The Public Will Follow Fraud Over The Cliff

12 Examples of Hamas Firing Rockets from Civilian Areas

Russia And India Begin Negotations To Use National Currencies In Settlements, Bypassing Dollar

Over the past 6 months, there has been much talk about the strategic proximity between Russia and China, made even more proximal following the "holy grail" gas deal announced in May which would not have happened on such an accelerated time frame had it not been for US escalation in Ukraine.

And yet little has been said about that other just as crucial for the "new BRIC-centric world order" relationship, that between Russia and India. That is about to change when yesterday the Russian central bank announced that having been increasingly shunned by the west, Russia discussed cooperation with Reserve Bank of India Executive Director Shrikant Padmanabhan. The punchline: India agreed to create a task group to work out a mechanism for using national currencies in settlements. And so another major bilateral arrangement is set up that completely bypasses the dollar.

From the Russian Central Bank:

First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation KV Yudaeva and Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India G. Padmanabhan at the twentieth meeting of the Subgroup on banking and financial issues of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission on trade-economic, scientific-technical and cultural cooperation discussed the current state and prospects of cooperation between banks.

The meeting was attended by representatives of central banks, ministries and agencies, credit organizations in Russia and India.

During the meeting dealt with the problems faced by the branches and subsidiaries of banks in the two countries and ways of addressing these problems.

As a priority area discussed the use of national currencies in mutual settlements. Given the urgency of the issue and the interest of commercial structures of the two countries, the meeting decided to establish a working group to develop a mechanism for the use of national currencies in mutual settlements. It will consist of representatives of banks and, if necessary, the ministries and departments of the two countries to coordinate its activities will be central banks of Russia and India.

What is curious is that now that China has sided firmly with Russia when it comes to geopolitical strategy (not least when it comes to recent development surrounding the downing of flight MH-17, recall "China Blasts "One-Sided Western Rush To Judge Russia" Over MH17"), and thus Russia behind China when it comes to claims by the world's most populous nation in its territorial dispute with Japan, Japan too is scrambling to secure a major ally in Asia, and it too is trying desperately to get on India's good side.

Bloomberg reports that "Japan’s Sasebo naval base this month saw unusual variety in vessel traffic that’s typically dominated by Japanese and U.S. warships. An Indian frigate and destroyer docked en route to joint exercises in the western Pacific."

The INS Shivalik and INS Ranvijay’s appearance at the port near Nagasaki showed Japan’s interest in developing ties with the South Asian nation as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government faces deepening tensions with China. Japan for the third time joined the U.S. and India in the annual “Malabar” drills that usually are held in the Bay of Bengal.

With Abe loosening limits on his nation’s military, the exercises that conclude today showcase Japan’s expanding naval profile as China pushes maritime claims in disputed areas of the East and South China Seas. For newly installed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japan’s attention adds to that of China itself, in an opportunity to expand his own country’s sway.

Japan’s involvement in Malabar underscores its interest in helping secure its trade routes to Europe and the Middle East. The Indian Ocean is “arguably the world’s most important trading crossroads,” according to the Henry L. Stimson Center, a foreign policy research group in Washington. It carries about 80 percent of the world’s seaborne oil, mostly headed to China and Japan.

“The Japanese are facing huge political problems in China,” said Kondapalli in a phone interview. “So Japanese companies are now looking to shift to other countries. They’re looking at India.”

So on one hand Japan is rushing to extend a much needed olive branch by the "insolvent western alliance + Japan" to India; on the other Russia is preparing to transact bilterally with India in a way that bypasses the dollar.

Which means that just as Germany has become the fulcrum and most strategic veriable in Europe (more on this shortly) whose future allegiance to Russia or the US may determine the fate of Europe, so suddenly India is now the great Asian wildcard.

Perhaps a very important hint of which way India is headed came moments ago from Reuters, which said that India has raised the issue of U.S. surveillance activities in the South Asian nation with Secretary of State John Kerry, the foreign minister said on Thursday. "Yes, I raised this issue (U.S. snooping) with Secretary John Kerry ... I have also conveyed to him that this act on the part of U.S. authorities is completely unacceptable to us," Sushma Swaraj said at a joint news conference in New Delhi. In response, Kerry said: "We (the United States) fully respect and understand the feelings expressed by the minister."

