Russian state media host seethes at state of economy: 'We have no Visa, Mastercard, iPhone, or McDonald’s!'
A guest on the Russian program "60 Minutes" tried to put a rosy spin on the state of the Russian economy, but even host Evgeny Popov wasn't having it.
As reported by The Daily Beast's Julia Davis, the Russian news program this week discussed the semiconductor shortage that has been hampering Russia's military efforts in Ukraine, as it's left Russian troops without chipsets needed for secure communications equipment.
Popov told viewers that he didn't see any hope in the near future of Russia producing its own chips.
“One factory that produces semiconductors would cost us $20-30 billion," he said. "It’s quite clear that we can’t build them quickly. We have to look for them on foreign markets. It’s utopia for us to suggest we could be making them here."
That's when Vladimir Avatkov, from the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, suggested Russia could attract the help of other countries to fill the manufacturing void by creating its own NATO-style international security alliance.
Popov, however, quickly shot this down.
“They’re waiting to join us, even though we have no Visa, Mastercard, iPhone, or McDonald’s?” he asked sarcastically.
Elsewhere in Davis's report, she cites stories in the Russian press about Russian troops "buying supplies and equipment at their own expense," even as "state media propagandists are crowdfunding the purchase of drones -- and everyday citizens are sending toilet paper to the Russian troops."
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