https://sputnikglobe.com/20250301/pepe-escobar-from-donbass-to-south-lebanon-and-all-across-brics-its-all-about-resistance-1121608654.html
Pepe Escobar: From Donbass to South Lebanon, and All Across BRICS, It’s All About Resistance
Pepe Escobar: From Donbass to South Lebanon, and All Across BRICS, It’s All About Resistance
Sputnik International
For those who keep track of the slings and arrows crossing the broader geopolitical chessboard non-stop, it’s an immensely powerful – and humbling – experience to one day be contemplating the devastated Avdeyevka, in the heart of the war in Donbass, and a week later struggling to understand the devastation inflicted on villages in southern Lebanon.
2025-03-01T08:17+0000
2025-03-01T08:17+0000
2025-03-01T08:17+0000
world
vladimir putin
sergey lavrov
russia
ukraine
european union (eu)
nato
brics
nord stream
valery zaluzhny
https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/0b/0c/1120863809_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_04184c2c10c63131fd507cc5bb4b2556.jpg
It's all about the transcending power of Resistance – uniting Orthodox Christianity in the black soil of Novorossiya to political Shi’ism in the Eastern Mediterranean.It’s this close-up, in microcosm, of the tortuous, bloody, pitiless ways of the Angel of History – to remember Walter Benjamin’s searing metaphor – that really illuminate the always shape-shifting Big Picture, and help us to better frame complex historical processes on the move.We are now, geopolitically, under the volcano. And one of the key questions ahead that may allow us to better find a way out is how the top BRICS nations will be reacting to the seemingly immovable Forever Wars ethos.So let’s keep our feet on the ground. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has just gone through an intriguing Astana process loop. First he was in Turkiye – the new hegemon in Syria, at least in thesis. He met Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan – the former head of Turkish intel – and President Erdogan.Even though Turkiye will hardly dare to become a BRICS partner – after it was officially invited at the Kazan summit last year - Ankara simply cannot afford to antagonize Russia, mostly for geoeconomic reasons.Then Lavrov went to Iran – following up on the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation signed on January 17 in Moscow.Lavrov and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi discussed not only the proverbial mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation agenda – especially on energy and transportation – but also the wider geopolitical chessboard, including ultra-sensitive nodes such as Syria, Yemen, the Persian Gulf, the Caspian, the South Caucasus and Afghanistan, as well as what could happen next for the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal.Yet the absolutely key imperative remains the Forever Wars chapter in Ukraine – whose resolution (or not) will deeply affect geopolitics for the rest of the century.Three years ago, at the start of the SMO, President Putin qualified a series of objectives. NATO responded by seeking to up the ante.Examples. Let’s start with a security treaty imposing a demilitarized space on Russia’s western borders, and the return of NATO to its limits circa 1997. NATO responded by expanding in Scandinavia – and now the Baltic chihuahuas, supported by Finland, dream of turning the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake.While the Lugansk National Republic has been 100% liberated, Donetsk stands at best at 75%. Kherson was 100% liberated in the summer of 2022, but then there was a retreat; it now stands at 75%. Same with Zaporizhia.Ukraine as a non-NATO neutral nation remains a real red line to Moscow ahead of upcoming negotiations with Trump 2.0. Same with the acceptance by Kiev of Crimea and the four regions as Russian and the removal of all sanctions against Russia: Washington may remove quite a few, but the vassal EU will keep them all.Not to mention it’s still a long and winding road – to put it mildly – for Moscow to eventually de-enclave Transnistria, which would require to establish a transport corridor through the Kharkov-Transnistria axis as well as Odessa – a Russian city - and securitizing the whole Black Sea littoral. Control of the Black Sea was the prime NATO obsession since before Maidan in 2014.Walk on the Wild - Kafkaesque – SideWhen we follow the money regarding the upcoming US-Russia negotiations on Ukraine, it’s clear that what matters for Trump 2.0 is to reestablish the position of American companies in Russia, all the way to buying Russian commodities – as suggested by Putin himself.So geoconomics rule – again, bringing us all back to 2013 and the fateful free market agreement between the EU and Kiev.Trump 2.0 is building the narrative that European troops – not directly NATO-linked – will be deployed in Kiev after the end of the war. That would fit into a