Today's prime time geopolitical risk event is Putin's speech to a joint session of parliament, in which he will address the Crimean crisis. No major surprises are likely, with mentions of retaliatory sanctions and the formal annexation of Crimea expected to be the main talking points, although it is the nuances and the phrasing that threaten to pull the USDJPY lower potentially into the double digit territory at which point all bets are off, if only for the Nikkei and the future of Abenomics. Watch Putin's speech live below (if embed does not work, the link to RT is here [5]).
Speech highlights via BBG:
- RUSSIA FELT ROBBED BY BREAKUP OF SOVIET UNION, PUTIN SAYS
- SOVIET UNION COULDN’T IMAGINE RUSSIA, UKRAINE AS SEPARATE:PUTIN
- PUTIN SAYS 1954 CRIMEA HANDOVER WAS UNCONSTITUIONAL
- RUSSIA PARTLY TO BLAME FOR SOVIET BREAKUP, FORGOT CRIMEA: PUTIN
- PUTIN SAYS CRIMEA VOTE TO JOIN RUSSIA MET INTL STANDARDS
- PUTIN SAYS TODAY’S DECISION OF HISTORIC IMPORTANCE
- PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA MUST REBUILD TIES WITH INDEPENDENT UKRAINE
So just a few more countries to go until the USSR is fully restored?