news PayPal shuts down services in Russia

[blockhead]

March 5 (Reuters) - Payments company PayPal shut down its services early on Saturday in Russia, citing "the current circumstances," joining many financial and tech companies in suspending operations there after the invasion of Ukraine.

"Under the current circumstances, we are suspending PayPal services in Russia," President and Chief Executive Dan Schulman said in a statement. He added that the company "stands with the international community in condemning Russia's violent military aggression in Ukraine."

A company spokesperson said PayPal will support withdrawals "for a period of time, ensuring that account balances are dispersed in line with applicable laws and regulations.”

PayPal, which had only allowed cross-border transactions by users in Russia, stopped accepting new users in the country on Wednesday.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/pa...-russia-citing-ukraine-aggression-2022-03-05/

 

[bmugford]

For all the above, it'll likely be a non western power/nation/s to give diplomacy another go.

If that fails, bad news.

The only option for this to be resolved is for Russia to leave. It is not going to happen.

What is the middle ground, Ukraine just allow a puppet government? That is not going to happen voluntarily.

Russia has way too much on the line in economic damage, military losses, and prestige, etc.

You really think anything is going to make Putin just pack up and leave? It would be a massive embarrassment after the resources and costs incurred.

Brad

 

[BRANDERX]

What is the middle ground, Ukraine just allow a puppet government? That is not going to happen voluntarily.



You really think anything is going to make Putin just pack up and leave? It would be a massive embarrassment after the resources and costs incurred.

Brad

I was listening to a Chinese analyst yesterday on TV, he claims that there could be room for diplomacy, if Ukraine gives up its desire to join NATO, & if Russia gives up its desire to completely disarm Ukraine, that may be something to work with, diplomatically..

 

[bmugford]

I was listening to a Chinese diplomat yesterday on TV, he claims that there could be room for diplomacy, if Ukraine gives up it desire to join NATO, & if Russia gives up its desire to completely disarm Ukraine, that may be something to work with, diplomatically..

I would love for it to be resolved peacefully, but it is just not reality.

I am not sure why Ukraine should give up anything really.

If anything this type of action only makes joining NATO more justified. In fact the action is forcing more countries to likely join NATO (Finland, Sweden, and others)

It is clear this "special military operation" was not thought out or planned well.

Also, why should Russia be trusted with any agreement? They broke the Minsk agreement to invade Ukraine.

Brad

 

[boker]

For all the above, it'll likely be a non western power/nation/s to give diplomacy another go.

If that fails, bad news.

The war was prepared 1 year before, according to russia senators not affiliated to Putin. He made the declaration of 'special military operation' 6 days before it started, in the meantime all the westerns were travelling to Moscow for talks, but Putin decided already long before, so there is nor room for diplomacy with him.

 

[boker]

I was listening to a Chinese diplomat yesterday on TV, he claims that there could be room for diplomacy, if Ukraine gives up its desire to join NATO, & if Russia gives up its desire to completely disarm Ukraine, that may be something to work with, diplomatically..

No, Russia want's also 3 territories from Ukraine and to decide what kind of weapons they are allowed to have( so that next time to take them over even faster). What would you say if Ukraine would say that they want do decide what kind of weapons Russia it's allowed to have? Crazy, isn't it?

 

[BRANDERX]

I would love for it to be resolved peacefully, but it is just not reality.

I am not sure why Ukraine should give up anything really.

If anything this type of action only makes joining NATO more justified.

It is clear this "special military operation" was not thought out or planned well.

Also, why should Russia be trusted with any agreement? They broke the Minsk agreement to invade Ukraine.

Brad

No, Russia want's also 3 territories from Ukraine and to decide what kind of weapons they are allowed to have( so that next time to take them over even faster).

That Chinese analyst said, Russia would actually use its nuclear power to prevent it from ever becoming part of NATO. He said it's a red line for Russia..

Does Ukraine want it that bad? Is it even worth it?

