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It's difficult to figure out what is happening here behind the scenes.
Is this a deal between Trump and Putin? And if so, what else was involved in the deal? How will this effect Ukraine and the Iran war?
And if this wasn't a deal, is this a Russian challenge to American hegemony? Is this a sign of America's overreach in Iran, leaving them no longer able to maintain former positions of global dominance?
-kidnaps venezuela president and wife but leaves the ruling party alone
-blockade cuba
-thinks iran would be resolved like venezuela
-us bases gets wrecked by iranian missiles and drones
-plunge the world into a global crisis and be stuck in quagmire against iran
Masterful gambit sir
There's no deal. Russia can do this because the US can't stop them, the US are fully extended in Iran.
Thankfully. Because Cuba is suffering.
I don't even think it's about statesian overextension, but rather their innate inability to stop a vessel owned by another nuclear armed nation. Conversely, Russia couldn't stop euro-statesian military shipments to Ukraine.
This is Russia demonstrating how this cuts both ways.
Inshallah
Why would Trump go to such lengths to create the blockade just to make a secret deal with Russia that poses them as heroes against American tyranny?
idk are libs still krasnov posting?
Because drumpf Putler Voldemort. That is why
This is just like in Gambo Throwne. Get his ass, Gambo!
Well the hypothesis is that the Iran War and global economic crisis has overshadowed the importance of the Cuban blockade, so Trump would be willing to give in on Cuba if Russia is willing to help keep oil prices lower.
Why would Trump go to such lengths to create the blockade just to quietly back down when the blockade is finally inflicting serious pain on the innocent Cuban people? The US seized Russian oil tankers just a few months ago, they could have seized this one too.
They chased and seized a tanker that was Venezuelan that painted a Russian flag on itself while being chased and Russia added it to their maritime register mid-voyage.
This was just Russia trying to help a Venezuelan tanker and the US calling their bluff. They weren't truly willing to commit to anything over it because it wasn't actually one of theirs.
The one bound for Cuba genuinely is though, the situation is different.
As Awoo says, that situation was somewhat different. I think it's clear that the US quietly backed down simply because they were put on the spot and knew they couldn't handle the consequences of committing piracy against Russia while their war in Iran is going to shit.
If Trump was making a deal, he would not have let Russia take the appearance of successfully defying the US to save Cubans. He would only agree to a deal that allowed the US to retain an appearance of agency over the situation, even if they didn't really have more agency than they do here. It's seriously his most consistent foreign policy approach to try to big dog absolutely everyone, even shooting himself in the foot, fucking up relationships with allies, or causing Americans to die for it. It's unfathomable that he would subvert that in a situation where it makes Russia -- who does not actually control Trump, it must be remembered -- look 10x better than they already would have in a Trump-approved mission while only making him look like an absolute paper tiger. And that's really the difference, did he choose to look like a paper tiger when he isn't one, or is he actually a paper tiger? I think the answer is plainly the latter.
While military logistics and things like that are absolutely not my wheelhouse so you should take it with a grain of salt, I think this was expertly timed by Russia because it's in the middle of the US trying to mobilize forces to Iran, and the idea of creating a situation that Russia is surely prepared to immediately escalate (otherwise, why send the tanker?) while the US is mid-step with that mobilization effort was probably a very daunting idea.