Russia never wants to depend on West again,
Lavrov says

LOL! I traveled all over Russia. One of the most common sights, EVERYWHERE was closed and abandoned factories. Russia makes far, far less than we do and we are making far less than we should be. Russia's economy is essentially an extractive, pre-industrial economy. Oil, gas, raw steel, gold, platinum, titanium, nickel, timber. NOT PRODUCTS made from these things, just mine the raw material, minimally process it, and ship to other places to be made into products. I saw huge barges anchored by the dozen in the Amur River in far eastern Russia, filled to overflowing with raw, bark on logs. Japanese ships would arrive every few months, load these raw logs and pay and take them to their mills to make lumber and wooden goods. This is the typical Russian economy. Their high tech stuff is a very, very thin veneer on an 18th century economy.

Russia should never trust us. We have 12 illegal biological facilities in Ukraine, because they are illegal in the U.S. Biden has weaponized the SWIFT monetary system, and woke American companies have declared war on Russia. NATO promised they would not expand upon the breakup of the Soviet Union, but have done so. The U.S. censors its own citizens, imprisons them without bail, use force and compulsion for masking and unwanted shots. The U.S. military has become an enforced leftist indoctrination center, as have our schools, and it is all under compulsion. Russia is right not to trust the U.S. I don't either.

Two words shouldn't be used in the same sentence: Trust and Russia. The only good tsar is a, uh, er, um (where was this going?)

Baloney, and Russian disinformation, #2.

For those old enough to remember what Russia and the typical Russian citizen looked like sixty plus years ago, it's hard to believe the current crop of under forty-year-old citizens of Russia would ever want to go back to their parents and grandparents Russia. Those of us old enough to remember were brought up to look at Russians as the enemy. Today, I'll bet very few people look at your typical Russian citizen as an enemy. They're people that look mostly like us. There were lines of people lined up to buy McDonald's before they closed yesterday. People old enough to remember the photos of Russians back in the 60's saw Russians lined up outside stores to buy toilet paper with empty store shelves in the background. The idea of beautiful young Russian women and men was a joke, because none of the pictures we ever saw showed anything, but people who looked and dressed like they were homeless. Propaganda probably, but not all of it. The lives of Russians today are vastly better today because of the western influence over the last fifty years. That's not going away anytime soon even if Russia wants it to.

The added problem, #5, with your accurate commentary is that when I first was in Russia the ruble was 21-23 to the dollar. By the time I last visited, about a decade later, it was 28-30 to the dollar. Last I checked, a few days ago, it was 115 rubles to the dollar, just checked again, now 141 to the dollar. So, all things that are imported into Russia and paid in rubles are going to cost about 6 times what they used to cost about 10-20 years ago. That makes things a lot more difficult for the average Russian just trying to live. Similar problems in Ukraine, not quite as severe. The hryvina was 8 per dollar when I first visited, was 40 to the dollar a year ago, and is about 30 now; amazingly, it has improved. Still, things cost almost 4 times what they did 10-20 years ago, if imported. This crushes imports.

We need more friends than enemies. If we don't lead then they do. A weak leader like Biden is at the root of our demise, and, if were not going to be strong or independent anymore, we definitely need more friends than enemies.

They won't be able to wall themselves off like a Stalinist country. North Korea is one of the few countries still isolated and is only able to do so because of its remoteness. Eventually the current system will crack, just like the old USSR did 30 years ago.

Fairly certain that's a given. Nobody in the west or sharing a border with Russia will want to deal with them. Take that hit to your economy, Russia! Russia wants the moral high ground in all of this. Don't give it to them. Don't give it anyone. Pity all the Ukrainians and Russians that have died because of all the tyrants that have no regard for life.

I think its stupid to turn Russia into a permanent enemy. Why? because we've always been at war with Eurasia? Wasn't one Cold war enough? Yes Putin is a thug but the majority of Russians probably want him gone as much as we do. He never would have consolidated his grip on power if Clinton hadn't wagged the dog and bombed Serbia in the 90s, one of the stupidest foreign policy mistakes in history. We spent the last decade convincing the Russians they would never be treated as anything but an enemy. Is it all that surprising they react like one?

Please pay attention to #2. His is very easily verifiable information.