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The collective might of the United States of America and the European Union, including so-called neutral Switzerland, was visible when they slapped a series ofsanctions on Russia. However, these sanctions need to be looked at a little more closely asthere is a lot to themthan what meets the eye.

Switzerland has slapped sanctions on certainRussian oligarchs. Who are these certain oligarchs? No one knows. Is it possible that Switzerland is using this Ukraine-Russia war as an opportunity to settle scores with these oligarchs?

Japan said it would limit its transaction with the Russian central bank and sanction certain banks in Belarus, which did noteven go to war with Ukraine directly. So why authorise sanctions on Belarus? What kind of scores is Japan looking to settle?

New Zealand says it will prohibit the export of specific hardware to Russian security forces and the Russian military. However, what is funny is that the total exports of New Zealand to Russia aremerely$250 million-$280 million. Of this, military hardware must be contributing merely $50 million-$100 million.

France applied sanctions on the import-export of luxury goods from Russia. Luxury goods? What haveluxury goods got to do with the ongoing war? Prevent Russians from getting ready for the battle by dressing well and applying mascara? Can it get more ridiculous than this?

Smaller nations like Taiwan have joined the fray without specifying what sanctions they are slapping on Russia. These sanctions arenothing but tokenism and a way to settlescores withcertain oligarchs.

The sanctions included sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putins holdings abroad. Conspiracy theorists have been speculating that Putin has much treasurehidden somewhere; no one knows where. His official holdings are minuscule, and none of it is abroad. Sanctioning Putins wealth abroad has become a butt of jokes in the international community.

The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada banned certain Russian banks from SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication). Which are these certain banks? No clarity has been offered on that. These couldbe non-performing banks and not those that bring money into the coffers of the Western banking system. Specific restrictive measures were also imposed to prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves. The EU hopes that these measures would paralyse Russias central banks assets and freeze its transactions, making it impossible to liquidate its assets. The Golden Passport system was also put on hold for a while. It means that people with money cannotenter my country. It is not easyto believe that the United States and the European Union do not love money anymore.

The United States froze accounts of specific individuals whom it believed had saved up slush money or rainy-day cash in US banks. They did this by freezing transactions by the state-owned Russian Direct Investment Fund. This Russian direct investment fund was receiving payments from wealthy Russian individuals who were earning in Russia and saving it in the United States. Withone stroke of the presidential decree, the money was gone. Poof. Thirteen state-owned banks of Russian origin in the United States have been affected as well. Specific individuals in America think these banks are close to the Kremlin.

No High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs) put all their money in one basket. If any financial institution thought these oligarchs would invest only in the United Statesand the European Union, they are mistaken. What these sanctions, however, showed to these HNIs and other potential investors who would be looking to invest in the United States and European Union is that the banking system is fickle, state-owned and therefore, could be controlled by a stroke of a pen. The banking system of Switzerland too isnt reliable anymore.

The Swiss banking system, which remained a neutral banking system and benefitted a lot, especially after theSecond World War when people with war booty came to Switzerland and made it what it is today, has been exposed. Putting your money in a Swiss bank isnt safe anymore is the message it sends out to the world. Anything that happens in your country and that does not go well with either the United States or the European Union or any other catastrophe that could affect Switzerlands thought process would leadto you losing your money. The Swiss banking system has sent this message loud and clear to the world.

The uncertainty of the Western banking system has been exposed in these sanctions. The message it has sent out loud and clear is that sanctions could be selective, conditional and at the whims and fancies of the state. The message is that states, to further theirnarrative, will play with your money. Banks traditionally enjoyed their wealth by holding onto peoples wealth and making money out of it. A banks contribution, directly in value addition in terms of goods or services, is nothing. But, the fact that it could selectively get after their customers may not go well with other customers who have not been sanctioned as yet.

