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March 22: because of the shock of Russia invading Ukraine and the uncertainty it produced, ruble holders unloaded rubles. Bank of Russia stepped in, raised interest rate to 20% as an emergency measure, started buying rubles. GDP may grow 2% in 2025. It does not produce wealth, though making...

Ti Time to let Ukraine hit military targets in Russia, isn't it? Russia's weapons suppliers North Korea and Iran do not dictate that their weapons are only used against occupied Russia (Kursk), not against Ukraine.

Interesting to read that the Bank of Russia is using an exchange rate of $1 = 103.79 rubles today when the rest of the world is using 105+. Anyone going to buy rubles from Russia when they can buy cheaper in the free market? Just checked, $1 = 105.777 rubles right now. The ruble in your pocket...

On the battlefront Ukraine continues losing ground day by day. On the economic front Russia continues losing ground day by day. Both sides are losing.

What I read from official Turkish sources is that 20 KAAN will be delivered in 2028. For that to be possible, does Turkiye not have to organise engines for them soon? If F110 use in KAAN could be denied, the sooner that is revealed, the sooner that Turkiye can decide on its strategy for KAAN if...

I don't think that any Superjets have got Russian engines. They had Powerjet 146 engines (Snecma-NPO Saturn development), so French/Russian. I think they parted company years before Ukraine was attacked. IIRC failure to support the engine with spares etc led to first/early export customer...

Putin said Russia planned to produce 1,000 airliners by 2030, not by 2035. https://tass.com/economy/1721103 PS I read quite a lot in the article about the different types to be manufactured but missed the estimate of how long the western types would last in service.

Thanks for the update. I don't have time to check right now, so what follows is from memory mostly I am sure some airliners will be produced soon in Russia. Why were the modern designs vulnerable to sanctions? Basically they incorporated many western elements/systems since they were much higher...

A bit of economics info Transport sector Russian airlines grounding nationalised western airliners... https://www.eurasiantimes.com/nearly-50-of-russias-airbus-a320-a321/ One way to fix the problem: produce more airliners...

I don't know what ToT RR would agree to. How much is required to make TF35000 sufficiently good to be acceptable? A lot? A little? Naive enquiry, I know. RR is involved with the GCAP engine. I imagine that RR has had the sort of materials/technologies necessary to make a modestly advanced...

Sorry, my mistake. I meant an aircraft to be used by Turkish air force that did not use US components whose supply could be blocked by US. Are there any European, Russian or Chinese engines that could be used to replace F110 without redesigning KAAN?

Could a NATO member be 'thrown under the bus' by the west as happened to Poland in the past? Perhaps you are not talking of being defended if attacked?

If Turkiye has a high degree of confidence that it can produce a viable engine for KAAN eventually (of which I have no idea), why not just bite the bullet and procure or assemble a non-US, ITAR-free interim fighter? That would cover for KAAN with TF35000 not being available until the 2040's. Not...

I am ignorant about Georgia but I agree that it was a massive mistake of the west not to respond strongly to the takeover of Crimea and the Donbass. The unknown quantity to me is Trump. If the US were to raise and continue support for Ukraine, I think that Russia would bury itself...

Putin has just said that I am now fair game to be attacked because UK-built Storm Shadows were used to strike Kursk. Perhaps Ukraine should threaten to strike Iran and North Korea because their weapons are used against Ukrainian soil? I shall now contact my political representative to ask him...

I lost track. Did the EU produce the million shells they said they were going to produce in a year to ship to Ukraine? I thought China was being very careful to avoid getting sanctioned due to involvement with arms supply to Russia. I guess the US must be China's biggest export customer for...

Russia GDP around $2 trillion Iran GDP around $500 billion North Korea GDP around $30 billion Actually, nowhere near $4 trillion. I did not check, just gave a generous number with a question mark. My point is that GDP of Ukraine + allies is vastly greater than GDP of Russia + allies.

Obviously when I write 'Russia + allies' I do not think Russia is alone.

Long range missile attacks on Moscow: extremely unlikely to provoke a nuclear response IMO. I can imagine Putin thinking about detonating a low yield nuclear device - somewhere where it does no damage, like over the Arctic ocean - as a demonstration that he is prepared to escalate to nuclear...

Putin has laid down many lines that cannot be crossed, backed by threats of going nuclear if they are. Many, if not all, have been crossed. I suggested only that Ukraine strike military assets in Russia and assets used to produce weapons and ammunition. I did not suggest firing missiles at...