Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, the state statistics agency Rosstat said in a preliminary report published on Friday.

According to the estimates, Russia saw robust growth in retail turnover (up 10.5%), manufacturing (up 8.8%) and construction (3.5%) in January-March.

The Rosstat data aligns with an earlier estimate from the Economics Ministry, but exceeds that of the Bank of Russia (4.6% growth) and analysts’ expectations (5.3%). The agency is due to publish more detailed data on GDP in mid-June.

According to an earlier forecast from the Bank of Russia, GDP growth is expected to slow in the second quarter due to tightening fiscal conditions. The regulator, however, expects consumer and investment demand to remain high and continue to drive economic growth.

The positive data comes despite multiple rounds of Western sanctions introduced since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.

The measures have ranged from blacklisting most Russian banks and cutting them from the SWIFT interbank messaging system, to freezing some $300 billion in Russian foreign exchange reserves.

As a result, GDP suffered a downturn in 2022, contracting 1.2%. However, data for 2023 showed that the economy has recovered, posting growth of 3.6%. Many analysts have attributed this performance to Russia’s trade pivot to the East, and economic policies implemented to offset the effect of restrictions.

In April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it expects the Russian economy to grow faster than all advanced economies in 2024. GDP is forecast to expand by 3.2%, exceeding the expected growth rates for the US (2.7%), the UK (0.5%), Germany (0.2%) and France (0.7%).

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov earlier said he expects GDP growth in 2024 to equal that of last year, while the Bank of Russia has been more cautious in its predictions, expecting growth of 2.5-3.5%.

https://www.rt.com/business/597842-russia-economy-growth-quarter/

MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT HITS THE FAN:

NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN.

THESE WILL ALSO INCLUDE ODESSA, KHERSON AND KHARKIV.....

CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

TRANSNISTRIA WILL BE PART OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE USA.

EASY.

THE WEST KNOWS IT.

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The conflict between Moscow and Kiev should end with the defeat and breakup of the Russian Federation, Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has proposed.

Kallas made the suggestion on Saturday during a debate in the country’s capital, Tallinn, at an annual event dedicated to her country's first post-soviet president.

"Russia’s defeat is not a bad thing because then you know there could really be a change in society,” the prime minister told the 17th Lennart Meri Conference.

The Russian Federation is comprised of “many different nations” and suggested that they should become separate states after the end of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, she argued.

"I think if you would have more like small nations... it is not a bad thing if the big power is actually [made] much smaller,” Kallas said.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation describes the polity as a multinational state. According to the 2020-2021 census, the country’s population speaks 155 different languages, with Russian being the most common.

https://www.rt.com/russia/597979-estonia-ukraine-nato-eu/

Ukraine’s request for permission to use foreign-made long-range weapons against Russia is proof that Kiev has gone into full panic mode as Moscow’s troops continue to advance, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky admitted that Kiev had found itself in a “most difficult”situation on the front line due to a Russian offensive in the border Kharkov Region. He also lamented delays in Western assistance and the lack of authorization to use Western weapons against targets on Russian territory.

“We are negotiating with partners so that we can use their weapons against buildups of Russian equipment on the border and even [on] their territory… So far, there is nothing positive,” the Ukrainian leader said.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Peskov noted that the authorities in Kiev and Zelensky himself “have been making many statements in recent days, sometimes in fact slipping into hysteria. This is due to the extremely unfavorable frontline situation of the forces of the Kiev regime.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/597993-zelensky-hysterical-ukraine-loses/

The EU has agreed to use the proceeds from Russian assets that the bloc has frozen to aid Ukraine, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky has said. The annual revenue from these funds is expected to be around $3 billion.

After the start of Moscow’s military campaign against Kiev in February 2022, Western states blocked around $300 billion in Russian state assets, the bulk of which is concentrated in EU countries. Moscow has denounced this latest move as “theft” and has warned of retaliation if the funds are seized or used in any way to help Ukraine.

Western officials have floated various ideas for using the funds, ranging from outright seizure to using them as collateral to secure loans for Kiev. Another idea was to use profits from Russian assets to support Ukraine’s procurement of weapons.

Writing on on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, Lipavsky said that 90% of the proceeds from the frozen Russian funds “will go to military support” of Ukraine, in line with a proposal by EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell in March. He added that “for this year alone, it can be up to 74 billion Czech crowns ($3.5 billion).”

https://www.rt.com/russia/597976-frozen-assets-eu-russian-ukraine/

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky believes his generals are hiding the truth from him and has taken to shouting at them, The Economist has claimed, citing a government source.

