Update
Dear Friends,
The tension is unfortunately only increasing on the border between Russia and the Ukraine. Biden and other politicians have not exactly extended a hand to Russia but are only making threats that the Russians have now become immune to. In fact, the Russian economy is only getting better because of it, they say.
Russia has already sold its gas reserves for Europe Nordstream 2 to China. This is a guarantee that we will pay much higher prices for gas and electricity. Europe is shooting itself in its own foot. Inflation is bound to rise soon. The citizen who gets 0% interest on his savings pays in this way the incurred costs!
In Europe they seem to have lost control completely and this on many fronts. Saving the climate but meanwhile closing down nuclear power plants. The gas plants are not closed but unfortunately there will soon be no cheap gas left. Gas from the US is at least 4 times as expensive so not a solution at all. Meanwhile, the citizen pays the costs for these blunders.
Friends, here also the latest news. Olaf Scholz is also leaving for Moscow at the last minute. This is more to show his face than to achieve results because these are ultimately only made by the U.S. and they in turn do not change the plans to expand NATO to the Ukraine. So no concessions.
Fearing that time is running out, German leader head to Moscow.
Olaf Scholz will make an economic case for peace to break the "extremely dangerous" situation in Ukraine.
German government sources said Olaf Scholz will visit Moscow on Tuesday to highlight the economic losses that would result if Russia invaded Ukraine.
The German chancellor will arrive in Kiev for the first time on Monday, after previously facing domestic criticism for his low-key approach to diplomatic efforts over the military buildup on the Ukrainian border. The move comes as U.S. intelligence agencies claimed over the weekend that Russia was accelerating its invasion plans and could move troops across the border as early as Wednesday, before the Winter Olympics end Feb. 20.
Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday morning after the near-total evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Kiev.
According to a White House statement, Biden made it clear that the U.S. would "respond swiftly and decisively to further Russian aggression," and the two leaders agreed on the need to continue pursuing diplomacy and deterrence.
Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, told CBS News' "Face the Nation" program, "Over the last 10 days, we've seen a dramatic acceleration in the buildup of the Russian military and the deployment of forces in a way that essentially allows them to take military action at any time.
But, of course, we are still waiting for the order to execute it. Thus, we cannot predict the exact date or time when they will take action," he said.
Russia has denied invading Ukraine, but on Sunday there where reports that attack and troop transport helicopters were moving close to the Ukrainian border.
Also, a submarine equipped with cruise missiles from Russia's Baltic Fleet sailed through the Bosphorus Strait toward the Black Sea. Meanwhile, Lithuania announced that it would provide Ukraine with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, and the U.S. Embassy announced that 17 aircraftloads of U.S. military weapons, including shoulder-fired grenades, had arrived in Kiev.
Russian diplomats, however, have shown themselves to be indifferent to the threat of Western sanctions. Sweden's ambassador to the Kremlin told a Swedish newspaper that he "doesn't care" about the economic consequences.
Viktor Tatarintsev said in an interview published Saturday evening on the Aftonbladet newspaper's website, “Excuse my language, but we don’t give a shit about all their sanctions”,
The veteran diplomat said, "We've already had a lot of sanctions, and in that sense it's had a positive impact on our economy and our agriculture. We've become more self-sufficient, and we've been able to increase our exports. We don't have Italian or Swiss cheese, but we can now use Italian and Swiss recipes to make Russian cheese that is just as good," he said.
He added, "The new sanctions won't do anything positive, but they are not as bad as the West makes them out to be."