The US Treasury Department has announced a new round of sanctions being imposed against targets inside Russia, mostly related to investments in a successful and profitable hotel and resort on the Crimean Peninsula.
US officials are saying they will sanction all who profit from the annexation of Crimea. Crimea was struggling as a semi-autonomous part of Ukraine, and even though infrastructure work is still underway to connect Crimea to Russia, the Black Sea coast is an attractive tourist destination for Russians, and Crimea has a lot of coastline.
Those listed in this latest flurry of sanctions were tied to the Mriya Resort and Spa in the southern Crimean city of Yalta. The high-end hotel location is being funded by Sberbank, one of Russia’s major banks.
This is just the continuation of a long string of US sanctions against Russia on increasingly flimsy pretexts. While the US has threatened to sanction anyone making a profit in Crimea, it still seems scarcely worth the Treasury Department’s time to track down every nice hotel on the Crimean Peninsula to punish investors.
One more way to strengthen Russia’s economy and strengthen the non-Soros alliance.
Crimea is a part of Russia, and there is no point in pretending the Nazi Democratic Republic (!) set up with USA’s removal of the elected government in 2014 is worth supporting for any reason except spite. Putin worked for four years with the pro-Western Ukraine gov’t from 2010, but once a pro- Russian government was elected, it had to go (thanks Victoria Nuland-f**** the EU).
Not only is Crimea are beautiful holiday destination for Russians, it also accepts lots of others, even Ukrainians enjoy visiting. It is worth seeing the online movie “Crimea-the way back home” for those not afraid to get a different point of view from Reuters and US MSMs.
It is mostly about the control of the Black Sea. When the Crimea was still part of Ukraine Russia’s Black Sea borders, which in Soviet time had been approximately 1/3rd of all borders, had been reduced to less than 1/4th after the demise of the Soviet Union. When NATO came into being it had no access to any of the Black Sea ports. Today NATO controls the borders of Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania. It tried but failed to get Georgia. Adding Ukraine would make Russia a minor Black Sea power. It is all a dangerous chess game. The new US move is not one of a chess master but of a beginner who sacrifices a pawn, a move which nobody understands. Just for the heck of it?
PS The Baltic is already essentially a NATO sea when the Baltic states became NATO members. It is the ageless game of surrounding a potential enemy.
Exactly. It is however very questionable if US understands hiw Roman empire style of colonial control and naval power will bring any good to us in the age of global communicatiins and technoligies that threaten our existence. A recent movue, savaged by critics, made the point scary simple. Yet, packaging it in a pleasant, military style action movie it won the hearts of thise who actually braved the crirics to see it. It is about a submarine world — a place where cinfluct will most likely hapoen and start a war machine before we can grasp what really caused it. A shbmarine class hunter killer has gone in search of a missing submarine, in Russian Barenrs Sea, where the subs were playing cat and mouse games. From then on, as serious implications develop — the movie makes a point that only human beings thrust into such situations can tap into their experience and apply judgement that does not divide oeople on them and us — just a commin survival. And in spite of a feel good military format, its messages are scary. Its seemingly hapoy ending is put in question by sub commander who wants to breathe some fresh air and enjoy the day, before going under — not knowing hiw the wirkdvwill look like when coming to surface again. The symbolism does not end there. At the beginning the happy cat and mouse games gone wrong is then replaced by stunning Scittish highlands, and US nuclear subs in its small village. The symbology certainly not accidental in the face of Scottish jndependence goal of nuclear free Scotland. The fact not liost on the Scottish actor and producer. But the venom directed at the movie is due to the fact that the SEALS mission would not have been possibke without Russian soecial ops who takes them into the coup den to rescue the president. Nor would SEALS get away without his rear guard sacrifice. Nor will the sub make it past the mined fjord, had not a Russian sub commander pilot the sub through. And in the very end — fate of American sub would have been sealed had it not been by the Russian destroyer firing iff its mussile defence. Too much cooperation of people under fire and in trying curcumstances — not politically correct for the Anerican neocon universe today.
Thus movie was savaged by Hollywood types and the attendance affected. Yet, when dust settles this will prove to be a work of art — unassuming, made to please and entertain audiences, while without preaching coneys common humanity message. And how fragile it is. The message understood by heart not pure reason.
And how sttupid and nerdy leadership assumes its own superiority and claim its right to control other people’s beaches, seas and skies. As if no harm can ever come from it. Let us just hope there is some wisdom left in the sea of arrigant nerdiness that passes for leadership today.
I wholeheartedly agree, Rosemerry, Crimea’s been a part of Russia since Catherine the Great ruled, The only time Crimea was taken away was when Nikita Khrushchev (Ukrainian born) assumed leadership of the USSR and held a dinner party with many of his Bolshevik friends. It was during these festivities that the then drunken Premier handed Crimea over to Soviet Ukraine, and the people hated it.
It took 60 YEARS of struggle before Crimea’s electorate succeeded in seceding from Ukraine and rejoining Russia in a referendum wherein 97% of the electorate voted to rejoin Russia. Anyone who says Russia annexed Crimea is either ignorant of the region’s history or is a liar. The ignorant ones need to study Russian history, especially from the time Catherine the Great ruled the country to today; and as for the liars, they can stew in their lies all they want, but the truth about Crimea’s reunion remains.
Liars such as Victoria (F the EU) Nudelman, et. al., simply cannot handle the truth, they’d rather live in their own little fantasy world ,, However, they’re mortal, just like the rest of us, and Karma will hit them hard eventually.
