*
It was true, things were not looking good. The crisis was ballooning out of control and the effects were spilling over into financial markets just as it seemed business was looking good and the worse of the financial crisis was. The German foreign minister called it a powder keg with the gravity of a Cold War style confrontation.
Putin’s hard line in Syria had led to a disastrous stalemate and Russia could face huge losses in the case of a Ukrainian default. Of course Moscow held huge reserves, over five hundred billion dollars, though compared to their Georgian adventure in 2008, which had cost them two hundred billion, Ukraine represented a much greater risk.
John Francis watched Fitzwilliams talking to Kennedy on the phone. He said nothing though he felt Fitzwilliams was being overly harsh. The Machiavellian like manoeuvres on the global check-board made by Moscow or Washington were not of Kennedy’s making.
Russia had become too reliant on energy exports and a geopolitical crisis was not good for business, especially as the US was quickly reaching self-reliance in oil and gas. Any further stress, especially in China, would be cause for concern with serious ramifications for the global economy.
The banker had reason to be concerned. Over the past five years INI had expanded into Russia and China, and their whole business could come tumbling down if the Chinese bubble suddenly burst, or if civil war broke out on Europe’s own doorstep.
“Suddenly it seems flashpoints are sprouting up everywhere,” moaned Fitzwilliams, “Egypt, Syria, Thailand, Venezuela, Turkey, Ukraine, Argentina.... Perhaps I’m just getting paranoid.”
“I’m afraid it’s always been like that Michael,” Francis reminded him.
“Hmm.”
“A quick look at history,” said Francis speaking of Russia, “shows the Slavic world to be a permanent story of war and strife.”
Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev in Sochi
Fitzwilliams opened the drinks cabinet and poured a good glass of Irish whisky, then zapped the TV to follow the unfolding drama in Kiev.
“Not all the new is bad,” Fitzwilliams said, pointing to the breaking news that flashed by at the bottom of the screen, “England has won a bronze medal for kurling!”
“Apart from the humour Michael, I’d say Putin’s sincerity is about as good as Kaiser Wilhelm’s was in 1908.”
“Oh?”
“He said: ‘You English, are mad, mad, mad as March hares. What has come over you that you are so completely given over to suspicions quite unworthy of a great nation? What more can I do than I have done? I declared with all the emphasis at my command, in my speech at Guildhall, that my heart is set upon peace, and that it is one of my dearest wishes to live on the best of terms with England. Have I ever been false to my word….’
“That about sums up Putin’s intentions.’
Cornucopia Page 23
