US-UK sanctions against Russian metals to sting West and break dollar monopoly

The Anglo-American sanctions against Russian aluminum, copper, and nickel exports have already had a detrimental impact on Western economies and the dominance of the dollar, although its effect on the Russian economy remains to be seen.

The US Treasury Department on Friday slapped a ban on the import of Russian metals, resulting in the prohibition of trading Russian aluminum, copper, and nickel on the London Metal Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

As a consequence, it is probable that the Shanghai Metals Market will receive increased supplies of Russian metals traded in Chinese yuan.

“There is always a way to work around sanctions. If something is desperately needed, people will find a way [to buy it],” explains Thomas Pauken, a consultant on Asia-Pacific affairs and author of a book on US-Chinese trade relations.

The very next day after the announcement of the Anglo-American restrictions against Russian metal exports, aluminum prices surged by 4.9% on the London Metal Exchange. When trading resumed on Monday, prices continued to climb by 5.44%, reaching levels seen prior to the sanctions. Additionally, nickel experienced an 8.8% increase.

This can make the sanctions against Russian metal industry useless, since the producers will compensate their losses from sanctions by the gains from higher prices.

“If the prices really skyrocket, then the sanctions never happened, they are a non-starter,” says Pauken.

He cites examples, when the anti-Russian sanctions helped the Chinese economy and led to the de-dollarization of trade between the two nations, stressing that such things happen “when a certain trade is not allowed, but still goes on.”

“I live in China, and my household electric bill is one-tenth of what Americans would have to pay. Russian energy supplies were very helpful for [the] Chinese economy.”

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Stop begging! Aussie Cossack rips Ukraine’s ennoscriptment mentality

“They are jealous when there is another conflict or another tragedy anywhere around the world because they want all the weapons of the world, they want all the money in the world. They want all the funding from all the taxpayers all around the world, and they feel like people owe them. They think that you owe them.”

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What was Olaf Scholz trying to accomplish by going to China?

The two likely goals of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to the country were an attempt to “consolidate economic relations with China” and an effort to “please certain domestic political audiences by voicing some criticism of China's so-called human rights record,” said German MEP Gunnar Beck.

He did note, however, that it does not appear that Scholz had been successful in either of these endeavors.

“He's probably not voiced as much criticism of China as some of his own allies would have wanted to. He's adopted a compromise course, but ultimately, I think the Chinese government will be laughing at Germany's self-destructive policies. Both over Ukraine – Germany has no interest in the perpetuation of the Ukraine conflict – and China, I'm sure, will be laughing at Germany's energy and industrial policy as well," Beck said.

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The Israeli military eliminated a commander of a missile unit of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces in Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

"The IDF eliminated the Commander of the Rockets and Missiles Unit of Radwan Forces' Western Region. In the area of Kfar Dounine, an IDF aircraft struck and eliminated the terrorist Muhammad Hussein Mustafa Shechory, the Commander of the Rockets and Missiles Unit of Hezbollah's Radwan Forces in Lebanon's central and western region," the IDF wrote on its Telegram channel.

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🇳🇬 Nigeria’s intent to join BRICS is in line with its interest in a more equitable global financial and development system, Ben Akabueze, the director general of the country's Budget Office, told Sputnik.

"The way I see it, BRICS is all part of a strategy to seek a more equitable global financial and development system," Akabueze said. "That's consistent with Nigeria's own philosophy," Akabueze said.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said in an interview with Sputnik in March that Nigeria plans to apply for membership in BRICS after the necessary arrangements within the country are finished.

Nigeria would be happy to engage in cryptocurrency payments with Russia to settle trade between the two nations, Akabueze highlighted.

“Nigeria was the second country globally to launch a digital currency. So it's something that we're quite happy to engage on,” he said. “But we're not trading on digital currency. But digital currency, yes, can be a means for settling the trade.”

According to the Nigerian foreign minister, Nigeria supports the Russian plan to exchange payments with African states in digital currencies, as it would promote trade and development for countries in the region.