It was Russian way before that. When Rusians accepted Christianity it was in Crimea. In 9th century. Russian prince Vladimir was surrounded by his people on Crimea, not Tatars or Ukranuans. Kiev was Russian capital until Mongol invasion, when was relocated to Moscow. The Mongol rule, suplwnted by Tatar rule, and then Ottomans. During all the periods of foreign occupation — slave trade made the wealth of many. I recommend searching Wikipedia for infirmation on slave capture routes, slave trade out of Crimea, as well as the ruse of Venice and Genoa on the backs of slave galleys, and rise of banking in Venice where the slave trading families kept their money. And the entire industry of slavery and the very word “slave” became known by the ethnicity iof its Slavic victims. One liberated slave founded Kosack self defence to disrupt slave capture routes and fight slave raids.
Name Ukraine originates from the period of Mongol invasion and onwards where a a westernmost part of Ukraine (Galicia) with its center in Lviv, became known as Ukraine, or Borderlands. Poland occupied the territory to have a buffer zone — be that Tatars or Ottomans. But Poland later cut the deal with Tatars in irder to orevent Russia from liberating its lands. Gradually, in order to deny Russian identity in those vast spaces east of Galicia — and dreading the fall of Ottomans, Poland and others led a campaign for declaring the entire former Russian territory — Ukraine. Until the coup in 2014 majority of Ukrainians (80%) spoke Russian as their mother tongue. The official language today — Ukrainian was historically the language of Polish occupjed Galicia, and is a mux of Russian and Polish. However, ever since selarating from Soviet Union, Ukrainian was promoted as a form of national identity and distinction, and became favored in media. Gradually in givernment jobs, and after 2014 became compulsory. But most rural areas as well as areas more recently populated by ethnic Russians, did not care about change — until it became clear that the wholesale forced cultural change was a serious threat. Today, besides Donetsk and Lughansk, there are 4-6 other regions that would happily leave Ukraine. In thise regions, cultural tyranny today is massive. Like over Odessa, Kharkov, Dnyepropetrovsk, etc. But these are all very much forbidden subjects in Western press. And history of that entire region twisted and turned into a political narratives. But why blame spineless media or historians. When they must do the work not in our national interest but in the name of moneyied class that decides to weigh the demands of our nation versus the demands of their picketbook.
I am totally bewildered. Why is this necessary? The “Anschluss” of Crimea was done by Russia (read Putin) to prevent it from becoming an enemy land-based aircraft/drone carrier. That is analogous to why we chased the Spanish out of Cuba. Perhaps Justin can tell us in his next paper.
USA should be sanctioned for profiting on the Hawaii Islands, as they surely are our Crimea!
Don’t the Hawaiians just love being subjugated?
Thor, you should have asked them 120 years ago!!!
We’re scrapping the bottom of our sanctions barrel. Next up: Sanctions on anybody buying Russian salad dressing.
I was scraping the bottom of the bottle last night
Though I don’t remember whether it was salad dressing or vodka
Crimea is never going back to Ukraine. It just isn’t. There is nothing we could possibly do to change that.
Get real. This is just making trouble for the sake of trouble.
That is Hillary’s game, to back her 2020 run against Trump, with excuses that The Russians Did It.
The stupid Russia sanctions law, which allows Treasury to do foreign affairs, and why not because the Pentagon does it, passed almost unanimously in the Congress, and now as the politics has shifted in Washington we can expect more Russophobia along with more preparations (only) for war in Europe. Russia, like Iran, is making the US look bad so they must be made an enemy* and punished, plus Europe must be kept down.
*I was going to say “enemized” but I learned that it means “administered an enema” which actually might work.
What makes this move totally senseless is that there doesn’t even seem to be a way in which an (connected) American corporation stands to make a buck off of it. – It would at least make sense if there was a competing Marriott property in Crimea. I always thought that most American foreign strategic moves were because someone was going to profit – this is senseless.
Laughable.
The only good thing I can say about these kinds of childish and false “virtue signaling” sanctions is that however bad they are, they are far better than any kind of boycott or embargo enforced by military acts.
So they make Statists feel better about unleashing this obscure facet of State Power against vaguely defined enemies for doing things some vocal statist faction believes merits punishment. No trial or evidence is needed.
Ukraine isn’t and hasn’t been a NATO “ally” and their illegitimate “government” at the time of the Crimean takeover (based in part, in addition to history, on huge and growing unpaid fuel bills owed to Russia) had no treaty with the US obligating us to defend what it claimed was its territory. Those borders were created under the USSR to mollify Ukrainians after Stalin died to smooth over memories of the 1930s Holodomor genocide under Stalin. Why would the US government regard those boundaries as sacred? The US State Department actively supported breakaway South Sudan and East Timor, just to name a couple. So these sanctions are just another means to revive the Cold War.
I submit that the real translation of Crimea is CRIMETOWN. That’s where all the Slavic slavery was centered.
The US finds a new way to stoop to a lower level of the absurd.
This article was linked to Russian Insider by the writer with a different headline
“Russia on Its Knees as US Treasury Issues Sanctions Against ‘Mriya Resort and Spa’ in Yalta, Crimea
Oh my!”
Russia on its Knees????? over this small potato.
I guess the writer wanted to make a statement on a Russian site.
https://russia-insider.com/en/russia-its-knees-us-treasury-issues-sanctions-against-mriya-resort-and-spa-yalta-crimea/ri25336#comment-4190412644