Russia: Pivoting to Asia or Just to China?

... against Russia by targeting a bank. Half a million Russian MasterCard/Visa cardholders were immediately affected. Responding to this, the Russian government reactivated the suspended project for a national electronic payments system, broadly analogous to Japan's JCB. The French government has postponed its decision as regards the Mistral ships which France is building for the Russian Navy. It may well be that that order will be canceled. Ukraine, faced with the prospect of losing the special gas price granted by President Vladimir Putin to Viktor Yanukovych, will begin receiving some of the gas it needs via Germany. Meanwhile, Germany and other EU countries, encouraged by the United States,...