Author: BlackMask Financial

• The European Union has approved its 16th package of sanctions against Russia, which includes bans on primary aluminum imports and the listing of 73 shadow fleet vessels.
• The sanctions package adds 48 individuals and 35 entities to the list, resulting in asset freezes and travel bans.
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated, ‘The EU is clamping down even harder on circumvention by targeting more vessels in Putin’s shadow fleet.’
• The package includes additional measures against Russian ports and airports to prevent circumventing the G7 price cap on oil.

US is designating Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and six other drug trafficking groups with Latin American roots as “global terrorist” organisations.

United States President Donald Trump slammed on Wednesday his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator without elections,” warning him to “better move fast” if he wants to “have a country left.””Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle. The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back,” Trump wrote on TruthSocial. He further criticized Zelensky for admitting that “half” the money Ukraine received from the US is “missing.” “In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only “TRUMP,” and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace,” Trump concluded. Trump claims Zelensky has a 4% approval rating

Poll gives Zelensky 57% approval rating despite Trump claims

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s approval rating reached 57% in February, according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology , contradicting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of low support among the population. Zelenskyy firmly rejected Trump’s claims of low legitimacy, stating that Trump’s view is influenced by Russian disinformation about his approval ratings.KIIS Deputy Director Anton Hrushetskyi noted that Zelenskyy retains a high level of trust and legitimacy, emphasizing that elections should occur after the war ends for Ukraine’s security guarantees.

United States President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said on Wednesday that the US president’s relationship with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky is “frustrated” right now and “clearly going the wrong direction.” “Not everyone has gotten the message that the era of an endless grinding war, with death and destruction on all sides, costing hundreds of billions and costing hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives, that era is over,” Waltz said in an interview on Fox News, and condemned what he called “bizarre rhetoric” coming from Ukraine. “We had this kind of escalating kind of rhetoric and pushback, and the president’s not going to tolerate it,” he added. Trump previously called Zelensky a “dictator without elections” and criticized him for “half” of the money the US sent to Ukraine “MISSING,” noting that the Ukrainian president is “very low on Ukrainian polls.”

NN: Its called thrown under the bus. Just ask South Viet Nam sell out to the communists’ or more recently the sell out in Afghanistan  and surrender to the Taliban terrorists

Iranian crude oil flows to China have rebounded this month after a U.S. crackdown on shipments launched in late 2024 decimated them in January. In a last-minute push to sanction Iran, the Biden admin blacklisted a number of tankers, trading entities, and shipping companies as participants in sanctioned oil trade.

The boost in shipments was enabled by the opening of new receiving terminals and more ship-to-ship transfers, the Bloomberg report noted. The Trump administration has threatened to return to the maximum pressure approach of Trump’s first term in a bid to force Iran to give u developing a nuclear weapon. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the target is to squeeze Iranian oil exports to a tenth of their current levels. Kpler said in a recent analysis that the return to a maximum pressure campaign against Iran on the part of Washington was likely to weaken oil exports to China, at least for a while. “Some buyers, particularly larger Chinese privately owned refiners, are likely to steer clear of such dealings as a precaution in the near term,” due to higher prices resulting from workarounds to avoid U.S. sanctions, Kpler analyst Homayoun Falakshahi wrote. China’s private oil refiners, the so-called teapots, are key buyers of Iran’s sanctioned crude, and the two sides have established a trade relationship favorable for both. Iran gets to sell its crude that nearly everyone else shuns, while China’s independent refiners, the so-called teapots, get cheap oil. However, the tougher U.S. squeeze on Iran’s oil industry will inevitably lift prices, which would affect buying decisions, as noted by Kpler.

Oil prices rose by more than 1% on Wednesday as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of a drop in supply caused by developments in the war in Ukraine. He said it will be “impossible to quickly restore” the Caspian Pipeline Consortium oil pumping station in Krasnodar, which was hit by Ukrainian drones on Monday.

