(16 December 2014, 15:14)bigpaul Wrote: I don't go much on what UK TV stations say these days, I tend to get most of my news from Aljazeera and RT news channels, they give more of a non tainted view of the news whereas the UK channels are mostly government and media mouthpieces. as far as this item goes I think this has more to do with the drop in OIL prices than anything else.
You are right about the Oil Price being a (major) factor in this, but there is more to it than just oil.
Putin isn't interested on blaming the ever growing financial crisis in Russia on the price of oil, he is more interested in blaming it on Western Powers who he claims are solely determined to break up and destroy Russia, and which he is prepared to do whatever is needed to prevent that from happening.
For example the following statement (from the above referenced Presidential Speech) is with regards to the EU/Ukraine membership/trade agreements:
"....Our response was to say: fine, if you do not want to have a dialogue with us, we will have to protect our legitimate interests unilaterally and will not pay for what we view as erroneous policy...."