Soros sees Russia emerging as global power as EU fades
Billionaire investor George Soros said on Monday he saw Russia emerging as a global power as the European Union collapses, in much the same way as the EU flourished when the Soviet Union started falling.
Soros added that he felt "more than ever" that the EU's destiny hinged on Ukraine's future, speaking in London at an event hosted by the Open Russia, a Russian opposition movement founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
A side note
The Kiev government is outraged by remarks made by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about the crucial role Russia can play in ending conflicts, and no longer believes he has any moral authority, Ukraine's U.N. envoy said on Thursday.
Ban's prepared speech for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum said Russia "has a critical role to play ... in addressing other pressing global issues, from ending the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, to safeguarding human rights and controlling the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."
The delivered version was slightly different. It did not mention Ukraine but said Moscow "has a very important role to play and I really count heavily on the leadership of the Russian Federation."
Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko told reporters he was incensed by Ban's remarks which came across as praise of Moscow, which the Kiev government and Western powers accuse of supporting separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.
"I'm completely outraged by such a statement," he said. "I don't understand how the head of the United Nations can say such things."
Yelchenko said Ban's remarks appeared "to praise the role of the Russian Federation in settling the conflict in Ukraine, when the Russian Federation is the main player (being aggressive towards) Ukraine."
He added that Ban "cannot be a provider of good offices" in the Ukraine conflict after his performance at the St. Petersburg summit, a high-profile event staged by the Kremlin to attract foreign investment.
"I don't think that he has any moral right any more to say anything about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine," Yelchenko said, noting he would deliver an official protest letter later on Thursday.
Asked about the criticism, Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric declined to comment in detail.
"The fact is ... the Russian Federation is a permanent member of the Security Council and has a critical role to play," Dujarric said. "We're not going to walk back what we said."
Russia has veto powers on the 15-nation U.N. Security Council. It denies being behind the two-year old Ukrainian conflict which erupted in the country's east after Moscow annexed Crimea.
Earlier on Thursday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker defended his decision to attend the same summit.
Western officials say there has been slow progress in carrying out a peace deal between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists.
On Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine was "barely holding" and blamed Russia for continuing violations.
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I hate using the collective "we" to take responsibility for the idiocy described above, but Western nations are mostly democracies, with governments elected by their citizens. We voted the dumbasses into office that helped make this mess, and like it or not, bear some responsibility.
I was supporting the missile defense effort during the late stages of the Soviet collapse, and watched numerous opportunities for mutual support between the U.S. and Russia sabotaged by political interests and crony capitalism. There was genuine reluctance to let go of cold war animosity, and almost an eagerness to keep the friction going. Too many people had made a fortune out of cold war budgets, and at best were stalling change until they could figure out a way to make big bucks again.
Obama thought that only by debasing ourselves could we get the respect of Russia and other hostile nations, but he failed to understand that apologies and vacant promises ring hollow. I think Putin realizes a Clinton administration will be an untrustworthy, dangerous opponent, prone to misreads and bungling that could lead to disaster.
Socialism only lasts until the other guy's money runs out, or the natural free resources are exhausted (or you cant harvest them because of bureaucratic stupidity).
Is soros taking his money and investing it is russia, I doubt it.
soros is a self proclaimed motor mouth and is of the opinion because of his wealth he can get an audience to listen to him.
russia will continue to be a broke country until capitalism is instituted and that is not going to happen anytime soon if ever.
No conscience.
A week ago it was reported that some billionaire's
Were taking short positions on S&P 500 futures.
My guess is he was hedged. Soros will continue to fund and promote his Altruistic servitude to the masses thru move on and BLM hoping for a new world order. As he manipulates freely from his yacht or castle. His common goal is for us all, to be in thrall to his UN.
Maybe they the UN is taking orders from Soros.