Vladimir Iljitš Lenin once noted: “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” The past week has been such a week. Many stayed hopeful until the very end that the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine would bear fruit and that the conflict could be avoided. However, they underestimated Putin’s ambition. For those following Russia closely, it has been clear for some time now that Putin wants to re-establish a Russian hegemony. The KGB veteran now famously stated in his state of the nation address to the country’s top politicians and parliament in April 2005 that the breakup of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century. At the moment, Putin’s desire to create a new Russian Empire is fully on display and many of us can’t help but to think Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s warning at a press conference yesterday where he said: “After Ukraine — if we don’t exist, God forbid — then it will be Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Georgia, Poland. And they will keep going on until the Berlin Wall. They will continue.” From Ukrainian perspective, every day that the war continues a Grozny-style annihilation looks more and more likely as Kremlin doubles down to save face against rising discontent at home as the Western sanctions start to bite.
The pushback from the West has been enormous, both politically and privately, and the financial world has played a major role in sanctioning Russia. Many investors have announced they have pulled all their investments from the country, or will do so the first chance they get. However, some big players seem to have taken their time to join the chorus. Yesterday, the chairman and CEO of the asset management giant BlackRock, Larry Fink, finally said the firm had suspended the purchase of all Russian securities in its active and index funds after criticism that the firm was not living upIf you’re new to Tell Media Group, create an account.
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