Quote History Originally Posted By ITCHY-FINGER:
Defecting like the last idiot that went to Norkland?
Actually is stupid to think now is a good time to see Russia? Before WWIII blows it all to hell?
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He didn't defect ... yet. He would be considered AWOL if he didn't return from his little tryst. But we'll never know.
As for the other question, thousands and thousands of Americans visit Russia. I'm not even joking. The airplanes shutting between Istanbul and Moscow are full of them. They look like businessmen. Nobody of them is getting arrested. They probably stay away from honey traps and do not carry weed in their pockets.
P.S. A couple days ago, Biden removed U.S. sanctions from a number of Russian banks until Nov. 1, 2024, so that payments for Russian oil, gas, and timber can go through. The Administration is trying to suppress inflation indicators ahead of U.S. presidential elections, that is trivial. However, I wasn't sure if that kind of brazen vote-buying was possible, so I went to look at Treasury website. They had the actual text, and the list of banks was just amazing. They even un-sanctioned VTB for a limited time. I am sure that some of the businessmen overflowing flights to/from Moscow work in support of these and other trade initiatives. You know, unfreezing the money is only half of the deal. You also need to have Russian oil actually flow to America in the summer. And that is done by people. That is who travels to Moscow and is not getting arrested.