 

[BRANDERX]

What would you say if Ukraine would say that they want do decide what kind of weapons Russia it's allowed to have? Crazy, isn't it?

It is crazy man, it really is. But this the world we live in.. Weaker nations don't have as much power. Would America ever allow Mexico to become nuclear?

 

[bmugford]

That Chinese diplomat said, Russia would actually use its nuclear power to prevent it from ever becoming part of NATO. He said it's a red line for Russia..

Does Ukraine want it that bad? Is it even worth it?

The truth is if Putin wants to start a nuclear war, he can launch a missile. I hope it is as poorly maintained as the rest of their equipment.

The rest of the world's redline is we are not letting a dictator take a foreign country by force, slaughter civilians, and install a puppet government. So I guess we are at a standstill.

The truth is nukes are about the only reason Russia is even relevant on the world stage. Their GDP is 1.5T, 11th in the world. It is barely higher than countries like Mexico and Spain. (That GDP is also before the sanctions. It will be a fraction of that going forward).

Brad

 

[boker]

That Chinese diplomat said, Russia would actually use its nuclear power to prevent it from ever becoming part of NATO. He said it's a red line for Russia..

Does Ukraine want it that bad? Is it even worth it?

No they will not use it, Russia will be one of the most affected country, in case of a nuclear conflict, the temperature would drop on average by 12 C degrees, most of Russia would be under ice almost all year and people would die of hunger in the first two years, without even getting directly hit, so everybody knows that they will not do it.

 

[BRANDERX]

No they will not use it, Russia will be one of the most affected country, in case of a nuclear conflict, the temperature would drop on average by 12 C degrees, most of Russia would be under ice almost all year and people would die of hunger in the first two years, without even getting directly hit, so everybody knows that they will not do it.

I would advise against getting into such details, what you say could be completely false. Everybody does NOT know they will not do it..

Let's not talk nuclear details like that. We don't know..

 

[boker]

It is crazy man, it really is. But this the world we live in.. Weaker nations don't have as much power. Would America ever allow Mexico to become nuclear?

I never agreed that one country, who already has a weapon, to have the same weapon. Also, I don't think the will ever start a nuclear war, neither Russia or US, because not everybody is crazy. I don't think that Putin decides completely by itself, there are other generals waiting to take his place.

 

[bmugford]

I would advise against getting into such details, what you say could be completely false. Everybody does NOT know they will not do it..

Let's not talk nuclear details like that. We don't know..

I don't know anything about Russia's launch procedures, but hopefully there are safety protocols in place to block the actions of a mad man.

Would a leader who is embarrassed with no exit plan and a collapsed economy consider launching a nuke to protect his ego...maybe.

It is kind of like a kid who would rather destroy a toy than see someone else have it. If he can't have it, everyone has to suffer. Mutual assured destruction does not work if any one party with power is a nihilist.

Brad

 

[boker]

I would advise against getting into such details, what you say could be completely false. Everybody does NOT know they will not do it..

Let's not talk nuclear details like that. We don't know..

I'm just saying that all nuclear countries will loose almost everything, equatorial countries will be the safest, so the probability is very very small. Try to imagine russian generals giving the orders and a few other tens of russian soldiers following it, knowing that they will die if the are doing it.

 

[BRANDERX]

The rest of the world's redline is we are not letting a dictator take a foreign country by force, slaughter civilians, and install a puppet government. So I guess we are at a standstill.



Brad

I don't know about that, Brad.

China, India(largest democracy), both massive powers, & other nations, are not shunning Russia like the west is..

I'm just saying, it remains to be seen, what is acceptable to the unjust world.

 

[bmugford]

I don't know about that, Brad.

China, India(largest democracy), both massive powers, & other nations, are not shunning Russia like the west is..

I'm just saying, it remains to be seen, what is acceptable to the unjust world.

