This my own translation of an article of the weekly news smagazin "Der Spiegel". All mistakes or comprehension twists are mine. I do not excerpt to not introduce bias by being selective.
Merkel-Besuch in Sotschi Putin im Glück = Merkel visit in Sochi - Putin in Luck
by Christiane Hoffmann - Friday, 05/18/2018 10:02 pm

Syria, Iran, Ukraine: Chancellor Merkel came to Russia as a petitioner during her visit to Sochi today. She met a president who is more important internationally than ever before.

For Vladimir Putin, things could not go any better at the moment: The West is breaking down almost as fast as the Eastern bloc before his eyes, the transatlantic relationship is in the worst crisis of its history, and Europe is more dependent on Russia than ever before. In Syria, in Ukraine, in the nuclear deal with Iran - nothing works without Moscow.

In Italy, a government is currently emerging that has written the end of Russia's sanctions in its coalition agreement. The war in Syria is largely over in Putin's mind. And as if that was not enough, even Sergei Skripal was released from the hospital, for the Kremlin ruler the best proof that all allegations of the West, Moscow poisoned the ex-agent, are groundless.

This roughly outlined the situation in which Chancellor Angela Merkel met on Friday with the Russian President in his Black Sea Datsche Botscharew Rutschej.

Merkel's long list

Merkel had traveled to Sochi with a long list of concerns, one could almost say: pleas. Russia may finally agree to a robust UN mission in eastern Ukraine, so that the Minsk process can get going again. Russia may like to say (please) that even after the construction of the planned Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2, some of its gas will flow westwards via Ukraine in order to secure for that country the revenue from the transit.

Putin is to contain Iran in Syria. In addition, Russia should assert its influence on the regime of President Assad to facilitate the return of refugees. Assad's government has issued a decree expropriating the fledgling owners of houses and apartments. And let Russia mediate, so that the extremely dangerous situation around the city of Idlib, where 50,000 rebels have entrenched themselves together with civilians, can be defused.

In return, Merkel was able to offer one thing above all: further support for Nord Stream 2. Berlin has been fighting in Brussels against the EU Commission, which wants to prescribe to Russia, how much gas could flow through the oil pipeline, by regulation.

Chancellor Merkel was unable to get substantial concessions from Putin, but at least the atmosphere seemed less icy than at the last meeting in Sochi a year ago. More than an hour and a half, much longer than planned, the two sat together in private. After the serious collapse between them after the Ukraine crisis, something like trust seems to grow again. In concrete agreements Merkel sees Putin again as a reliable counterpart

Trump, the invisible third party

Merkel made it clear that for Germany the conflict in Ukraine is still the central issue. Putin, on the other hand, only mentioned the conflict just as the sidelines. He said that he ordered the foreign ministries to bow once more to the plan for a UN mission. In reality though the ideas about the mandate of the mission are a long way far apart from each other.

Considering the transit routes through Ukraine, Putin was open minded: The deliveries would continue, he said, but he immediately followed up with a restriction: "If they make economic sense."

For Syria, Putin expects humanitarian aid and support for reconstruction, he called on the Chancellor to give up "incomprehensible restrictions" on the Syrian government. It was necessary to depoliticize the auxiliary process, he demanded. Those who want people (refugees) to return from Europe to Syria need to work with the Syrian government, Putin said.

The invisible third party in the meeting with Putin was, of course, Donald Trump. Putin sees himself confirmed in his worldview by Trump. Russia has always believed that the US represents its interests and pulls with punches for them. That is a rather new experience for the Europeans.

It was important to Merkel that she did not give the impression that a new German-Russian alliance against the Americans was growing. One can say: That was not a danger at no time. The Chancellor repeatedly emphasized the "serious, fundamental differences" with Russia. And when Putin tried a joke at the expense of the Americans at the press conference, Merkel did not squinch up her face.

The first smile came only after 20 minutes: at the handshake to say goodbye. Nevertheless, the reckless acting of the US president seems to mitigate the view of Putin. Merkel spoke at the end of "overall important discussions". When she arrived at the palace, the Russian President had received the Chancellor with a bouquet of white roses. Flowers from Putin personally, Merkel has not seen that for a quite a while.

And now that too:

Trump's Dollar Keule = Trumps's Dollar Cudgel(?)
by Ines Zöttl, Washington - Saturday, 05/19/2018

Iran Sanctions: Trump's Dollar Baton

US President Trump wants to force Europe to follow the US with regards to the Iran sanctions - and uses the economic superiority of the dollar for that purpose. But with this brute force policy he endangers the economic dominance of his country.

