Putin, like Trump, now finds himself caught between a rock and a hard pace.

As the Trump presidency continues to implode, Putin's payback for helping Trump gain the keys to the White House has taken yet another nosedive.

There is an old Russian saying that a "fish rots from the head". And so it is that Trump, the Manchurian Candidate that Putin caught, is now beginning to 'rot from the head', and with it Putin's payback of the lifting of US sanctions against himself and his Kremlin 'siloviki' clique for giving Trump the keys to the White House.

We now learn that the attempted lifting of US sanctions against Putin and his clique have encountered a stumbling block since the Democrats gained control of the US Congress.

As Adam Schiff (right), the incoming Chairman of the US House of Congress 'Intelligence Committee' states,
 
"It certainly now is a consistent portrait that we are getting from Veselnitskaya that that meeting in Trump Tower, the work on the Magnistky Act,her effort to do away with the sanctions that we have imposed upon the Russians ... This is being done as a part of her work on the part of the Russian government, and of course, that raises the stakes for that meeting in Trump Tower." (MSNBC : 8 Jan., 2019)

MSNBC 

And as Rachel Maddow reports,

 "We got further word today that the Chairs of 7 major committees in Congress are now challenging Trump's Treasury Secretary over a Trump administration decision that was just announced before Congress to lift sanctions on companies associated with  ... Oleg Deripaska [a member of Putin's inner-circle]..."(MSNBC : 8 Jan., 2019)

MSNBC 

Which rather once again throws into sharp relief, the adamant German excuse that Nord Stream2 is merely an "economic" project that has NOTHING to do with Putin's war with Ukraine, a view simply not accepted by many members of the EU who want its construction DELAYED as part of the EU sanctions against Putin and his 'siloviki' clique.

As I wrote in a recent blog entry (2/1/2019),


"The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Volodymyr Groysman (left), is correct in stating that,

"... the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project a form of a disguised war against Europe and European consumers. “Nord Stream 2 is a form of disguised war against Europe. We know what it is to be dependent on Russia in energy. We know from our own experience how dangerous it is. Therefore, we are now considering the project as Russia's geopolitical weapon,” Groysman said, adding that Ukraine’s preservation of the status of a priority gas transit country is of great “significance in terms of security and politics" for all of Europe.” (UNIAN : 2nd January, 2019) (my emphasis)

One can now safely say that the Putinversteher Angela Merkel, together with the German business community is, and always has been, covering Putin's economic back, irrespective of Gazprom being a critical factor in Putin's war with Ukraine!"

The completion of the Nord Stream2 project is now more critical for Putin as the US House of Congress begins to block Trump's attempt to remove US sanctions against Putin and his 'siloviki' clique.

Coupled with the fact that,

“Oil is flip-flopping on concerns of supply and demand,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “It’s really a battle between the supply situation, which looks to be tightening, versus the possibility that demand will drop off.”
.....
Riyadh was expected to cut February prices for heavier crude grades sold to Asia due to weaker fuel oil margins while reducing prices for light grades to keep Saudi oil competitive against rising U.S. shale oil supplies, a Reuters survey showed on Thursday." (Alex Lawler (left): Reuters : 4 January, 2019) (my emphasis)",

Putin, like Trump, now finds himself caught between a rock and a hard pace.

(to be continued)