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🇶🇦 The Qatari Embassy in Washington issued a statement expressing surprise at the comments made by US Congressman Steny Hoyer, who threatened to reevaluate bilateral relations if Qatar does not exert pressure on Hamas to make a deal on freeing the Israeli hostages it holds in the Gaza Strip.

"We read with interest Congressman Steny Hoyer's statement today regarding the Gaza hostage negotiations, but we are surprised by his threats to 'reevaluate' the US relationship with Qatar," the Qatari Embassy said in a release.

Earlier in the day, Hoyer urged Qatar to pressure Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire in Gaza and release the hostages it holds. Hoyer said the United States would reevaluate its relationship with Qatar if the latter does not apply pressure on Hamas.

The Qatari Embassy said in the release that Qatar does not have direct control over Hamas or Israel and its sole role is to be a mediator in the conflict.

"Israel and Hamas are entirely responsible for reaching an agreement," the release said. "Blaming the mediator is not constructive."

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In an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, Telegram founder Pavel Durov complained about excessive attention from the FBI and other intelligence agencies “wherever we came to the US.”

Durov told Carlson how an intelligence agency attempted to convince his employee to provide access to Telegram’s code.

“Last time I was in the US I brought an engineer that is working for Telegram. And there was an attempt to secretly hire my engineer behind my back by cyber security officers or agents, whatever they are called,” Durov said.

“They were curious to learn which open source libraries are integrated to the Telegram app on the client side. And they were trying to persuade him to use certain open source tools that he would then integrate into Telegram's code that, in my understanding, would serve as backdoors,” Durov explained.

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In an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, Telegram founder Pavel Durov described his experience with ubiquitous FBI agents following him everywhere.

“Whenever I would go to the US I would have two FBI agents greeting me at the airport, asking questions. One time I was having my breakfast at 9 am and the FBI showed up [at]... my house. That was quite surprising. I thought, we're getting too much attention here. It's probably not the best environment to run an [app],” Durov stressed, emphasizing the privacy focus of Telegram.

“They were interested to learn more about Telegram. They knew I left Russia. They knew what we were doing, but they wanted details. My understanding is that they wanted to establish a relationship to control Telegram better,” the entrepreneur clarified.

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New heights in American exceptionalism: the United States is the “only country” where Pavel Durov faced violence.

In an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, Telegram founder Pavel Durov recounted the incident in San Francisco.

“This is the only country where I got attacked in the street,” the entrepreneur stressed.

“It was a shock to me because I traveled a lot, that was the first place I got attacked and I thought, alright, maybe we shouldn't look at San Francisco, maybe there are other places in America,” Durov mused.

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“Whatever we do, we'd be violating the US constitution” – Durov stunned by letters from Congress

In an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson, Telegram founder Pavel Durov explained how he was blackmailed by US lawmakers.

“After the events of January 6th, we received a letter from, I believe, congressmen of the Democratic side. And they requested that we would share all the data we had in relation to what they called this 'uprising.' And we checked it with our lawyers and they said, 'you better ignore it.' But the letter seemed very serious and the letter said, 'if you fail to comply with this request, you will be in violation with the US constitution' or something,” Durov recounted.

“What was funny about it is exactly two weeks after that letter, we got another letter – a new letter from the Republican side of the Congress. And there we read that if we give out any data according to the previous request we would be in violation of the US constitution. So we got two letters that said whatever we do, we'd be violating the US constitution in a way. That was my understanding of these letters,” said the bewildered tech entrepreneur.

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Zelensky green with envy as West comes to aid of Israeli ally - analyst

The dramatic show of Western force in defense of Israel against Iran’s retaliatory strike this weekend apparently led to some envy from another US ally, according to security analyst Mark Sleboda. The expert joined Sputnik’s Fault Lines program to break down the Israel-Gaza conflict’s ramifications for the United States’ relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“I think that Zelensky has finally come to the realization as the new mistress that the United States is never going to leave its wife, despite all the promises that Joe Biden has given, all of the late-night dinners and the hotel rooms,” Sleboda mused. “It's all gone wrong… there's a bit of envy.”