The statesmanlike pose of the president lasted only a breath. The most important thing for him is peace, ideally "around the world," said Donald Trump at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the White House Cabinet. But then he started the furious tirade against the Europeans who dare to stand up to the US in Iran sanctions. "The European Union was terrible to us with regard to trade," he scolded. "They treat us as badly as they could handle us."

The European-American relations are as far away from international understanding as they haven't been for a long time. With their defiant decision to stick to the US nuclear deal with Iran, the 28 EU governments have declared a fight against Trump. But the US president refused to pick up the gauntlet last Thursday. "Greetings to Jean-Claude," he condescendingly acknowledged the announcement by EU Commission of President Juncker to reactivate the 1996 Blocking Statute, which would ban Europe's economy from participating in US sanctions.

The US feels superior - and so it is: The world's largest economy, a market with more than 300 million consumers, home to the leading stock exchanges, and the charts showing the dollar as the world currency, handling 40 percent of all international payments. Who dares to oppose such concentrated economic power?

In fact, the first European companies already started to sing meekly, while Angela Merkel and her colleagues at the summit in Sofia still advised what to do. The French oil company Total announced to stop a billion investment in Iran. This was followed by Maersk, the world's largest container shipping company, which declared Iranian ports the no-go area for their ships.

If you trade with Tehran, you risk trouble

These flight movements should accelerate in the future. Because US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has opened the torture box, in which are contained the instruments with which the US wants to force allegiance. A dozen laws and regulations prohibit just about any deal with Iran that's not about selling bread and butter. The US Government's strongest grip are in the so-called secondary sanctions: Any company that trades in Tehran risks being blacklisted and cut off from all dollar transactions, and in extreme cases even from the American market.

It is a powerful threat. Around 2,000 corporations outside America issue dollar bonds. The dollar debt of the foreign companies amount to five trillion. The dollar is not everything - but for international corporations there is nothing without dollars. "No matter how much they whine, no European or Asian company will opt for a terrorist regime and against the access to the US dollar," notes Richard Goldberg of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who was once worked on a draft for the sanctions in the US Congress.

Many companies have seen in the past that the US authorities do not take a joke over breaking sanctions. The French bank, BNP Paribas Chart, had to pay almost $ 9 billion in 2014, and Commerzbank Chart was charged $ 1.45 billion in 2015 for doing business for Iranian and Sudanese clients.

Erdogan is powerless too

And it's not just money that is at stake: Last week, a US court sentenced a manager of Turkish Halkbank to 32 months in jail for alleviating Iran sanctions. A condemnation of the banker would be "almost as if the Turkish state were declared a criminal," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had warned furiously before the verdict. That warning has not helped him.

American companies have therefore held back in anticipatory obedience. The head of the world's largest aircraft manufacturer Boeing, Dennis Muilenburg, calmed the analysts already in April. One will deliver no aircraft to Iran for the time being - that at a time when Merkel and France's President Macron still hoped to change the US president. For the three 777 jets that were originally scheduled to go to Iran Air this year, Boeing has been silently looking for other customers.

In Washington, one looks with benevolence that the foreign countries now follow suit. As a precaution, Total did not wait to see if the US Department of State granted them a waiver. One simply could "not afford to be exposed to any sanctions," the management said about a withdrawal. After all, in almost every financing measure of the group (TOTAL) US banks are involved., almost every third share is in American hands According to the Wall Street Journal, Wintershall, a subsidiary of the German concern BASF also let the Iranian partners know that the oil projects were shaky now - one depends on the parent company, which is heavily involved in the chemicals business in the US.

However, there is one factor of uncertainty in the US calculation of bringing the world in line using their sheer economic superiority: China. The emerging market is the largest buyer of Iranian oil and is likely to fiercely oppose shutting down its imports. But to cut off Beijing from the dollar, even Trump will not dare to do. China is the largest foreign lender in the US, a lender that his government, which is headed for a record US debt, urgently needs.

"China is a bit tired of being pushed around by the US," says Philip Nichols, a professor at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. So the leadership in Beijing could risk a fight for powerl with Trump - and thus promote their own economic goals. For a long time, the Chinese are working to build the yuan as the world currency. In March, they launched the first yuan futures contract on crude oil, an attempt to rival the dollar as a global oil trading currency.

So far, that is wishful thinking. But the reckless US action in the Iran conflict should increase the readiness of many states to seek alternatives to the overpowering US financial system. Not least, America's economic status is based on the trust that investors place in the US government around the world. This trust continues to falter with Trump's arbitrary policy. The British business magazine "Economist" is already convinced: "Mr. Trump has certainly brought the day closer to where China handles global payments in Yuan."

Just so for fun, I thought you might want to read how the German "Der Spiegel" edition and its author crews write about Merkel, Putin, Iran Sanctions and Trump etc.