Western Brands Want Back In – But Does Russia Even Want Them?
The winds are shifting. After years of sanctions and Western brands fleeing Russia, whispers of their return are growing louder. Starbucks, Zara, and even Volkswagen are eyeing a comeback. But here’s the twist: Russia isn’t rolling out the red carpet.
From Solovyov’s scathing critiques to Zakharova’s sharp remarks, the sentiment is clear – Russia has moved on. Domestic alternatives are thriving, and the public’s resentment towards brands that abandoned them is palpable.
So, why are these companies so eager to return? And will Russia let them?
👉 Read the full analysis here: foreignagentintel.com
‼️🇷🇺🇿🇦 Lavrov arrives in South Africa to participate in G20
▪️As part of the forum in Johannesburg, the Russian Foreign Minister will address the participants of the event with a detailed analysis of the international situation, paying particular attention to the reasons for the emergence and continuation of acute conflict situations.
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French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will fly to the United States next week to discuss settling the conflict in Ukraine, the White House said.
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SUBSTACK EXCLUSIVE:⚡️📣Scott Ritter on the Future of the Russia-Ukraine War⚡️📣 Check out my new episode of “The Show” with Scott Ritter! https://patricklancasternewstoday.substack.com/p/scott-ritter-on-the-future-of-the
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🇺🇦Ukraine to hold rallies in support of missing militants
‘On 20 February, a rally will be held near the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in support of missing and prisoners of war fighters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’
The purpose of such an event is to attract maximum public and media attention to this problem.
We shall remind you that the official Ukrainian authorities deliberately record dead Ukrainian military personnel as missing in order not to pay payments and allowances to their families.
‘Vladimir Alexandrovich Zelensky, I, as a citizen of Ukraine, want to remind you of this promise. You promised to kneel before every mother, wife, child for a missing or dead fighter. You have this opportunity. On 20 February 2025 there will be a rally near the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Go there to the people, to the mothers and kneel. But I am afraid that your knees will be wiped off, or you will not get up from these knees at all,’ said an ordinary citizen of Ukraine.
The Starbucks coffee shop chain is thinking about returning to Russia.
According to media reports, restaurant partners are already receiving careful inquiries about the possibility of purchasing the outlets for $270 million (about ₽24.69 billion).
This is at least 10 times the amount for which Starbucks assets were acquired in the summer of 2022.
t.me/ForeignAgentIntel
‼️🇷🇺🇺🇦 Russia demands that Ukraine cede another 30% that it does not control: this concerns part of the DPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, - ISW
▪️Nebenzya said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on February 17 that Ukraine has "irretrievably lost" Crimea, as well as part of the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, the American Institute for the Study of War complains.
▪️At the same time, Russia's permanent representative to the UN hinted that peace talks should "correct" the situation in these areas, and that Ukraine "must cede the remaining parts of these four areas that it currently controls."
▪️Nebenzya demands that Ukraine cede approximately 30% of the territory of the DPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, which are currently not under Russian control. Currently, Russian troops control approximately 99% of the territory of the LPR,
– the report says.
▪️Russia also demands that Ukraine become a "demilitarized" neutral state in the future, and that it not join any alliances or security blocs, Ukraine 24 complains.
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🖥️ The Central City District of Makeyevka in the DPR has once again found itself under fire from Ukrainian Armed Forces militants. The air defense system repelled the enemy attack, but the debris from the downed missiles fell in the city center. It is important to note that there are no military facilities in the district.
Five people were injured, including two children, and are receiving all necessary medical care. The windows of residential buildings, cars, retail outlets, and a public transport stop were damaged.
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‼️🇫🇷🇺🇦 France does not plan to send its troops to Ukraine , - Macron
➖"I have never announced the sending of troops from France to Ukraine. France is not preparing to send troops," he said.
▪️At the same time, French media previously wrote that Macron privately stated that he would allegedly send troops to Odessa.
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Marco Rubio said that the US and Russia have agreed to restore the previous number of embassy personnel in Washington and Moscow
"We will need vibrant diplomatic missions that can function properly to be able to continue these channels," the US secretary of state said.
