As #Russia and #US Struggle, #China Rejoices

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  President Vladimir Putin,standing, alongside Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, standing center-right, in Shanghai in May, when Russia and China signed a much-anticipated gas deal.
  Photo: Kremlin.ru

With multi-billion dollar energy deals between Moscow and Beijing recently being pushed through, China, the world's second-biggest economy, is benefiting the most from the spiraling tension between Russia and the West over the violence in Ukraine... (read more)

External Expansion, www.externalexpansion.net,

EU, US extend sanctions on Russia over ‘Ukraine violence’

Co-ordinated approach targets trade, energy, banks, technology, arms and finance sector

The new round of sanctions targets Russian oil, rather than gas, outlawing exports of oil exploration equipment to Russia. About 30 per cent of the European Union’s gas supply comes from Russia.Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

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