Russia and Ukraine flashpoint

[Bofferbrauer2]

shavenferret said:

Putin has announced the creation of a project to use large submarines as a way to transport liquefied natural gas and it's hilarious. So, Russia is probably doing this because they have had several transport ships inadvertently catch a fire or become incapacitated. But the solution is pretty bad as well. The delivery won't be as cheap as it once was because they can stack those cargo ships several stories high. Contrast that to a cramped submarine. This war makes evil putin do some desperate things

I think the real reason is to circumvent sanctions by making the transports harder to trace and follow, and potentially even docking at the oil port while submerged, thus allowing the russian-oil-buying nation some amount of discretion.

Btw, it's not the first time something like this has been tried. During WW1, Germany was under a severe marine blockade by the Royal Navy, and they couldn't manage to go through it - just under it with their U-boats. So they also developed a sub that could be used for freight transportation, but only two of them being built before the US entered the war they had very little effect on the war.

Edit: Just found out that there's absolutely nothing new about this in terms of Russian plans. In fact the Malakit design Bureau already advocated for the development of such merchant submarines since the early 1990's. The reasoning is because the oil fields are close to the arctic sea, and that one is frozen shut most of the year - but a submarine could travel below the ice shelf to reach it's destination, which would make much more sense than building a giant pipeline through the country from the Urals all the way to Vladivostok to be able to ship their oil all year long. Later suggestions even went with transforming the Typhoon attack submarines in merchant submarines and even just before the war started, there were plans floating (pun not intended) about building LNG-transporting submarines, which if realised would have become the biggest submarines ever in existence.

Also, the US had plans from the 70's onwards to cross under the arctic sea, though on a more modest scale - hence why it didn't really go somewhere.

Ryuu96 said:

Ukraine and the US have signed an agreement to create a Reconstruction Investment Fund. The fund will be based on 50/50 partnership, ensuring full Ukrainian control over resources. The agreement avoids any debt obligations, protects national ownership, and aligns with Ukraine’s EU integration goals

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) 30 April 2025 at 22:53

🇺🇦🇺🇸 The Investment Fund established under the agreement on natural resources will operate as follows:

U.S. Contribution: The United States will contribute to the Fund with both direct financial resources and potentially additional assistance, such as air defense systems for Ukraine.

— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 30 April 2025 at 23:09

Ukraine's Contribution: Ukraine will contribute 50% of the revenue generated from new royalties on new licenses for resource extraction. Ukraine may also make additional contributions if deemed necessary, establishing a long-term partnership for the coming decades.

— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 30 April 2025 at 23:09

Investment Focus: The Fund will invest in projects related to the extraction of minerals, oil, and gas, as well as infrastructure and processing projects associated with these industries. Ukraine and the U.S. will jointly determine the specific projects to be funded.

— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 30 April 2025 at 23:09

Profit Allocation: For the first ten years, any profits or funds generated by the Investment Fund will not be distributed but instead reinvested into Ukraine for new projects or reconstruction. Specific terms for these reinvestments will be negotiated in the future.

— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) 30 April 2025 at 23:09

What's the catch or did Ukraine manage to outmanoeuvre Trump?

That's Trump's Art Of The Deal™, giving in the other's side demands to get a deal. Looks like Putin isn't the only one who found that out now...

I'm not even kidding, Trump is cratering left and right just so he can say he's done something, even if the end result is a catastrophe for the US. Which he'll promptly somebody else with, as he's already doing with the start of an US recession.

Last edited by Bofferbrauer2 - on 30 April 2025