Thank you Snowden for helping move the geopolitical tectonic plates that much faster.

Now let the real courting begin.

Credit to Zero Hedge

In Sierra Leone doctors say the virus is 'absolutely out of control'

Sierra Leone today declared a public health emergency to tackle the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola and will call in security forces to quarantine areas of the deadly virus.

President Ernest Bai Koroma said the measures resembled a tough anti-Ebola package announced by neighbouring Liberia last night.

Koroma also announced he was cancelling a visit to Washington for a U.S.-Africa summit next week because of the crisis.

The move came as world's premier health charity issued a grave warning about the likely spread of the deadly Ebola virus - an epidemic it fears 'can only get worse'.

Doctors Without Borders (aka Médecins Sans Frontières [MSF]) says the threat of the disease spreading beyond western Africa, where it was first detected in Guinea in February, is frighteningly real and said it was 'absolutely out of control'.




Crisis: A Médecins Sans Frontières medic treats a suspected Ebola patient in Kailahun, Sierra Leone, where a public health emergency has been declared in an effort to stop the spread of the disease



On high alert: The president of Sierra Leone said the police and military would restrict movements to and from epicentres and provide support to health workers to do their work unhindered




The latest outbreak of Ebola is the most severe since the disease was discovered in 1976. So far the disease has spread from a village in Guinea to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said that 1,201 Ebola cases had been reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2711325/Weve-never-known-epidemic-Its-absolutely-control-Grave-fears-spread-Ebola-virus-Doctors-Without-Borders-admits-things-worse.html#ixzz394RkoXWq
Credit to Dailymail.co.uk

21 Ways To End The Phrase ‘Americans Are So Broke…’

Did you know that 77 million Americans have unpaid debts that are "in collections" and that Congress is actually thinking about letting post offices offer payday loans?  We live in a country where almost everyone is drowning in debt and where most people are either flat broke or very close to flat broke.  Years ago, "your Mama is so broke" jokes were all the rage, and at the rate we are going they could make a big comeback.  Some of my favorites were "your Mama is so broke she went to McDonald's and put a milkshake on layaway" and "your Mama is so broke your family ate cereal with a fork to save milk".  Unfortunately, the facts that I am about to share with you are not funny at all.  In fact, they are quite sobering.  Yes, things are going fairly well for the elitists that live in the good areas of New York City, Washington D.C. and San Francisco right now, but most of the country is deeply struggling as our economic fundamentals continue to crumble.  Please share these numbers with as many people as you can, because we need people to understand that there has not been an "economic recovery" for most of America.  In fact, in many ways things just continue to get even worse.  The following are 21 ways to end the phrase "Americans are so broke"...

1. Americans are so broke that about a third of them have debt collectors on their heels.  One recent study discovered that more than one out of every three adults in the United States has an unpaid debt that is "in collections".  That is a total of 77 million people.  In other words, the debt collection business in America is absolutely booming.

2. Americans are so broke that Congress is now actually considering allowing post offices to provide payday loans and check cashing services.

3. Americans are so broke that they are keeping their vehicles longer than ever.  The average age of vehicles on America’s roads recently set a new all-time high of 11.4 years.

4. Americans are so broke that car dealers are having to go to extreme lengths to get new customers.  Last year, one out of every four auto loans in the United States was made to someone with subprime credit.

5. Americans are so broke that 52 percent of them cannot even afford the homes that they are living in right now.

6. Americans are so broke that they are falling farther behind on their student loans than ever.  The total amount of student loan debt in the U.S. has now reached a whopping 1.2 trillion dollars, and approximately seven million Americans are in default on their student loans at this point.

7. Young Americans are so broke that half of all college graduatesare still relying on their parents financially when they are two years out of school.

8. Young Americans are so broke that only 36 percent of American adults under the age of 35 currently own a home.  That is the lowest level that has ever been recorded.

9. Americans are so broke that many of them can't even afford to shop at Wal-Mart and dollar stores anymore...

Discount stores are slowly dying.

Yesterday, Dollar Tree announced it would buy Family Dollar, a chain that is in the process of closing hundreds of stores and firing workers.

