... fade into the background. In any case, Iran has a chance to take advantage of the situation. Such a development of events precludes the formation of a coalition among countries under sanctions, which theoretically could include China, Russia, Iran and Venezuela. China will cooperate with all three, but not to the detriment of relations with the West.
All in all, the new stage of the Ukrainian crisis will have global consequences. For some, it will bring short and medium-term costs, and very significant ones. ...
... exceptions to its sanctions, many of which were in place long before the pandemic. They concern Iran, Syria, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela and Russia [
viii
]. A joint US-Swiss relief supply channel for Iran has become operational [
ix
]. We saw the first ... ... bear in mind that the help in fighting the epidemic provided by the countries hit by the sanctions, such as Russia, Cuba and China, to the initiators of the sanctions will not make the latter lift the sanctions afterwards.
In other words, COVID-19 does ...
... position is on its rise.
If one looks at U.S. bilateral relations with other countries, the overall picture seems the same. The United States is very inconsistent in its policies towards North Korea, the Middle East (predominantly Syria, Turkey and Iran), China, Venezuela, and Ukraine. And this inconsistency doesn’t seem to be a part of a grand strategy defined within the laws of “realpolitik”, where actions change and fluctuate in accordance with the situation at hand, but more a proof of cluelessness ...
... countries in the volume of Chinese investment (over 50%). In this, Venezuela is significantly ahead of, for instance, Brazil and Argentina. The country’s oil sector accounts for the principal volume of Chinese investment. In addition to direct investment, China has given Venezuela several loans to be repaid in shipments of oil or in payments from oil sales. In that connection, Beijing is highly interested in continuing to import Venezuelan oil despite Washington’s sanctions. At the same time, China realizes the risks ...
... able to sell Venezuela its K-8 Karakorum light attack and jet trainer aircraft, although Venezuela under Hugo Chavez had shown interest in the
Russian Yak-130 combat trainer
(NATO reporting name: Mitten).
Over the past three years, cooperation between Venezuela and China has significantly intensified. In 2014 the commander of the Venezuelan Navy, Admiral Diego Molero Bellavia announced that approval had been given for an agreement with China on the purchase of eight anti-submarine helicopters to be used with the ...
... and the North African littoral (Maghreb) and Egypt. Some businessmen and government officials of Middle Eastern heritage in Venezuela started pushing for an OPEC organization to countervail the U.S. dominated “Seven Sisters” oil cartel as ... ... support Saudi position on Syria. Do Russia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia still do business? Yes.
A similar situation exists in China, where the government of Xi Jinping continues the policy of selling weapons and some dual use technology to Iran, and conventional ...
... an important electronic intelligence gathering station outside Havana, the Chinese have pivoted away from Cuba toward Mexico and Central America. The economic impact of the move will bring far greater rewards to the Chinese economy than what Cuba and Venezuela offer.
China has made it a priority to develop assembly and manufacturing relationships with Mexico, Nicaragua and Costa Rica which could reduce the cost of Beijing moving goods into the lucrative North American market. Already controlling Panama Canal operations,...
