"Merz Blocks Nord Stream Forever, Seeks EU Sanctions; Trump Slaps 50% Tariffs EU; Putin Orders Buffer"
by Alexander Mercouris, The Duran (May 23, 2025)
https://theduran.com/merz-blocks-nord-stream-forever-seeks-eu-sanctions-trump-slaps-50-tariffs-eu-putin-orders-buffer/

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1:18:16 Alexander Mercouris: “I’ve been away in St. Petersburg for a couple of days and the week before. I was tied up with all sorts of matters, some of them related to preparations for that trip. Also, I was obviously heavily focused on the constant movement involving the negotiations in the conflict in Ukraine. As a result, I lost touch, if you will, fully with the situation in the middle east. Now, I’m going to say quickly a few things about this. Firstly, a narrative has been spreading among a number of people that there has been some faltering of Western support for ‘Israel’ [or, more accurately, Occupied Palestine]. Well, over the last two or three days, I have finally become, rather belatedly, I admit, to understand exactly what is happening in Gaza.

Now, at this point, I’m afraid, I have to be extremely careful what I say. The sensitivities of platforms are becoming demanding, to say the least, and the British authorities have recently taken to questioning people who return from foreign visits if they say things which the British authorities are unhappy about. And, of course, I am somebody who travels. There are more things that can follow beyond that, as well. So, I had to think about all of these matters. But it seems to me that we are well beyond the point of a mere breakdown of a ceasefire in Gaza. Things are being done which, well, have a scale and a nature which I would once never have imagined conceivable. And in light of these enormous events that are taking place, I’m going to say that I think the criticisms of Israel, the muted criticisms that are being made by European governments are not genuine criticisms at all. They are simply attempts to give those governments an alibi in light of the horror that is taking place there.

As for reports that Israel is planning to strike at Iran without first getting the consent of the United States, I don’t really believe that. I think that this is, again, a further attempt by some people in Israel to put political pressure on Donald Trump and the United States to fall into line to fall in line with Israeli plans.

So, I’m afraid I have become even more skeptical about the stories about the rift between the West and Israel than I had been previously. For the record, I think that when these events are written up, it will be seen very clearly that we have, all of us in the West, descended into a moral abyss. The political consequences are going to be dreadful. The moral consequences are far, far worse. And shame on our leaders who don’t see that. … This is what I think and what I feel. …