soft power operation of convincing public opinion about NATO’s annexation of rump Ukraine.In parallel, in this Kafkaesque universe, Brussels keeps piling up sanctions on Russia while removing sanctions on Syria on the energy and transportation fronts because Damascus, after all, is now ruled by jihadists: “our” jihadists.Compounding the circus, clueless EU mutts such as the next BlackRock German chancellor now openly admit, regretfully, that Maidan, from the start, was in fact aimed against Brussels. The American goal – way before the toxic distribution of Nuland’s cookies – was to sever the EU from Russia and destroy it as a technological competitor. Mission accomplished.Of course, in such a Kafkaesque domain, none of the above is enough to change the EU narrative. Brussels wants to allocate yet another 20 to 40 billion euros (which they don’t have) and an “unimaginable” amount of (American) weapons to Kiev, as stated by Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.Follow the Money – and the Shadow PlayBack on the Ukraine front, Putin has actually suggested that Zaluzhny might replace the current cracked actor in a sweaty sweatshirt. The MI6 is undoubtedly currently preparing Zaluzhny in London exactly for such a role.For all the intertwined shadow play that is taking place on all fronts, invisible to public opinion, there is an undercurrent of skeptical dissent in Moscow according to which after three years of a narrative insisting the Ukraine war was a US war on Russia (certainly by the globalist Democrat axis), plus the Ukrainian biolabs, the tsunami of sanctions, the Nord Stream bombings, Moscow is now willing to re-start economic cooperation with Washington from scratch.Of course it’s not so simple. But there are indeed fears that a possible “peace” deal may turn out to be yet another American “follow the money” win.Putin cannot possibly accept European “peace keepers” in Ukraine because Russian public opinion will never accept it.Without making a single move, just playing Sun Tzu, Putin has already made Trump humiliate the Kiev actor in front of the whole planet and de facto relegate the EU to the dustbin of History.And yet, once again, this nagging feeling persists across well-informed circles in Moscow that a few Ukraine-related deals on the end of the war have already been clinched in the background. That explains why certain Russian and American outbursts seem to be too well synchronized.Once again, shadow play. And follow the money. When Putin talks about possible joint US-Russian investments on aluminum production in Siberia, he’s thinking about sanctions being erased on Russia’s aluminum industry.Same with American investments in Donbass: that will imply the regions are Russian. From all that, there will be a cascade of suppressed sanctions on the sectors of the Russian banking system involved in foreign trade. That’s hardcore geopolitics in action.The China-Russia front – involving a deeply complex comprehensive strategic partnership - is way more complex. Much more than BRICS, Beijing’s priority is BRI, the Belt and Road Initiative, or New Silk Roads, the overarching geoeconomics framework of Chinese foreign policy: opening new markets for Chinese products, globally.The EU was supposed to be the top final destination of the BRI network. So now there is a serious dichotomy in play.Yet in parallel, Russia’s fast as lightning resurgence as a great military power, strategically defeating the whole collective West, has unveiled a few new tricks to Beijing ahead of its epic confrontation with Trump 2.0 – which does see China as the eminent threat to the Empire of Chaos.In the end, it's all about Resistance. From Donbass to the Eastern Mediterranean, from BRICS Iran to BRICS Russia. China, meanwhile, is watching the – geopolitical - river flow, and learning everything there is to learn.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20250219/pepe-escobar-in-the-heart-of-donbass-before-us-russia-meet-in-riyadh--1121584757.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20250128/pepe-escobar-dancing-to-trumps-disco-inferno-1121513139.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20250221/russia-china-could-pick-up-the-slack-if-us-quit-un-but-bodys-dissolution-would-trigger-conflicts-1121595737.html
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from donbass to south lebanon, devastated avdeyevka, war in donbass, southern lebanon
from donbass to south lebanon, devastated avdeyevka, war in donbass, southern lebanon
Pepe Escobar: From Donbass to South Lebanon, and All Across BRICS, It’s All About Resistance
For those who keep track of the slings and arrows crossing the broader geopolitical chessboard non-stop, it’s an immensely powerful – and humbling – experience to one day be contemplating the devastated Avdeyevka, in the heart of the war in Donbass, and a week later struggling to understand the devastation inflicted on villages in southern Lebanon.