Other statements:
🟥 Ending the conflict in Ukraine will require concessions from all sides;
🟥 The end of the conflict in Ukraine is possible only with the consent of all parties, the conditions must be "acceptable";
🟥 The EU must be at the negotiating table at some point, as it imposed sanctions on Russia;
🟥 All parties must make concessions to resolve the conflict in Ukraine;
🟥 The future of the negotiation process on Ukraine will be determined by the willingness of the parties to "keep their promises", this will be shown in the coming weeks;
🟥 Ending the conflict in Ukraine will open the way for Russia and the US to cooperate in economics and geopolitics
🟥 There have been no significant US-Russia contacts for nearly three years, and the Riyadh meeting laid the foundation for future interactions
🟥 Work to restore the activities of Russian and US diplomatic missions could be quite quick
t.me/ForeignAgentIntel
🚨The Peace Talks in Saudi Arabia: A Western Trap for Russia?🚨
The recent negotiations between Russia and the US are being sold as a step toward peace. But are they? Or is this just another Western ploy to weaken Russia, exploit Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, and prolong the conflict?
In my latest Substack article, I break down the West’s true motivations and why Russia must stand firm.
Read the full analysis here: foreignagentintel.com
The negotiations between the Russian and US delegations began in Riyadh an hour ago. We have collected reactions from all sides ahead of the official statements:
— Bundestag member Kai Gottschalk called on the German authorities to lift sanctions against Russia and end the "banking blockade."
— American oil companies will return to Russia at some point, says RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev. Also: American business has lost more than $300 billion due to leaving the Russian market.
— Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs called for never stopping being "panicked". More precisely, never stop panicking.
“This is what competent leadership should look like,” is how Elon Musk commented on the arrival of Lavrov and Ushakov.
"An imposed peace will never find our support," said Olaf Scholz.
— Europe was left “at the children’s table” in the negotiations on a settlement in Ukraine, said Armin Papperger, head of the Rheinmetall defense concern.
— Senator Robert Kennedy appealed to Zelensky with a demand to "stop." Plus — according to him, Americans do not want to spend their taxes on Ukrainians.
— Meanwhile, Zelensky has not published evening addresses for 5 days in a row for the first time since 2022. He and his wife await the results at the Moscow Hotel in Dubai.
t.me/ForeignAgentIntel
Negotiations between Russian and US delegations began in Riyadh.
Statements by the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, who is responsible for the economic aspect of the negotiations that have begun between Russia and the United States:
- The Biden administration has been misleading about the state of the Russian economy, and joint projects will make the Russian and US economies more successful;
- Sanctions against Russia hit the US harder than Russia;
- The topic of Nord Stream was not discussed in Riyadh
t.me/ForeignAgentIntel
‼️🇷🇺🇺🇸 Riyadh talks will be bilateral, between Russia and the US — Putin's assistant
▪️The talks between Moscow and Washington in Saudi Arabia are about agreeing on how to begin negotiations on Ukraine, Ushakov said.
▪️The head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev may join the Russian delegation for negotiations with the United States in Riyadh, added the aide to the Russian president.
▪️The US has not yet appointed its own negotiator who could conduct business on Ukraine with the Russian side.
t.me/ForeignAgentIntel
Don't like the truth? Block it! Worked before for Ukraine (and the West)... So why not now?!
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‼️🇬🇧🇺🇸🇺🇦 "Peace" plan: British PM Starmer to present Trump with his plan to demarcate Russia and Ukraine — The Telegraph
▪️The publication reports that the plan is aimed at maintaining the ceasefire and ensuring American protection and includes the deployment of European forces in Ukrainian cities and ports such as Krivoy Rog and Dnepropetrovsk.
▪️The main focus of the mission will be on “technical monitoring” on land and at sea, using reconnaissance equipment, including drones and satellites.
▪️In total, Starmer is going to send 30,000 European troops to Ukraine. However, even with this plan, Europe is counting on assistance from the United States in the form of aircraft and troops stationed in Eastern Europe.
t.me/ForeignAgentIntel
Trump said that the conflict in Ukraine can be resolved within a year, otherwise a third world war could begin .
