Quote Originally Posted by A Quiet Monkfish View Post
Everyone says 'stand up' to Putin, 'be firm', but the harsh reality is that cutting off wealthy Russians from their foreign wealth & assets wouldn't bother Putin 1 bit. Also the pipeline is crucial to Germany and if it is stopped/cut off, Putin has now even bigger markets in China for his gas. And China is the key. There's a 100 years of pent up resentment against the West and China is now in a position to throw it's weight around in a more public, direct manner. Depending on the West's response to any invasion of Ukraine, China will judge when and how to do the same to Taiwan. And because of China, Russia wouldn't invade Ukraine until after the end of the winter olympics, ie Wednesday.
Of course it will affect Putin. Much of the wealth held by him and his acolytes are tied up accounts and property in the west. They don't keep their wealth tied up in Roubles.