Purported fits of presidential rage were mentioned in a Monday report on the situation in Kharkov Region, where Russian forces have gained significant ground over the last month. According to the British newsweekly, Ukrainian troops deployed there are angry at the development and have competing theories about the causes.

Some blame the US and its allies for insufficient and untimely aid, not unlike Zelensky himself, while others “suspect that incompetence, or even treachery, played a more significant role.” There are also “conspiracy theories” about politicians in Kiev and Washington conspiring to sell the territory “down the river ahead of an ugly peace deal.”

Denis Yaroslavsky, a local commander who made national headlines for complaining that fortifications that were supposed to prevent Russian advances did not really exist, told The Economist that Zelensky “is being kept in a warm bath” – that is, being told comforting lies by his aides.

The Economist's anonymous government source said the president has been clashing with Ukrainian generals after allegedly sensing that he was not getting the whole truth about the frontline situation.

https://www.rt.com/russia/597968-zelensky-yells-generals-economist/

Troops of Russia’s Southern Military District launched the first stage of recently announced tactical nuclear drills on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has confirmed.

When announcing the drills a week previously, the ministry explained that the exercise is designed to serve as a deterrent amid continued escalation between Russia and the West, by demonstrating Moscow’s ability to respond to any external threats.

It will involve delivery of nuclear weapons to troops from storage sites, arming tactical nuclear missiles, and preparation of missile launches, Moscow announced in a statement on Telegram.

The troops will be using the Iskander-M systems, which can fire 9M723-1 ballistic missiles or 9M728 cruise missiles, both of which can carry tactical nuclear warheads with yields between five and 50 kilotons.

The Southern Military District forces will also practice covert deployment operations using the systems, as part of launch-preparation drills, according to the military.

https://www.rt.com/russia/598001-russia-tactical-nuclear-drills/

MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT HITS THE FAN:

NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN.

THESE WILL ALSO INCLUDE ODESSA, KHERSON AND KHARKIV.....

CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

TRANSNISTRIA WILL BE PART OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE USA.

EASY.

THE WEST KNOWS IT.

READ FROM TOP

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW....

There must be a chapter in future history books about how the mainstream media has hypnotized the Western public in regard to President Vladimir Putin. He must surely be the most vilified man since Adolph Hitler. Everywhere among well-educated and informed people I find no room at all for the argument that he is a rational and, for a politician, basically honest man. Even his obvious intelligence — just read his articulate talk about the Ukrainian constitution and Zelensky’s shallow claim to an extended presidency — makes little impression on anyone east of Belorussia; on the rare occasion that anyone admits the he has brains, despair quickly follows, for this intellect, one is told, is only put to evil uses.

He invaded Ukraine. Try making the argument that he signed two agreements with Ukraine trying to avoid a war, and your listener quickly scowls. Report that, just two months into the conflict he nearly signed a peace deal with Ukraine, and a sort of amused doubt shadows the face of the listener. Such is the advantage of controlling the MSM message: any information from other sources is immediately suspect.

He gobbles up territory. He didn’t hesitate to swallow Crimea, did he? Well, he did hesitate long enough for the locals to vote massively to join Russia, but more pertinently, he wanted to keep Russia’s only warm-water naval base there, a point Americans and Brits can certainly understand: just ask the folks who were expelled from Diego Garcia. And in the just-mentioned nearly-signed peace deal, Donetsk and Lugansk would have remained in Ukraine. Clearly, Putin is not interested in gaining territory.

But by now your interlocutor has turned blue listening to so much history. At best, he or she will be skeptical: CNN never mentioned that.

He is a liar. Didn’t he lie about not invading Ukraine, and then invade a few days later? Well, that’s true, but to say that your troops are going to make a surprise invasion next Thursday spoils the fun. The fact that it is the West that has lied to Putin never enters the conversation. As he correctly tells it:

“They first provoked us in the Donbas, led us by the nose for eight years, deceived us that they were supposedly going to resolve the issue peacefully, and forced us to make attempts to bring the situation to peace by armed means. Then they deceived us during the negotiation process, decided that they would defeat Russia on the battlefield, inflict a strategic defeat on it. Then we warned them: do not enter our territory, do not fire at Belgorod and other adjacent territories, otherwise we will have to create a security zone.

“Watch all the reports of your Western colleagues. After all, no one is talking about the shelling of Belgorod and other adjacent territories, everyone is talking only about the fact that Russia has opened a new front, attacking Kharkiv. Not a word. What causes this? They did it with their own hands. Well, then they reap the fruits of their creativity. The same thing can happen in the case of the use of high-precision long-range weapons that you asked about.”