Short term effect on the Russian economy as a result of these sanctions is enormous. The Rouble is already down to 50 per cent of its value against the dollar. People who held the Rouble outside of Russia have lost their money, no doubt. And as expected, when any country goes to war, its economy tanks, and inflation rises. Its true in all cases of conflict. The Russia-Ukraine crisis is no different. The Russian economy has tanked, Ukraines economy is next to nothing, and the European economy has taken a beating.

How to mitigate theeffects of the uncertainty of the Western,including theSwiss, banking system? The burning question that every investor or a potential investor must be asking themselves is: if I store my money in the Western banking system, including the Swiss banking system, will it be safe? How do I transact without being controlled by state policies and states whims and fancies? That is the fundamental question that needs to be answered, and there appears to be an answer in the form of cryptocurrency.

What if I tell you, one in every four US dollars in existence came in into being in 2020 after COVID hit Wall Street? It went from having its worst weeks to its best weeks in no time. The practice is known as quantitative easing by which during an economic crisis, the central bank puts more money into the system to keep it running. History has taught the world that printing money to solve monetary problems doesnt end well as we have seen in Zimbabwe recently. Simple economics suggests more money into the system is a recipe for inflation and rendering the currency worthless. Zimbabwe had to print a billion Zimbabwean Dollar notes for itscitizens to buy bread. The point here is simple in the connected digital world which has rendered the world a village, we might have a chance of having blockchain technology with a set of rules that cant be changed according to geopolitics or economics being used as a medium of exchange, which, in essence, is decentralisation.

Cryptocurrency has boomed since the pandemic came into being, investors have looked for safe havens for their money and the direct result of the printing of US dollars in 2020 was this boom. In the current scenario of war, sanctions and especially Russias exclusion from SWIFT, cryptocurrency will be an alternative that will be used by Russia to transfer funds, reducing the agitation caused by the West. Crypto has been the medium of exchange for organisations/countries to launder money in times where regulated, centralised options are not an option.

The mere fact that a decentralised option exists for the Russians is a prime example of the liberation cryptocurrency presents to the modern world.

The long-term effect of these sanctions on Dollar and Euro is likely to be two-fold: First,theirprominence as currencies of transaction in the world would decline. Second, transactions using cryptocurrency will show a sharp increase. The writing is already on the wall as most cryptocurrency stocks have shown a sharp rise after the announcement of these sanctions. Nothing stops Putin from trading in this currency during the hot war conditions. Russia is close to China, and neither Europenor the United States have managed to create any dent in the Chinese gross national power or its currency. They have also failed to deterChina from interfering in Taiwanese affairs. A Chinese air intrusionin Taiwan was conveniently ignored by the Western media and the Western polity alike.

These geopolitical moves and meddling with the banking system, which supported the world economy post the Second World War, seem to be part of the self-destruction. Cryptocurrency or another form of transaction will find prominence and may become the preferred mode of wealth exchanging hands in the time to come.

The author is Group Captain (retd), Fighter Pilot, MiG-21, Mirage-2000. He is DGCA-nominated Qualified Flying Instructor and Aircraft Accident Investigator. Vineet Maliakal is COO, AutoMicroUAS. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the stand of this publication.

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For US and European Union, the Sanctions on Russian Oligarchs May Backfire - News18

Alisher Usmanov, the man behind several of Everton's sponsors, has been named on a list of oligarchs to be sanctioned by the EU for alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Usmanov, a billionaire whose company USM Holdings sponsors Evertons Finch Farm training ground as well as other deals including the option for a 30 million naming rights of their new stadium is one of several individuals to be targeted by measures designed to hit back at the Kremlin for invading Ukraine.

The 68-year-old Uzbek, who is a friend and business associate of Everton owner Farhad Moshiri, will have his assets in the EU frozen and others will be prohibited from making funds available to him. He will also be banned from entering or transiting through EU territory.

On Tuesday Usmanov stepped down from his role as president of the International Fencing Federation and vowed to challenge the measures imposed.

