For The Archives: Putin Shrugs Off Sanctions; Russian-Chinese Hegemony Strengthens -- October 2, 2014

I have a link over at the sidebar at the right: the Big Stories.

Among the Big Stories, from the very beginning, I have this one: The global power shift: Russia-China hegemony. My first entry was May 15, 2014, and it is updated periodically.

Now I see this headline at Drudge Report: "sanctions bringing 'RussiaChina' closer...."

The AP is reporting:

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday shrugged off the negative impact of Western sanctions, saying they will only encourage Russia to build closer ties with China, India and Latin America.

Speaking at an investment forum, Putin described the sanctions as "utter silliness" that hurt Western business and offered an opportunity for others to expand in the Russian market.

Putin said the sanctions, imposed by the United States, the European Union and others over Russia's role in the Ukrainian crisis, violated basic principles of the World Trade Organization and inflicted lasting damage to the global economy.

The poorer a nation, the less effect sanctions has on a nation. If the EU put sanctions on the US, we would feel it severely and quickly. Sanctions won't be felt by the man on the street in Iran; same with Russia; they've been through worse. Stalingrad.