https://sonar21.com/back-to-russia/

Back to Russia

Larry Johnston

At SONAR 21

It has not been much of a secret, but I am back in Russia with Judge Napolitano and a couple of other podcast luminaries, to participate in a series of academic seminars dedicated to finding a way for Russia and the US to build a collaborative partnership rather than risk World War III. Life on the ground in Moscow has not changed since my last visit 11 months ago… i.e., no long gas lines, store shelves are full, restaurants are doing a brisk business.

I arrived late Saturday night at Vnukovo Airport shortly after Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner departed the area following their meeting with President Putin. Putin is getting some criticism for imposing a three-day ceasefire while the Witkoff/Kushner team are in Ukraine, but it makes sense… Killing those two failed diplomats achieves nothing of tactical or strategic importance for Russia.
If you are not reading the international news you would not know that there is a war on with Ukraine and the West. I saw one military recruitment billboard during the hour drive to the center of Moscow from the Vnukovo Airport. There was a big parade of Orthodox Christians this morning in front of the Kremlin and Red Square was packed with tourists. It is one of my favorite must-see tourist spots in the world.

One final note regarding the US claims that it has struck three Iranian oil carriers. So far Iran has not reacted, which leads me to believe that the US did not do any significant damage. Otherwise I believe that Iran would have struck back quickly and forcefully. There also are reports as I am writing this of “explosions” in Jordan. US Central Command spokesmen deny this but Arab sources (Al Arabiya to be precise) insist that the reports are accurate. We’ll see.