On 28 February 2022 I became the target of restrictive measures imposed by the European Union, a statement from Usmanov read.

I believe that such a decision is unfair, and the reasons employed to justify the sanctions are a set of false and defamatory allegations damaging my honor, dignity, and business reputation.

I will use all legal means to protect my honor and reputation.

In a statement on Monday evening, the European Council confirmed 26 persons had been added to a list of those subject to sanctions.

It added that measures had been taken against those individuals in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

In an updated regulation in the Official Journal of the European Union, Usmanov was named as a pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The document added: (Usmanov) has been referred to as one of Vladimir Putins favourite oligarchs. He is considered to be one of Russias businessmen-officials, who were entrusted with servicing financial flows, but their positions depend on the will of the President.

The report also said that Usmanov actively supported materially or financially Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine and actively supported the Russian governments policies of destabilisation of Ukraine.

Moshiri acts as chairman for USM while the Everton owner has a stake in MegaFon, a company of which Usmanov is the majority shareholder. MegaFon and Russian smartphone company Yota, which is part of the MegaFon group, sponsor Everton women.

USMs naming rights agreement with Everton began in 2017 on a five-year deal, with the clubs Halewood training ground renamed USM Finch Farm. In January 2020, Everton announced that Usmanovs USM had agreed to pay 30 million in order to have the first right of refusal for naming rights of Evertons new stadium. This was not for the actual rights, but merely the right to buy them.

Everton and Moshiri were approached for comment. Moshiri declined to comment, and Everton had not replied by the time of publication.

(Photo: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)

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Everton sponsor Alisher Usmanov sanctioned by European Union over Vladimir Putin ties - The Athletic

Ukraine War: Borrell warned EU citizens that punishing Russia was "going to have a price".

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is becoming increasingly merciless, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday, as strikes were reported on residential areas.

"The Russian military campaign is becoming more and more ruthless and Ukrainian armed forces are fighting back with courage," Borrell told journalists.

"There are a lot of civilian casualties... and the flow of people looking for shelter, escaping the war is increasing."

The EU on Sunday unveiled a 450-million-euro ($500-million) package to fund the supply of weapons to Ukraine, the first time the bloc has agreed to send arms to a third country.

Borrell said the EU had in addition "mobilised" its satellite centre in Madrid to provide Ukraine with geospatial intelligence following a request from Kyiv.

Borrell sought to clarify a statement he made Sunday that the 27-nation bloc would supply fighter jets to Ukraine.

"Some European countries, if they want to, bilaterally can mobilise any kind of aid to help Ukraine to defend itself, and they also need aircraft," Borrell said.

"But they would have to be those European countries, if they have them, that have fighter jets which could be piloted by the Ukrainian air force pilots."

In addition to military support, the EU has also unleashed its strongest-ever barrage of sanctions against Moscow, including blocking transactions with Russia's central bank.

Major energy exporter Russia has threatened to hit back over the measures, and Borrell warned EU citizens that punishing Moscow was "going to have a price".

"Sanctions will backlash. Sanctions have a cost," Borrell said.

"But we have to be ready to pay this price now because, if not, we will have to pay a much bigger price in the future."

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Ukraine Invasion Getting "More And More Ruthless": European Union - NDTV

We make decisions based on available information. If we have not completed formation, it is very much possible to make the wrong decision. Unfortunately, in todays world, the West controls the worlds major media, especially the Internet companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Apple in the United States, they control the global Internet public opinion. Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the West has been hanging Russia in the field of public opinion. In early February, Bloomberg reported fake news that Russia had invaded Ukraine.

Since the Ukrainian war started, Russia has been in a position of being beaten and scolded in online public opinion, and there are still many supportive voices on the Chinese Internet. In other countries in the world, all voices supporting Russia have been blocked. American Internet companies, the Russian government, and even the new media accounts of the US embassy were blocked.