He claimed the equipment damaged in the strike came from the West and will be difficult to replace due to sanctions.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for deliveries in March  at 11:12 am ET traded at  $72.30 per barrel. Brent for settlements in April was at  $76.30 per barrel.

the above video is total bllshit

Gold prices soared to a new peak on Wednesday as ongoing worries about US tariffs and worldwide instability bolstered the demand for safe-haven assets. On Tuesday, Trump revealed intentions to implement tariffs “in the neighborhood of 25%” on automobiles, in addition to taxes on imports of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, heightening trade conflicts. Moreover, diplomatic discussions between Russia and the United States kept investors alert. The yellow metal rose by 0.39% to trade at $2,946.63 per ounce at 4:19 am ET.

Nick note audio file

I have to be honest with you I’ll becoming sexually aroused as I watch this gold move go higher and higher and higher. Oh my god I can’t wait to short this shit out of it.  I’m waiting as they  get the suckers in the game.  And believe me it’s the suckers game. There is little inflation, not going to be any real inflation. The inflation we have is truly transitory this time. Trumps  tariffs will not bring  inflation. In fact just the opposite. It’s going to be a great time for the US economy. Bargains galore are coming as people are forced to manufacturing in the united states. This vicious increase  gold is way way over its skis.  it is in fact one of the dumbest most ignorant stupidest goal Market I’ve ever seen.

This gold rally is so stupid it is so outrageous it is so ignorant. I mean it’s a gift of god so this is your fair warning.

 

A senior Iranian official on Monday excoriated a meeting between U.S. and Israeli officials, calling it an illegal effort to thwart Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei blasted the meeting as a violation of international law and an effort that, in his view, Washington, D.C., and Tel Aviv remain powerless to stop. “When it comes to a country like Iran, they cannot do a damn thing,” he told reporters Monday, according to a readout provided by state media.  Baghaei took aim at the sit-down between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday, just one day earlier. Their meeting reportedly focused heavily on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.Netanyahu, for his part, had signaled growing momentum between the U.S. and his country to curtail Iran’s nuclear program, telling reporters after the Sunday meeting, “I have no doubt we can and will finish the job.” However, this was sharply disputed by Baghaei.  “You cannot threaten Iran on one hand and claim to support dialogue on the other hand,” he added. Baghaei’s remarks come after Netanyahu boasted that Israeli military operations have weakened Iran’s proxy groups in the Middle East, including the Palestinian terror group Hamas.  “We can and will finish the job,” the Israeli prime minister said. The U.S.-Israel meeting also served a symbolic purpose. During the sit-down, the U.S. sent a shipment of heavy bombs and munitions to Israel, in keeping with Trump’s promise to do so last month.  The munitions and bomb shipments, “represents a significant asset for the Air Force and the IDF,” an Israeli defense official said, “and serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States.”

NN: Audio file:

Iran the evil empire

 

 

 

Kiv  has targeted Russia’s energy infrastructure throughout the three-year conflict, seeking to hit sites its says supply fuel to Moscow’s army or helps provide funds to support its offensive. In the latest attack overnight, seven explosive-packed drones hit a pumping station of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium which carries Kazakh oil across southern Russia for export via the Black Sea, including to western Europe. “Oil transportation through the Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline system is carried out at reduced pumping modes,” it said on social media. The 930-mile pipeline is owned by a consortium in which the Russian and Kazakh governments as well as Western energy majors Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell hold stakes. In 2024, the pipeline loaded more than 63 million tons of oil onto tankers at a terminal at the southern Russian port of Novorossiysk, the company said. The company said the attack hit the Kropotkinskaya pumping station – the pipeline’s largest in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region.

NN: ouch that had to hurt

Peace talks ‘not at all’ about lifting US sanctions, Russian negotiator says On the eve of US-Russia talks over the war in Ukraine beginning in Saudi Arabia, Russia’s head of its sovereign wealth fund and close Putin advisor, Kirill Dmitriev, said.