Other discount stores have been struggling as well,writes Heidi Moore at The Guardian. Fashion discounter Loehmann's filed for bankruptcy, while Wal-Mart's sales have declined for the past five quarters.

"There’s just not enough money deployed by American families to keep all the discount chains in business," Moore writes.

10. Americans are so broke that they are running up record levels of debt.  Overall, U.S. households are 11.68 trillion dollars in debt right now.

11. Americans are so broke that the wealth of the "typical American household" has fallen by 36 percent over the past decade.

12. Americans are so broke that one out of every four part-time workers in America is living below the poverty line.

13. Americans are so broke that more than 37 million Americansare now being served by food pantries and soup kitchens.

14. Americans are so broke that there are 49 million Americans that are dealing with food insecurity.

15. Americans are so broke that the number of people on food stamps has increased by about 14 million while Obama has been in the White House.  Ten years ago, the number of women in the U.S. that had jobs outnumbered the number of women in the U.S. on food stamps by more than a 2 to 1 margin.  But now the number of women in the U.S. on food stamps actually exceeds the number of women that have jobs.

16. Americans are so broke that the U.S. government has had to spend an astounding 3.7 trillion dollars on welfare programs over the past five years.

17. Americans are so broke that more than 20 percent of all children in the U.S. are living in poverty.

18. Americans are so broke that we have a record number of kids sleeping in the streets.  In fact, we have more than a million public school children that are homeless at this point.

19. Americans are so broke that 76 percent of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

20. Americans are so broke that 26 percent of Americans have absolutely no emergency savings whatsoever.

21. Americans are so broke that approximately two-thirds of all Americans do not have enough money saved up to cover six months of expenses if an emergency arose.

If things are this bad now, during the so-called "economic recovery", how bad will things get during the next major economic downturn?

Unfortunately, most Americans have been lulled into a false sense of security.  The financial crisis of 2008 seems like ancient history to most of them now, and most people appear to believe that our leaders have "fixed" whatever was wrong the last time.

Of course that is not the case at all.  In fact, our long-term problemshave just continued to grow since then.

The truth is that what we are experiencing right now is about as good as things are going to get for the U.S. economy.  When the next crisis arrives, all of the numbers in the list above are going to rapidly get a lot worse.

So enjoy the rest of this "bubble" while you still can.  It certainly will not last for too much longer.

Credit to Economic Collapse

Global Governance

Will America Die On Her Feet, or Will We Continue to Bend Over?

The Spartan King Leonidas hand-selected a force of 300 of the most courageous warriors in Sparta to defend the pass at Thermopylae. It was an impossible task, but the self-sacrificing action bought time for Sparta to mount a successful defense. As far as the 300, there were no survivors. However, their actions slowed down the Persian advance to the point that they could actually be stopped.

The approximate 180 defenders of the Alamo crossed the infamous line in the sand and sacrificed their lives at the Alamo in order that Sam Houston had time to organize a strong Texas Army in their revolution against Santa Anna.

One of the least discussed of the World War II battles, but one of the more significant, took place on Wake Island following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Japanese were ready for war, the Americans were not and needed time to prepare. The gallantry of the troops at Wake, bought some much needed time, which aided in American preparations for war, as they held out much longer than expected. The service academies and their military history courses revere the men who died at Wake Island.

In all three of these classic battles, the defenders knew they were going to die. However, they knew they were fighting for a higher purpose. Words like duty, honor and integrity meant something in regard to these aforementioned sacrifices. In America, today, where do we find our duty, honor and integrity?

America’s Day of Reckoning

America’s day of reckoning is nearly here. We are besieged by enemies both foreign and domestic. We are facing the gradual unveiling of the UN occupation forces, soon to be exposed under the umbrella of a completely preventable coming pandemic. With MS-13 and the Sinaloa cartel, and their Hamas terrorist connections, we have Fifth Column insurgency forces streaming into our country and all of this follows their paramilitary training outside of San Salvador. We are soon going to learn what it means to live in a narco-terrorist state.

We have the well-publicized presence of both Russian and Chinese soldiers training with FEMA on our soil during an era in which they have threatened the United States with nuclear attack over Syria and Iran. These are future UN martial law troops which will emerge when our challenges turn into a series of insurmountable crises.

