can be produced in the US. Go watch Project Farm and think on those results. The dollar has value now because it functions as a medium of exchange. That's it…

SWIFT is a Belgian corporation that is not tied to a specific currency. Kicking them out of SWIFT has nothing to do with USD hegimony. China and Russia do have a competing system, it's used by China and Russia. Moreover, Russias currency and market have been in a downfall for a month, not a week - that its actions _have_ long term consequences is exactly the point. Now, please remember, there's a whole planet out the…

Comparing Army sizes might the more relevant comparison going forward.

Re: Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions

#43

Post by Animats »

imwillofficial wrote: post #28
rib3ye wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see this "Chinese production + Russian... (I guess just oil) = superior economic system" argument before, but I suspect these people have never opened a history book on Sino-Soviet relations. Because of decades of undermining and backstabbing, the trust between these two societies is pretty close to zero despite "communism". The only thing they really have in common is that they are both autocratic governments, so…

Except this isn’t the case at all. Modern Russia, and Modern China are as tight as ever. Being driven closer by the West.

That does not seem to be the case. The leadership of China has been rather quiet the last few days. China Daily is not spouting a pro-Putin line at all. The party line may be to sit this one out.

Re: Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions

#44

Post by dukeofdoom »

phantomathkg wrote: post #40
dukeofdoom wrote: post #36

Expect Russia to retaliate against MasterCard. If this is your sole credit card you might want to look for alternatives in case their computers go down.

What would be the alternative? Cash or Crypto?

Cash is King! You need functioning internet and banks to accept crypto.

Re: Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions

#45

Post by hadrien01 »

phantomathkg wrote: post #40
dukeofdoom wrote: post #36

Expect Russia to retaliate against MasterCard. If this is your sole credit card you might want to look for alternatives in case their computers go down.

What would be the alternative? Cash or Crypto?

Other networks. International ones like Visa or American Express, or national ones like Carte Bleue, Bancontact, etc.

Re: Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions

#46

Post by phatfish »

lliamander wrote: post #37
klyrs wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought he was cold and calculating until he attacked Ukraine. This looks downright ham-handed and heedless compared to the maneuvering of the decades leading up to now. He's made a damned fool of himself, if you ask me.

It looks stupid to me too. Which is precisely why I think there's information I'm missing. Like, I've seen arguments that the whole "Ukraine joining NATO" justification is just a pretext. But if that's just a pretext, what's the actual reason? I haven't seen a good answer yet. I honestly don't think we'll know the true story for decades.

The reason? Same as most other people with power, more power. It's just dictators like Putin can act on the impulses of their ego and ignore everyone else.

The power gained in this case is attempting to rebuild the Russian empire by "liberating" areas that have since become independent countries and want nothing to do with the Russian rule.

Re: Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions

#47

Post by Osiris »

imwillofficial wrote: post #25
hericium wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how many of those promises will actually be fulfilled before Putin gets frustrated.

I don’t get comments like these. Does Putin strike you as an overly emotional guy who gets frustrated easily? My take is that he is cold and calculating. Not one I’d take lightly.

I just read an article that US intelligence is getting reports that Putin is having outbursts and not acting like his usual calculating self.

Given his age, it's certainly within the realm of possibility that he is suffering from cognitive decline.

Re: Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions

#48

Post by Osiris »

dukeofdoom wrote: post #44
phantomathkg wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would be the alternative? Cash or Crypto?

Cash is King! You need functioning internet and banks to accept crypto.

Being pedantic but you only need banks to convert crypto to fiat and via versa. But given they context here I concede the point.

Cash is also subject to hyper inflation which is likely given the rapid drop in the value of their currency, making it a poor store of value.

Re: Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions

#49

Post by netsharc »

Animats wrote: post #43
imwillofficial wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except this isn’t the case at all. Modern Russia, and Modern China are as tight as ever. Being driven closer by the West.

That does not seem to be the case. The leadership of China has been rather quiet the last few days. China Daily is not spouting a pro-Putin line at all. The party line may be to sit this one out.

It seems like China is in a great position to "buy" Russia: an embarassed Putin can't go to the people who sanctioned him and say "I'm sorry, I was wrong, I'll stop now, can we go back to the way we were before", but when he does retreat after declaring "Mission accomplished!" he can still go to Xi and say "My friend Xi!".

Maybe Russians will get AliPay and WeChat in the near future...

Re: Visa, Mastercard block Russian financial institutions after sanctions

#50

Post by tguvot »

lliamander wrote: post #37
klyrs wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought he was cold and calculating until he attacked Ukraine. This looks downright ham-handed and heedless compared to the maneuvering of the decades leading up to now. He's made a damned fool of himself, if you ask me.

It looks stupid to me too. Which is precisely why I think there's information I'm missing. Like, I've seen arguments that the whole "Ukraine joining NATO" justification is just a pretext. But if that's just a pretext, what's the actual reason? I haven't seen a good answer yet. I honestly don't think we'll know the true story for decades.

Google translate this: https://web.archive.org/web/20220226224717/https://ria.ru/20...

It was auto published on 26 on ria and bunch of other sites and than purged. It explains everything

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