It seems that the West in general has reaped the fruits of the media’s creativity. It is really an accomplishment to make people think that they are getting all the relevant information about an issue when they are really just getting one side of it. On network television, when two or three experts are brought in to discuss a foreign-policy issue, the differences of opinion are mere nuances — but viewers get the impression that the relevant sides of the debate have been represented. Let’s hear it for democracy.

This deception is similar to that of futuristic sci-fi movies, which always add just enough recognizable elements for their audience to latch onto the story. So the shooter blasting his foe with a 25th-century laser (or whatever) pulls an 18th-century trigger with his forefinger. A Star Trek captain plops down in a thick-cushioned executive armchair on the bridge (I thought there’s no gravity out in space — or has that changed?), and his evil opponent sits on an ornate throne just as French kings did centuries ago.

And so it is with Putin. He has never mastered the art of the sound bite, and in translation, sounds like a dour librarian. He says, “They should keep in mind that theirs are small and densely populated countries, which is a factor to reckon with before they start talking about striking deep into the Russian territory.” The media simply writes this up as another nuclear threat, wringing their journalistic hands over the part about “small and densely populated countries” — which makes a great headline. More to the point: it reinforces the narrative built up around Putin. So when a heretic like me says that Putin is being provoked, that he is only reacting to Western attacks — and with great restraint — the reaction is annoyed denial. People hate hearing their basic beliefs violated.

Neither do the elites like it; they end up believing their own rhetoric. Here is Peter Dickinson of the Atlantic Council, who argues that Putin isn’t serious about holding the Ukrainian land taken by Russian forces or about his veiled warnings regarding a sharp response to provocations: “Meanwhile, the multiple retreats from ‘historically Russian land’ conducted by Putin’s invading army since 2022 suggest that the chances of a nuclear apocalypse have been wildly exaggerated. This should help Kyiv’s Western partners overcome their self-defeating fear of escalation, and encourage them to finally provide Ukraine with the tools, along with the free hand, to finish the job of defeating Russia.”

Does the expression, “famous last words” occur to anyone else?

As Alistair Crooke has often observed, American elites have not updated their vision of the world. He writes, “The problem with the western solutions to any geo-political problem is that they invariably comprise more of the same.” America still sends aircraft carriers to show its strength, regardless of their new status as sitting ducks on the open water. It bombs Houthis regardless of the futility of the act. It throw more money and arms into the breach in Ukraine, when talks with Russia would be far more fruitful. And its commitment to Israel remains “ironclad,” though it is itself in danger of finding itself in the dock at the ICC alongside its friend.

Putin is clearly very serious about hitting back at NATO. But mainstream-media writers figure that people in Peoria don’t need more worries. Nor do they need to know that America and NATO are attacking Russia, and in ways that have nothing whatever to do with the war. The mainstream media never move their audience outside their comfort zone. Better that they think that, like Hamas in Gaza, Putin invades, kills and bombs because he has nothing better to do.

Ron Unz, on this page,recently floated the idea of a telegraphed bombing of NATO headquarters in Brussels: some 48 hours of advance warning given. Would that knock European and American audience out of their trance long enough to see the reality of a powerful, capable Russia that defends itself? Or would those mainstream anchorjockeys spin it as proof of the same old same-old? That is, the rising threat of Putin, the need for Europeans to spend ever more on defense, Putin’s intention to invade east Europe, etc.

Maybe. It would all depend on Putin’s ability to frame the attack as a response to NATO attacks on Russia from Ukrainian soil; the public must see it as defense, not offense. Otherwise the gesture would be a PR debacle for Russia, and probably lead to consequences they haven’t anticipated.

Whatever gesture he makes, Putin should not count on any change in perceptions of him or of Russia: western countries live under a deep hypnosis, and it is unlikely to accommodate more than the most modest alterations. Those slick MSM writers are far more agile with a phrase than Putin is.

https://www.unz.com/article/change-perceptions-of-putin-and-russia-dont-count-on-it/

METHINKS THAT PUTIN WOUOLD PREFER TO BE UNDERSTOOD THAN LOVED BY THE WEST. BUT HE IS STEERING RUSSIA ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY, WHILE THE WEST IS DUNKING ITSELF IN THE TOILET BOWL OF SEWERDOM. HISTORY AS WRITTEN BY THE WEST WILL MANAGE TO CARRY ITS VILIFICATION, ETC...HISTORY WRITTEN BY THE REAL FUTURE WILL DEMAND OUR THANKS FOR PUTIN, LIKE WE SHOULD THANK THE RUSSIANS FOR HAVING "DEFEATED" HITLER IN 1945... DESPITE THE REWRITING OF HISTORY BY THE PENTAGONIAN FICTION WRITERS....

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