It's all about the transcending power of Resistance – uniting Orthodox Christianity in the black soil of Novorossiya to political Shi’ism in the Eastern Mediterranean.
It’s this close-up, in microcosm, of the tortuous, bloody, pitiless ways of the Angel of History – to remember Walter Benjamin’s searing metaphor – that really illuminate the always shape-shifting Big Picture, and help us to better frame complex historical processes on the move.
We are now, geopolitically, under the volcano. And one of the key questions ahead that may allow us to better find a way out is how the top BRICS nations will be reacting to the seemingly immovable Forever Wars ethos.
So let’s keep our feet on the ground.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has just gone through an intriguing Astana process loop. First he was in Turkiye – the new hegemon in Syria, at least in thesis. He met Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan – the former head of Turkish intel – and President Erdogan.
Even though Turkiye will hardly dare to become a BRICS partner – after it was officially invited at the Kazan summit last year - Ankara simply cannot afford to antagonize Russia, mostly for geoeconomic reasons.
Then Lavrov went to Iran – following up on the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation signed on January 17 in Moscow.
Lavrov and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi discussed not only the proverbial mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation agenda – especially on energy and transportation – but also the wider geopolitical chessboard, including ultra-sensitive nodes such as Syria, Yemen, the Persian Gulf, the Caspian, the South Caucasus and Afghanistan, as well as what could happen next for the
JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal.
Yet the absolutely key imperative remains the Forever Wars chapter in Ukraine – whose resolution (or not) will deeply affect geopolitics for the rest of the century.
Three years ago, at the start of the SMO, President Putin qualified a series of objectives. NATO responded by seeking to up the ante.
Examples. Let’s start with a security treaty imposing a demilitarized space on
Russia’s western borders, and the return of NATO to its limits circa 1997. NATO responded by expanding in Scandinavia – and now the Baltic chihuahuas, supported by Finland, dream of turning the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake.
While the Lugansk National Republic has been 100% liberated, Donetsk stands at best at 75%. Kherson was 100% liberated in the summer of 2022, but then there was a retreat; it now stands at 75%. Same with Zaporizhia.
Ukraine has not been fully demilitarized yet – although the prospects are somewhat encouraging - or denazified (that will be a decade-long process, at least).
Ukraine as a non-NATO neutral nation remains a real red line to Moscow ahead of upcoming negotiations with Trump 2.0. Same with the acceptance by Kiev of Crimea and the four regions as Russian and the removal of all sanctions against Russia: Washington may remove quite a few, but the vassal EU will keep them all.
Not to mention it’s still a long and winding road – to put it mildly – for Moscow to eventually de-enclave Transnistria, which would require to establish a transport corridor through the Kharkov-Transnistria axis as well as Odessa – a Russian city - and securitizing the whole Black Sea littoral. Control of the Black Sea was the prime NATO obsession since before Maidan in 2014.
Walk on the Wild - Kafkaesque – Side
When we follow the money regarding the upcoming US-Russia negotiations on Ukraine, it’s clear that what matters for
Trump 2.0 is to reestablish the position of American companies in Russia, all the way to buying Russian commodities – as suggested by Putin himself.
So geoconomics rule – again, bringing us all back to 2013 and the fateful free market agreement between the EU and Kiev.
Trump 2.0 is building the narrative that European troops – not directly NATO-linked – will be deployed in Kiev after the end of the war. That would fit into a soft power operation of convincing public opinion about
NATO’s annexation of rump Ukraine.
Trump 2.0, meanwhile, is actively transferring to the collapsing EU the role of 100% globalist supporter of Kiev. Follow the money: this means the EU has to pay up. For everything – while the US gleefully exploits what remains of Ukraine’s resources.