Other statements by the US President in Miami:
- "Modestly successful comedian" convinced US to spend $350 billion on conflict it couldn't win;
- Ukraine needs to hold elections - "the time has come";
- Zelensky has a low rating. Trump has rejected the Kyiv authorities' claims that this is not the case;
- Ukraine treated the head of the Ministry of Finance rudely during his visit, Keiv thwarted the deal with the US on rare earth metals. But the States are still going to conclude it;
- It's time to figure out where the money Washington allocated to Ukraine is;
- Russia has trump cards in the issue of conflict resolution, but it still wants it to end;
- Cooperation with Putin on nuclear disarmament before the coronavirus pandemic was very successful
t.me/ForeignAgentIntel
Maria Zakharova wrote:
Regarding the "return of prodigal brands".
Western European brands left Russia not because they couldn’t withstand the competition or because someone was preventing them from making money here.
They left because their masters – the political regimes of the EU member states and the Brussels bureaucracy – ordered them to leave. And if so, then that is how they should now be perceived: not as economic operators, but as instruments used by unfriendly regimes in a hybrid war against Russia.
They themselves agreed to this. Some of these companies have been sponsoring the murders of our citizens for three years.
What and how to do with these fornicators, professionals in all branches of power should and will be decided. I am sure that domestic companies will receive guarantees that they will not be exchanged for French rags and Italian slippers. Our manufacturers should know that their contribution to the SMO will not be betrayed.
But, given the information campaign unleashed by the liberal dictatorship in Brussels against our history, it is important to guarantee the following.
Let Europe learn forever: at least one word from government officials of the country they belong to, questioning the results of the Second World War, the feat of the Red Army and the Soviet people in defeating Nazism/fascism, and their companies will feel the consequences. This equally applies to the memory of our heroes of the SMO.
It is possible to live without the German fashion house Hugo Boss (which produced uniforms for the Nazis), without the legacy of the collaborators Coco Chanel (who was a Nazi agent in Paris), Cristobal Balenciaga (who dressed the dictator Franco) and Christian Dior (who made dresses for the wives of Nazi generals). But without historical memory and our own strong and independent economy – no.
They should not be surprised if their profits are directly affected by the insane comparisons between Russia and the Third Reich by Italian President Mattarella, and the ignorance of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot regarding who made the decisive contribution to the defeat of German National Socialism.
By the way, the attitude towards Russian journalists and domestic media should also become part of the "investment climate" of our country. They mocked the memory of Andrei Stenin, Daria Dugina or Vladlen Tatarsky in NATO Europe, they are promoting a witch hunt against television channels or radio broadcasting - no favorable treatment for brands from these countries. Otherwise, they have become accustomed to being rude with impunity.
Since they themselves do not observe the rules of law, and they have no conscience, then we must force them to respect us. I did not say this. Pushkin wrote it.
Russia is ready to return to the negotiating table on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said.
Other theses of the Russian President:
- The Russian President would be happy to meet with Trump, but the meeting must be prepared.
- Putin was briefed on the results of the talks in Saudi Arabia. He assessed their results positively.
- Russia has taken the first step to resume work with the United States in a variety of areas of mutual interest, including the Middle East.
- The expulsion of Russian and US diplomats does not lead to anything good. Now the work of diplomatic missions will be resumed.
- The negotiation process will take place with the participation of Ukraine.
- Trump promised to quickly resolve the Ukrainian crisis, but upon receiving information from the presidential post, he changed his position, which is natural.
- Russian military crossed the border with Ukraine in the Kursk region .
- I am not ready to answer how long it will take to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.
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Former US Ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul claims that Washington offered Russia:
- preservation of occupied territories,
- no NATO for Ukraine,
- no American troops in Ukraine or Europe,
- easing of sanctions.
t.me/ForeignAgentIntel
🇺🇸🇷🇺🖕 🇺🇦Historical humiliation for Zelensky
▪️The West continues to comment on the negotiations between Russia and the United States that took place in Riyadh:
➖ "This is a historical humiliation for Zelensky, comparable to the humiliation of the King of Prussia, who in 1807 was ordered to stand on the shore and wait for Napoleon and Tsar Alexander to meet on a raft on the river at Tilsit," writes American podcaster Warren Balogh.