China is a growing super power. They don't want to rock the boat.
If they had their eyes on a takeover of Taiwan, I think they probably learned a valuable lesson here.

Brad

 

[boker]

I don't know about that, Brad.

China, India(largest democracy), both massive powers, & other nations, are not shunning Russia like the west is..

I'm just saying, it remains to be seen, what is acceptable to the unjust world.

They have also said that they don't agree with him, in UN assembly, but they want to protect their relations, it's not about fair or not.

 

[BRANDERX]

They have also said that they don't agree with him, in UN assembly, but they want to protect their relations, it's not about fair or not.

Yes & no, actually China said it understood Russia's concerns on NATO expansion. but talk is cheap. Are they applying any pressure to persuade him to stop? I know that China requested to postpone the invasion till after the winter Olympics. Which is ridiculous. But I don't know of any other attempts.

 

[BRANDERX]

Just to be clear, it wasn't a Chinese diplomat I was listening to (NOT a Chinese official), but the head of a Chinese political center, probably non governmental.

 

[wot]

If, as suspected, Putin has already lost the plot then going nuclear is not such an unlikely step for him. He has already lost enormous face and credibility due to the unexpected resistance of the Ukrainians and his armies failure to date. I believe the Russians also favour a "first strike" scenario.

Scary times, good luck Ukraine, good luck world.

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[DmitrySV]

I believe the Russians also favour a "first strike" scenario.

The actual absence of sanctions held back Putin, but now his hands are more untied.

 

[boker]

If, as suspected, Putin has already lost the plot then going nuclear is not such an unlikely step for him. He has already lost enormous face and credibility due to the unexpected resistance of the Ukrainians and his armies failure to date. I believe the Russians also favour a "first strike" scenario.

Scary times, good luck Ukraine, good luck world.

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Doesn't matter, because there is no magical button, do deploy 2000 warheads at once, in 27 military bases across Russia, probably at least a few hundreds peoples involved( generals, military base commands and some soldiers), so every one of them must be crazy, knowing they and their family will die because of this. It's like talking about an asteroid will wipe off the earth. It's possible, but very, very unprobable. It's more probable for Russia to give up in Ukraine, somebody to make Putin disappear, US to let Ukraine go, for Russia to fill for bankruptcy.

 

[boker]

Yes & no, actually China said it understood Russia's concerns on NATO expansion. but talk is cheap. Are they applying any pressure to persuade him to stop? I know that China requested to postpone the invasion till after the winter Olympics. Which is ridiculous. But I don't know of any other attempts.

Two of the China state banks refused to deal with payments for russian oil and gas and one adviser from Kremlin was saying that they have tried to strengthen the economic relations with China a few times but the issue was always that Russia economy is to small to count very much for China, they hunt the big western players.

 

[bmugford]

Two of the China state banks refused to deal with payments for russian oil and gas and one adviser from Kremlin was saying that they have tried to strengthen the economic relations with China a few times but the issue was always that Russia economy is to small to count very much for China, they hunt the big western players.

Yep, pre-sanction GDP of 1.6T. That is clearly going to collapse.

For reference purposes -

US - 22.9T
China - 16.8T
Germany - 5.1T
Japan - 4.2T

 

[boker]

Yep, pre-sanction GDP of 1.6T. That is clearly going to collapse.

For reference purposes -

US - 22.9T
China - 16.8T
Germany - 5.1T
Japan - 4.2T

Even China, India and smaller countries would be cornered to choose more trades with the west or more with Russia, lot's of trade agreements will be pushed forward. The smart player here is China, who is waiting to blackmail the west for better trade agreements and to drop Russia.

 

[BRANDERX]

The truth is nukes are about the only reason Russia is even relevant on the world stage.

Brad

Perhaps politically. Putting all this aside for a moment, there's a lot to like about Russia, from culture, to nature, to Russians actually being very interesting people. I made good friends from college days(in Europe), we now lost touch but I hope they are all well.