In parallel, in this Kafkaesque universe, Brussels keeps piling up sanctions on Russia while removing sanctions on Syria on the energy and transportation fronts because Damascus, after all, is now ruled by jihadists: “our” jihadists.
Compounding the circus, clueless EU mutts such as the next BlackRock German chancellor now openly admit, regretfully, that Maidan, from the start, was in fact aimed against Brussels. The American goal – way before the toxic distribution of Nuland’s cookies – was to sever the EU from Russia and destroy it as a technological competitor. Mission accomplished.
Of course, in such a Kafkaesque domain, none of the above is enough to change the EU narrative. Brussels wants to allocate yet another 20 to 40 billion euros (which they don’t have) and an “unimaginable” amount of (American) weapons to Kiev, as stated by Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.
Follow the Money – and the Shadow Play
Back on the Ukraine front, Putin has actually suggested that Zaluzhny might replace the current cracked actor in a sweaty sweatshirt. The MI6 is undoubtedly currently preparing Zaluzhny in London exactly for such a role.
As for military budget cuts, Putin also accepts Trump’s idea of dividing them by half (China politely disagrees). Were that to happen, Russia’s budget would roughly be back to what it was before the SMO, while the Americans would have to cut off $400 billion. Elon Musk’s DOGE will be thrilled; the Deep State will fight it to death.
For all the intertwined shadow play that is taking place on all fronts, invisible to public opinion, there is an undercurrent of skeptical dissent in Moscow according to which after three years of a narrative insisting the Ukraine war was a US war on Russia (certainly by the globalist Democrat axis), plus the Ukrainian biolabs, the tsunami of sanctions, the Nord Stream bombings, Moscow is now willing to re-start economic cooperation with Washington from scratch.
Of course it’s not so simple. But there are indeed fears that a possible “peace” deal may turn out to be yet another American “follow the money” win.
Whatever happens next – and no one knows what that will be – the fact remains that it’s Putin who’s now in charge of this new chapter of the Art of the Deal, swiftly dodging veiled threats and non-stop bullying and reverting them Sun Tzu-style.
Putin cannot possibly accept European “peace keepers” in Ukraine because Russian public opinion will never accept it.
Without making a single move, just playing Sun Tzu, Putin has already made Trump humiliate the Kiev actor in front of the whole planet and de facto relegate the EU to the dustbin of History.
And yet, once again, this nagging feeling persists across well-informed circles in Moscow that a few Ukraine-related deals on the end of the war have already been clinched in the background. That explains why certain Russian and American outbursts seem to be too well synchronized.
Once again, shadow play. And follow the money. When Putin talks about possible joint US-Russian investments on aluminum production in Siberia, he’s thinking about sanctions being erased on Russia’s aluminum industry.
Same with American investments in Donbass: that will imply the regions are Russian. From all that, there will be a cascade of suppressed sanctions on the sectors of the Russian banking system involved in foreign trade. That’s hardcore geopolitics in action.
The
China-Russia front – involving a deeply complex comprehensive strategic partnership - is way more complex. Much more than BRICS, Beijing’s priority is BRI, the Belt and Road Initiative, or New Silk Roads, the overarching geoeconomics framework of Chinese foreign policy: opening new markets for Chinese products, globally.
The EU was supposed to be the top final destination of the BRI network. So now there is a serious dichotomy in play.
Beijing was thrown seriously off balance by the de facto Russian demolition of the EU’s cash flow via the SMO: that reduced the actual value of the EU market for BRI.
Yet in parallel, Russia’s fast as lightning resurgence as a great military power, strategically defeating the whole collective West, has unveiled a few new tricks to Beijing ahead of its epic confrontation with Trump 2.0 – which does see China as the eminent threat to the Empire of Chaos.
In the end, it's all about Resistance. From Donbass to the Eastern Mediterranean, from BRICS Iran to BRICS Russia. China, meanwhile, is watching the – geopolitical - river flow, and learning everything there is to learn.