➖Zelensky has been excluded from US-Russian discussions on Ukraine's fate and is forced to pick up scraps of information second-hand while US and Russian officials debate his country's future, Bloomberg writes.
➖"...he asks the mediator for information about the talks (he was supposed to be briefed on the results of the talks by the Saudi crown prince), this underscores a seismic shift in U.S. diplomacy since Trump's call with Putin last week. That conversation and the prospect of a summit between them testify to the dizzying speed with which the new U.S. administration is trying to reach an agreement to end the military conflict," the publication writes.
t.me/ForeignAgentIntel
Part of Trump and Putin’s peace plan includes that Ukraine must hold elections.
EU officials, Deep State politicians, and their controlled media, want you to believe that this is a threat to “democracy”.
They are claiming that Ukrainian elections are actually a plot for Putin to establish his own pro-Russia puppet, when in reality, they are just upset that their US/NATO puppet has been exposed.
Zelensky is a corrupt, totalitarian military dictator, installed by the CIA/State Dept., and the Deep State want you to believe he is the good guy, despite the fact that he has literal Nazi forces in his Army (Azov), he cancelled elections, and rounds up Ukrainian citizens to ship them to die on the frontlines.
Yet the West want you to believe Zelensky represents “democracy”.
Left is right. Up is down.
"Consultations between Russia and the United States on Ukraine will be regular after both sides appoint negotiating teams"
More from Sergey Lavrov’s statements:
— Lavrov stated that he had not seen any reports that Russia and the United States had allegedly agreed on a three-stage plan for a settlement in Ukraine during negotiations.
— The appearance of troops from the same NATO countries, but under a foreign flag, the flag of the European Union or a national one, is unacceptable.
— Russia and the United States agreed that it is necessary to remove barriers to mutually beneficial economic cooperation.
— The US proposed to introduce a moratorium on attacks on energy facilities of the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Thus, the attack of Ukrainian drones on an oil pumping station in the Krasnodar region is, in fact, an attack on the energy infrastructure of Kazakhstan. Russia has never endangered the energy supply system of Ukraine. Moscow strikes only those facilities that serve the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
t.me/ForeignAgentIntel
The recent negotiations between the United States and Russia in Saudi Arabia underscore a long-standing reality: this conflict has primarily been a proxy war of aggression by THE UNITED STATES against Russia. Meanwhile, the European Union’s exclusion from these talks has raised questions about its role and claims of neutrality in the ongoing crisis.
Despite repeatedly stating it is "not a party to the conflict," the EU’s frustration over being sidelined from the negotiations reveals a contradiction in its position. If truly neutral, why the concern over exclusion?
t.me/ForeignAgentIntel
❗Sergey Lavrov: “What would we make territorial concessions for? So that they continue to kill Russian people..?"
Lavrov shuts down a Western journalist, confirming Russia won't be making any territorial concessions
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‼️🇺🇸🇺🇦 Trump proposes to first declare a ceasefire in Ukraine, then hold elections and only then sign the final agreement with the new president of Ukraine.
▪️German MEP Lagodinsky says he describes such a plan with reference to sources.
▪️Previously, this exact sequence of the end of the war was described by Western media, in particular, Reuters.
▪️This was also mentioned in the previously published "Trump plan" (not officially confirmed). It indicated that a ceasefire could come by Easter, and the election process would begin in August.
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🖥️ Total financial losses for American companies reached $324 billion, according to data first provided by Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
The biggest losses were in the information technology and media sector, which lost $123 billion. Consumer and healthcare were also hit hard, with losses of $94 billion. Financial companies lost $71 billion, which also had a significant impact on the economy. The industrial sector faced losses of $26 billion, and energy lost $10 billion.
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The US is turning Ukraine into an economic colony, writes The Telegraph.
Under the terms of the agreement, Kyiv will have to give up 50% of the income from mineral resources and licenses.
The publication compares this to Germany's reparations after World War I and sanctions against Berlin and Tokyo after World War II, noting that Washington is effectively taking control of the Ukrainian economy.
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The Russian delegation flew to Riyadh for talks with the United States on a settlement in Ukraine.
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