On Friday, I exposed the readers to the fact that we even have a good portion of our naval forces on a permanent state of readiness stationed off of every coastline because they fear being disabled by an EMP attack.

We are facing the daunting task of going to war with Russia over Ukraine, or Syria, or wherever. And this is occurring at a time when we cannot even manage our domestic affairs. Further, our military leadership has been gutted by Obama’s firing of over 260 command leadership personnel, thus, leaving our fighting force in a weakened state.

Through the bailouts, Wall Street and the Federal Reserve have sucked the life out of our economy. Half of the country is on welfare as MSNBC reminds us daily how good we have it in America. And we continue to labor under a President who rules this country by autocratic decree through the executive orders process which has totally destroyed our Constitutional process. Can anyone reading this article name ONE thing that this President has done to improve any aspect of the middle class?

There is no one enemy that the American people can defeat in a vain attempt to remain free. We face impossible odds and a number pf challenges which I am not sure we can even accurately count. We, as Americans, have an endless supply of enemies and challenges, all of which are crushing the life right out of this country.

We have even been abandoned by many of our so-called religious leaders who have subverted their message to their flock in homage to the IRS policies which prevent political views from coming out of our church pulpits in order to maintain their church’s tax exempt status by sacrificing the true message of God.  Where are most of the pastors? My Bible tells me I have to keep fighting until Jesus shows up again. I haven’t seen him, yet, have you?

I scoff at the people who talk about the 2014 election cycle and how things are going to change. It is too late. The enemy is not at the gate, they are inside your front room in the form of the corrupt CPS workers who steal children from honorable parents for the federal remuneration monies they receive for committing such heinous acts (e.g. Stacy Lynne, Justina Pelletier, Monica Wesolowski).

Just like the defenders at Thermopylae, the Alamo and Wake Island, we have a choice on how we fall. Yes, it is likely that we are going to fall. Are you surprised? All institutions fall, as do nations. America is going to fall. You are going to fall. You have little to no control over what is coming. What you have control over is the degree of courage, honor and integrity that you display while you meet your greatest challenges.

The Choice Is Ours

Will you die on your feet defending your family and sanctity as a human being? Or, will you renounce your God in order to survive a few more days? Will you continue to give your children over to the New World Order and their satanic ways? Or, will you stand up against the usurpation of your parental rights? When the time comes, will you face starvation like a man, or take the mark of the beast? Finally, will you do what Christ did for his bride, the church?

As America approaches her final setting sun, what do we want our epitaph to be? In what spiritual shape do we want to face our maker? What do you want God to remember about your final days on the earth?

You are not going to have to wait long to decide. Soon, even the sheep will have nowhere to call home. Simply being quiet will no longer guarantee the anonymity associated with “survival by acquiescence”.

Prior to the execution of the events which will threaten our very existence, there is a great and last garage sale coming. Prior to an EMP, martial law or World War III, there are forces aligning to take one last shot at everything you own and I think you ought to know about it. Knowing what is on the immediate horizon, might help you discover your backbone before we slide into the annals of history. Knowing what is coming may help you depart with honor and a chance for a better existence on the other side. This will be the topic of the next part in this series.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world…”

Romans 12:2

Credit to Common Sense

Security cabinet "complete destruction of terror tunnels"

IDF soldiers stand atop a tank near the border with Gaza July 29, 2014.Photo: REUTERS


The security cabinet directed the IDF on Wednesday to continue to forcefully hit Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and to complete the job of neutralizing the terror tunnels, a senior diplomatic official said Wednesday.

According to the official, speaking after a four-hour security cabinet meeting, the IDF operation has led to “significant achievements on the ground” and is hitting at the “strategic apparatus” that Hamas has invested in for years.

The official said that the IDF also has had “significant achievements” in degrading the infrastructure of Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza, and will “continue to expand” those operations.

The security cabinet said it would continue to declare limited humanitarian cease-fires, similar to Wednesday's four-hour cease fire, in areas where there is no fighting and without endangering soldiers or compromising the efforts to destroy the tunnels. The idea behind these lulls in the fighting was to provide the civilians in Gaza with the possibility to stock up on basic necessities, the official said.

