55 miles of Bering Strait.

"Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says she can confirm that British-Iranian dual nationals Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliff and Anoosheh Ashoori are returning to the UK after spending years detained in Iran," El Arabiya. "Iranian state media reported that Britain had 'settled a long-overdue debt' of $530 million." "The late Iranian Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi paid the sum of 400 million British pounds for Chieftain tanks that were never delivered." This despite, "As many as 13 missiles struck Iraq's northern city of Erbil...near the US consulate, Iraqi security officials said," opindia.com. "According to the reports, the US defence official said missiles were launched at the city from neighboring Iran, adding that no injuries have been reported so far." Iran fired more than a dozen missiles at two Iraqi bases housing US troops after the assassination of Gen Qasem Soleimani by the US, USA Today. The United States has imposed an arms ban and an almost total economic embargo on Iran, which includes companies doing business with Iran, a ban on all Iranian-origin imports, sanctions on Iranian financial institutions, and an almost total ban on selling aircraft or repair parts to Iran aviation companies," wikipedia. Apparently sanctions do not preclude missiles or paying ransom money. With 5,542 sanctions, Russia is now the most sanctioned country in the world, Firstpost. In an attempt to completely destroy its economy Russian banks have been excluded from the SWIFT system of international transfer of money, Reuters. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that he will not allow NATO missiles right across Russia's border with Ukraine, Reuters. Recently, President Volodymyr Zelenski of Ukraine said he had no intention of pressing for membership of NATO and even hinted that he was open to compromise on the 2 pro-Russian territories of Donetsk and Lugansk, TOI. Why is the war still continuing if both sides can just settle it by agreeing mutual security guarantees? Are US and Europe preventing Zelensky from signing a peace deal with Russia and, if so, why? The US might want to divide Russia into pieces by destroying its economy so that it can put in puppet governments in different regions and loot Russia's natural resources. The old Soviet Union broke up into 15 independent countries in 1991, Britannica, because then President Mikhail Gorbachev failed to revive its moribund economy and tried to open up the country, leading to an attempted coup and the breakup, Britannica. Yugoslavia broke apart after 78 days of indiscriminate lethal bombing by NATO, BI. In 1867, Tsar Alexander II sold Alaska to the US for $7.2 million, which amounts to 2 cents per acre of land, opindia. Alaska and Siberia are separated by 55 miles of the Bering Strait. If the US succeeds in dismembering Russia it could overturn the 30-year contract between Russia and China to supply cheap gas, Reuters. The egregious assault on Russia maybe a warning to China not to annex Taiwan by force because the US has no stomach for a fight with China after having lost all its wars since World War II, Observer. Use Ukraine to destroy Russia. Even if Ukraine is destroyed by a meaningless war.