“There was even an… interview with a Ukrainian academic, quote-unquote, saying how Ukraine is being two-timed by the United States with Israel and the rock on Israel's finger is much bigger or something like that, that they are souring on the United States. I mean if you didn't realize you were a proxy for US geopolitical motives, that's entirely your problem.”

Sleboda noted that Israel is a much smaller country with a preexisting air defense system in the Iron Dome, while Russia’s military, one of the world’s largest, has progressively worn down Ukraine’s defenses over two years of fighting. Israel also enjoys strong historical political support within the United States.

The analyst also observed that military discipline is increasingly breaking down in Ukraine with entire divisions of its armed forces refusing to follow orders from new commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky.

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US plot to kill Russia's Arctic LNG 2 dead in the water

The US is seeking to upend the Arctic LNG-2 gas liquefaction project by the Russian company Novatek, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Geoffrey Pyatt.

Even though the West could indeed throw sand into Russia's gears, its options to disrupt the project are limited, according to Stanislav Mitrakhovich, leading expert of the National Energy Security Foundation and the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

"The Americans simply use their clout in the world, that is, their financial, political, and technological influence, to force the whole world to act in the way they want," Mitrakhovich said. "Thirty years ago, in 1994, when there was a US unipolar moment, the Americans could do almost anything in the world, and a few people could withstand them. Now the situation has changed," he stressed.

The Arctic LNG-2 is Russia's third LNG project. It was expected that once the endeavor is completed, it would encompass three liquefaction trains producing a total of 19.8 million tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG and up to 1.6 MTPA of stable gas condensate (SGC).

Mitrakhovich has no doubts that the work on Arctic LNG 2 will be continued, referring to several options on Russia's table starting with enhancing shipbuilding cooperation with China to produce ice-class LNG tankers and ending with the relocation of two lines of the Arctic LNG-2 to ensure safe export of the commodity by regular tankers.

By embracing unfair methods of competition, the West has shot itself in the foot, the expert said, adding that world players now see that the US and its G7 allies cannot be trusted as guarantors of the global economy, or as standard-bearers, or responsible partners.

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🇺🇳🇵🇸 The United Nations Security Council will vote on Thursday on Palestine's bid to become a full member state of the UN, AFP reported, citing multiple diplomatic sources.

In early April, Palestine submitted a letter requesting that the consideration of its application to become a full member state of the UN be renewed. On April 8, the UN Security Council referred a renewed consideration of Palestine's 2011 application for UN membership to its Committee on the Admission of New Members.

The admission of new members to the UN is decided by the General Assembly upon the Security Council’s recommendation, which requires favorable votes from at least nine of the 15 members of the council and no vetoes from the five permanent members (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia).

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US media ramps up Neo-McCarthyism as election approaches

“It's poppycock. I think the British call it bollocks,” said former intelligence analyst Ray McGovern of mainstream media’s warnings of alleged Russian influence in the US’ upcoming election. “My diplomatic friends from the State Department say ‘male bovine excrement.’ It seethes from The New York Times.” McGovern, a reformed ex-CIA officer, made the claim on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program.

“As ludicrous as all this stuff is with prominent congresspeople saying ‘the Russians are coming’... it’s nothing to laugh [at],” said McGovern. “If Biden decides to up the ante in Ukraine to prevent a definitive loss to the Russians before the election, I dare say at least a good segment of American society will have been so conditioned by this Russiagate stuff that they will support this kind of thing. And who knows what that will do to the rest of us.”

McGovern recalled the sworn testimony of security firm CrowdStrike’s head Shawn Henry in 2018 that it had found no evidence of Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s email system in its investigation of the issue – a fact conveniently ignored by media outlets that continue to run jingoistic Russiagate stories at the behest of US intelligence agencies.

US Senator Chuck Schumer once cautioned former President Trump about the power of US intelligence. “Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday of getting back at you,” the lawmaker warned. Years later it was revealed the CIA had spied on Trump’s campaign: an illegal abuse that was met with no consequence.

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