The official added that no new cease-fire proposal that meets Israel's demands has been brought to the security cabinet for a decision. Israel accepted an Egyptian cease-fire proposal two weeks ago, and stands by that proposal.

The security cabinet decision to continue the operation, and expand it where necessary to hit the terrorist infrastructure, was reportedly taken unanimously.

OC Southern Command Major-Gen. Sami Turgeman said Wednesday evening that regarding destruction of Hamas's terror tunnels, the IDF's "mission will be completed within a number of days."

The security cabinet met during the four-hour humanitarian cease-fire Israel declared in areas of fighting. Hamas did not honor the cease fire.

Even as the official indicated that that a cease-fire was not imminent, AFP reported airport officials as saying that an Israeli delegation arrived in Gaza to discuss the situation.

And Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a TV interview on Tuesday night that Hamas authorized Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to negotiate on its behalf, the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Meanwhile, amid very public disagreement between Washington and Jerusalem over a potential cease-fire, State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said at the daily press briefing in Washington that Israel supported the US efforts at brokering a cease fire.

The Finance Minister said that the IDF has so far hit 4,000 terrorist targets, hundreds of terrorists, destroyed a large part of Hamas' infrastructure and the vast majority of the terror tunnels.

Another member of the security cabinet, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, told a group of visiting German parliamentarians in the country to show their support that there was a “battle of civilizations” currently taking place in the Middle East, and that the the events in Gaza were just part of a wider struggle taking place in Libya, Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

This struggle, he said, is the greatest challenge facing the world since World War II, and Europe “should be committed to Israel.”

Credit to Jerusalem Post

Erdogan's ISIS 'brothers'

Whenever I write about the intrinsic relationship between the Turkish government and al-Qaeda inspired groups, I'm subject to a smear campaign by Erdoğan's thugs.

Some of them are naive enough to believe that Erdoğan would not go that far. Now here is a case for those who don't want to believe that Erdoğan supports the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) -- an organization that even al-Qaeda itself listed as a terrorist group for its excessive violence.

In previous articles, I made clear how Erdoğan's government fostered al-Qaeda-linked or inspired groups in Syria and how they turned out to be a threat for both Iraq and Turkish interests. Although ISIS militants have been holding dozens of Turkish citizens for more than a month now, Erdoğan still avoids calling these militants terrorists. Today, he even called them brothers:

"A Muslim would not do this cruelty to another Muslim brother," Erdoğan said during an iftar dinner. Wait a minute, what? Who is whose brother? The throat-slitting savages who are holding your citizens for weeks are your Muslim brothers? Is that how you define the terrorists against whom the world is united to root out?

He continued begging to the group to release the Turkish citizens:

"I call here on the ISIS organization. We want you to release our citizens, consular officers... there are women and children. They need to do this. I'm particularly reminding them of this. I reminded them this afternoon and I'm reminding them of it here again," Erdoğan, who is often called by his supporters "leader of the world," said.

Some of you might think that there are delicate negotiations going on behind the scenes through back channels and that sharpening the tone taken against the organization could imperil the lives of the Turkish citizens.

Fair enough.

But shouldn't Erdoğan just assure people that negotiations are under way and avoid begging terrorists publicly? Is publicly asking the release of Turkish citizens part of those "back-channel negotiations?"

Supporters of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) are the last people to raise the issue of sensitivity when it comes to foreign policy-making. We saw how reckless the Turkish government and its supporters could be only last year, in Egypt, when Erdoğan's empty talk encouraged the helpless Muslim Brotherhood members to resist against Egypt's ruthless military and eventually got them killed. They could have acted in a much smarter way, but blindly resisting against the killing machine that has no concern for human lives led to tragic death and destruction.

Shouldn't the AK Party be more sensitive when it comes to innocent men and women in Egypt? Does the blood of Egyptians really matter or was it a just good time for Erdoğan to exploit their tragedy?




Credit to Todayszaman.com

Russia Concerned by Reports of Kiev Using Ballistic Missiles in Eastern Ukraine

DUSHANBE, July 30 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow is concerned by reports that Ukraine’s government troops have used ballistic missiles against independence supporters in the country’s east, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko Tuesday confirmed the country’s readiness to provide access to international experts to the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines passenger plane in Donetsk Region, declaring a unilateral ceasefire within a 20-kilometer (12-mile) radius.