There is no doubt that Russia has fought very hard in this battle. In fact, Russia has always been very restrained on the battlefield. From the beginning of the battle, it has not launched a large-scale attack. It has tried its best to avoid casualties of the people. The Ukrainian government has a chance to negotiate, even knowing they are stalling for time.

All of this is inseparable from Russias passivity on the battlefield of public opinion. But even if Russia tolerates everything, in the Internet world, Russia is still smeared and demonized by all kinds of fake news. For example, foreign media took the video of the Ukrainian army bombarding civilian houses and blamed the Russian army.

This time Russia finally came up with this trick, and it really is extremely clever. Using the Soviet Union as the main contributor to the worlds anti-fascism, in the name of convening a world anti-fascist conference, fundamentally shake the hegemony of the West. This time, the World Anti-Fascist Conference will definitely have more influence than Bidens Global Democracy Summit and deal a heavy blow to Western hegemony ideologically.

First, Russias primary goal in launching the Ukrainian war is to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.

Ukraines neo-Nazis are notorious for brutal massacres of civilians in the Eastern Ukrainian region for eight years, creating at least three mass graves. I saw on the news that they massacred at least 13,000 women and children. And all this is not reported by the mainstream media controlled by the West.

Russia held the World Anti-Fascist Congress to nail the Ukrainian puppet government to the pillar of neo-Nazi shame.

Moreover, Russia sent the most powerful Chechen armed forces to Mariupol and Kyiv to deal with neo-Nazis. In particular, the Ukrainian neo-Nazi organization Azov Battalion, which participated in the intervention in the Hong Kong riots in 2019, received key receptions.

Second, suppress German ambitions.

This time during the Ukrainian war, the Germans jumped high. On the one hand, the president of the European Commission, the German von der Leyen, took over the Ukrainian war and invited it to join the European Union (Ukraine plans to join the European Union, Europe is brought to the table!), this von der Leyen is not simple, Her ancestor is a Junker noble, who has lived and worked in the United States for a long time, and served as the German defense minister. She was originally expected to be Merkels successor, and later became the president of the European Union.

Another is that the German government announced to provide Ukraine with 1,000 anti-tank missiles and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles, which are very deadly for the Russian army. Then, through a special fund, Germany invested 100 billion euros to equip the troops at one time; in addition, the defense expenditure must be increased to more than 2%. Germanys GDP is 4 trillion US dollars, and 2% is 80 billion US dollars. In this way, Germany will become a military expenditure. The third-largest country after China and the United States.

These signs indicate that the German Nazis will be resurrected and break the seal left by the Soviet Union and the United States after World War II. After World War I, Germany was resurrected after only a dozen or so stops. This time it was sealed for more than 70 years, and it felt the opportunity to be resurrected. Russia will definitely not agree to borrow the revival of neo-Nazism in Ukraine and bring back the dead! It is estimated that other Eastern European countries will also be scared to death.

Third, shake the moral foundation of Western hegemony. Western white leftists really think that by putting on the halo of democracy, freedom, and human rights, they have really cleaned up history, which is obviously a dream. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was a nightmare for the West in the field of ideology, and developing countries yearned for the Soviet Union. Now Russia has picked up the banner of anti-fascism, and it is a sword that pierces the heart of the West.

The media has the responsibility of conveying facts, letting the readers decide who is right or who is wrong. Media is only an information provider, not the narrative builder or brainwasher. We need to follow a balanced approach of matters up to the possible extent. Definitely, personnel affiliation has an impact on ones writing, but, try best to have an unbiased approach and reflect both sides narratives.

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Make Sense of Belarus Interests through Full Support to Russia for Invasion in Ukraine - Modern Diplomacy

Amore Vero, the yacht owned by a company linked to Igor Sechin, is pictured in the shipyard of La Ciotat in southern France on Thursday. Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Amore Vero, the yacht owned by a company linked to Igor Sechin, is pictured in the shipyard of La Ciotat in southern France on Thursday.

