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1/ This Yanis Varoufakis screed made me so angry the only way I can salvage my day is to go through it line by line as catharsis. You are welcome to come on the journey toward my aneurism with me. An angry h/t to @sianushka.bsky.social for bringing this into my life. unherd.com/2026/04/why-...

2/ Starting strong by positioning ending the war as a choice for Europe to make. Putin just wanted a 'sensible security pact', that's why he enshrined Russian ownership of four regions of Ukraine into the Russian constitution and tried to take Kyiv. Just a smol, sensible bean.

3/ So much to unpack here. First, the 'forever war' in this case is entirely Putin's choice. He could declare 'victory' or 'mission accomplished' or nothing at all and just withdraw to Russia's borders at literally any time. Macron isn't dragooning Russian troops into attacks on Kherson.

4/ The sanctions bit of this is also very dumb. It assumes Europeans thought sanctions would, for pretty much the first time in human history, topple a regime. Not signal opposition (which they did) Not slow down Russia's economy (which they did) Not starve Russia's warmachine (which they did).

5/ Yeah dude, Russia's economy is going great guns. They're crushing it. This is the kind of economic inisght and analysis that made Yanis such an invaluable asset to Greece. Is monthly inflation of 6% and a 15% interest rate good, Yanis? Military Keynsianism lmao.

7/ *"What the fuck are you talking about, Jesse?" meme* So a (US created) energy crisis in April of 2026 will compel the EU to abandon Ukraine and accept a peace deal that will see US owned pipelines that won't be finished for years eventually sell it Russian gas? Are you fucking high buddy?

8/ Every analyst who actually knows what they're talking about has been clear that while higher oil/gas prices as a result of the Strait crisis offer a reprieve for Russia, they don't solve any of their problems. It's a bandaid, not a prosthetic. Also, Ukrainian drones are working on it 😘.

9/ The 'hitler' stuff makes me really angry, because as always it positions the real problem not as the bad people doing bad things, but as the tone and linguistic choices of those condemning them. It's the "sure misogyny is bad, but feminists are so LOUD" of geopolotics. Fuck off Yanis.

Exactly. Russia’s net oil export capability is almost completely destroyed on various fronts. Russia is even importing refined products because Ukraine has managed to destroy so much of Russia’s refining capabilities. And China is flooding the globe with a cheap alternative to oil.

in fact the Ukrainian counter offensive is doing well and Ukraine is now killing Russians faster than Putin can recruit. Morale in Russian side is collapsing and internet ban suggests things far from rosy on Russian side. Ukraine has a much better chance of winning now than previously.

Having seen Varoufakis close-up in Kilkenny patronising the fck out of a female speaker and then subsequently being called out I would observe he absolutely loves himself. Sadly so do bunch of left of centre individuals.

Aside from such vanity seeming slightly more incongruous on the left, isn't it equally common across the political spectrum? It isn't hard to think of self-adoring individuals from left, right and centre.

Absolutely. This is not a left-right thing. He is more incongruous because his behaviours are at odds with his espoused values.

was that the time he told the Taiwanese energy expert she's "Chinese, just face it"?

Same festival. Varoufakis had patronised your colleague in John Clere's. That panel was about how countries get rich. Your colleague was explaining how Deng's reformed allowed Chinese people to do what they are good at - entrepreneurship. Varoufakis then wades in, talks over her and wangs on..(1/2)