“Now, unfortunately, actions suggest the opposite: Donetsk, Luhansk and other villages in these regions are being shelled with Grad rocket launchers, artillery and tanks.”

On Tuesday, citing US officials CNN reported that Ukraine’s government troops used short-range ballistic missiles in the east. The weapons have a range of about 50 miles and pack warheads of up to 1,000 pounds.

These missiles could have been fired from a Tochka short-range ballistic missile system (NATO Designation SS-21 Scarab), the report said. If the reports are accurate, these are “the most deadly missiles to date used in the conflict,” CNN said.

“All this is concerning, and everything is happening amid allegations that Russia and the militia are impeding inspectors’ access to the [Boeing] crash site,” Lavrov told a group of young Tajik diplomats.

The military governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Grachev, said earlier Tuesday eastern Ukrainian militia forces have found what appears to be a ballistic missile warhead in Luhansk Region.

A spokesman from Ukraine’s National Security information center, Andriy Lysenko, rejected the report, saying that Ukraine has no such missiles.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the Kiev government intensified military operations against its own people after getting support from Western countries.

Moscow has described the ongoing military action as a punitive operation and has repeatedly called on Kiev to put an immediate end to the bloodshed.

Credit to RIA Novosti

US will feel ‘tangible losses’ from ‘destructive, myopic’ sanctions

The new round of American economic sanctions imposed against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis will only further worsen relations between Washington and Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

“Washington will gain nothing from such decisions except for further complication of Russian-American relations and the creation of an unfavorable atmosphere in international affairs, where the cooperation between our countries often plays a key role,” the statement by the ministry reads.

“We have repeatedly spoken about the illegitimacy and groundlessness of the US sanctions against Russia,” it said, commenting on a new package of sanctions announced by Washington on Tuesday.

In addition to steps taken earlier, the US has now added four new names to the list of Russia-affiliated entities sanctioned by Washington, including the Bank of Moscow, the Russian Agricultural Bank and VTB Bank OAO, as well as the state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation.

Also, the US will be “blocking the exports of specific goods and technologies to the Russian energy sector”, “expanding sanctions to more banks” and “suspending credit that encourages exports to Russia,” President Barack Obama said on Tuesday.

The move came just hours after the EU announced its own economic measures targeting the Russian economy. Both the US and the EU accuse Moscow of supporting anti-Kiev militias in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow, in response, said that the US is only pretending to be consistent in its current behavior. In fact, “it is only trying to escape responsibility for the tragic development of the events in Ukraine,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

“It is not Russia but the Kiev regime and its foreign patrons that can be blamed for the increasing number of casualties among civilians in eastern [Ukrainian] regions,” the ministry said in a statement.

The White House – in its “pretentious, prosecutor-like manner” – continues to put forward groundless charges against Russia, the ministry said. At the same time, the US is covering up “the bloody operation by the Kiev military who, in violation of international laws, have launched missile strikes against peaceful cities.”

In Moscow’s view, “the only goal” that the US is pursuing by imposing sanctions is to “settle accounts”with Russia for its policies that are “independent and unfavorable for Washington.”

“The losses that Washington will sustain from such a destructive and myopic policy will be very tangible,” the Foreign Ministry added.

VTB, Russia’s second-largest bank and one of the institutions targeted by US sanctions, has called them “politically motivated, unfair, legally dubious and economic damaging for all parties.”

The bank said in a statement that the “move appears particularly misguided, given that VTB strictly adheres to all applicable international laws and regulations, including those set out by the US authorities, which they are well aware of.”

It assured the clients that despite the US’s “discriminatory decision” it will continue to meet all of its obligations, adding that the move will not affect the bank’s “operational performance and creditworthiness.”

Another leading Russian bank targeted in the sanctions, Bank of Moscow, also said that its customers would not be harmed by them as the bank is focused on the internal Russian market.

The United Shipbuilding Corporation, in response to the sanctions, said it is considering switching from US dollars to other currencies in its payments with foreign customers, the corporation’s head Aleksey Rakhmanov told Kommersant FM radio station. He added that the sanctions may cause more harm to the company’s civilian customers rather than the military sector.

Credit to RT