French authorities say they have seized a yacht linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Igor Sechin.

Sechin served as Russia's deputy prime minister from 2008 to 2012 and is the current CEO of state oil company Rosneft.

He is among the several "elites close to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin" that the U.S. Treasury Department targeted with sanctions last week. The European Union imposed sanctions against Sechin on Monday, calling him one of Putin's "most trusted and closest advisors, as well as his personal friend" and saying the two were in daily contact.

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Thursday that French authorities had seized Sechin's yacht named "Amor Vero," or "True Love" in Italian at the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat on Wednesday.

"Thanks to the French customs officers who are enforcing the European Union's sanctions against those close to the Russian government," he said, according to a Reuters translation of his tweet.

The 280-foot yacht had been docked in southern France's La Ciotat since early January, and was set to remain there undergoing repairs through the end of March, CNBC reports. But the French ministry of finance said the yacht was preparing to cast off when authorities began their check, which lasted several hours.

The ministry said it had identified Sechin as the main shareholder of the company that owns the yacht, according to The Guardian.

"As part of the implementation of European Union sanctions against Russia and in support of Ukraine, we seized a first yacht," French Minister at the Ministry of Public Action and Accounts Olivier Dussopt wrote in a tweet on Thursday translated by France24.

The U.S. announced a fresh round of sanctions against Russian oligarchs later Thursday.

It enacted "full blocking sanctions" on eight oligarchs and their families and imposed visa restrictions on 19 others as well as 47 of their family members and close associates.

"These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people, and some have elevated their family members into high-ranking positions," the White House said in a statement. "Others sit atop Russia's largest companies and are responsible for providing the resources necessary to support Putin's invasion of Ukraine."

It said those targeted by the sanctions will be cut off from the U.S. financial system, with their assets in the U.S. frozen and their property blocked from use. The individuals named include Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, and billionaire Alisher Usmanov.

Citing data from shipping database Marine Traffic, CNBC has reported that at least four Russian billionaires began moving their superyachts toward Montenegro and the Maldives which doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S. after the U.S. and other Western countries announced a raft of sanctions against Russian oligarchs and financial institutions.

President Biden has repeatedly pledged to pursue the crimes of Russian oligarchs, including in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

"We're joining with European allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets," he said. "We are coming for your ill-begotten gains."

The following day, the U.S. Department of Justice announced "Task Force KleptoCapture," which it says will enforce sanctions and other financial measures imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, seize the assets of people who violate them and leave no stone unturned in investigating criminal acts that support Russia's aggression.

France's announcement comes a day after Forbes reported citing three yacht industry sources that German authorities in the port city of Hamburg had seized Usmanov's superyacht.

The status of the yacht is unclear.

Hamburg officials have since denied the report, with a spokesperson for its economic authority telling The Guardian that "no yachts have been confiscated." Any order to seize properties subject to sanctions would have to come from higher federal customs authorities, they added.

But when the White House announced sanctions against Usmanov and other oligarchs on Thursday, it said the superyacht which it called "one of the world's largest" had been seized by Germany. Officials said property like his yacht and private jet will be blocked from use in the U.S.

The yacht in question, named "Dilbar," measures 512 feet long and is valued at $600 million, both outlets report. It can accommodate as many as 24 guests in a dozen suites, as well as up to 96 crew members, according to luxury yacht comparison site YachtCharterFleet.

Satellite imagery obtained by CBS News shows the superyacht believed to be owned by Putin docked in Kaliningrad, a "highly militarized port in Russian territorial waters" and out of reach of U.S. sanctions.

Marine Traffic data suggests "the Graceful," Putin's alleged yacht, left Germany two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the "hacktivist" group Anonymous took credit for changing the yacht's call sign to "FKPTN" and its destination to "hell."

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France seized a yacht linked to a sanctioned Russian oligarch - NPR