As one of the BRICS founders, Brazil’s new president will oppose pitting the BRICS against the West.

The six-month grace period will give the world some time to prepare, but with production capacity already tight, as reflected by current oil prices, there is little surplus production that could be stored for the future.

One of the reasons it’s so difficult to understand Russian intentions—and what is at stake in the Ukraine war—is the significant divergence between how external observers see events and how they are viewed from the Kremlin.

Ultimately, Russia has more to gain politically than Europe does from an embargo.

And how Russia’s war has upended ties in China, Turkey, and the Arctic.

Moscow’s demands of the United States and NATO are in fact the strategic goals of Russian policy in Europe. If Russia cannot achieve them by diplomatic means, it will resort to other methods.