Vladimir Komlev, the head of the Russian National Payment System (NPS), announced in a Dec. 8 interview with Rossiya 24 TV, that Russia will run a test of its own SWIFT-style bank clearing system on Dec. 15. It will be tested with eight large banks, including VTB bank (#2 in the country), and SMP and Rossiya banks (both sanctioned by the west). Komlev said the new system should be up and running by May 2015. Russia Today reports that this is "part of Russia's ambitious initiative to move away from the Western dominance of its financial markets." Russia has also made it clear that it is working with China on an alternate bank clearing system.

Recall that it was Walter Munchau in the Financial Times who earlier this year called for bringing Russia to its knees "in a week," by expelling it from the SWIFT system, since

"payment systems are the nuclear bombs of the financial war."

On Dec. 3, Andrei Kostin, head of Russia's VTB (Foreign Trade Bank), stated that such steps would constitute a "bright red line" and that, "in my personal opinion, it would mean war, if this type of sanction were introduced."

That same Kostin, back on October 2 told Izvestia: "Two to three years is enough, not only to launch [settlements in rubles], but also to complete these mechanisms."

He said he had made the proposal about a decade ago, but

"I did not find understanding in this matter with the previous leadership of the Central Bank... Under the new leadership the position of the Central Bank changed. I think that soon we will achieve a major breakthrough."

Kostin then described the threat to expel Russia from SWIFT as "a point of no return." He added that Russia has developed its own system, "the Central Bank has tested this system, and we can switch to it at any moment."

On Nov. 14, Ramilya Kanafina, deputy head of the NPS department at the Central Bank of Russia, told the press that Russia would have its own system up and running by May 2015. "Given the challenges, Bank of Russia is creating its own system for transmitting financial messaging.. It's time to hurry up." In September 2014, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov visited Beijing to discuss setting up such a joint system of interbank transactions, and he told the press afterwards: "Yes, we have discussed and we have approved this idea."

Chief of the Russian General Staff Gen. Gerasimov charged yesterday, that NATO was using 'fairy tales' to justify its military build-up in eastern Europe, reports Sputnik News.
"Ground-, sea-based and air forces of the alliance have stepped up their activities in Poland, the Baltic region, and in the Black and Baltic seas," he said, during an address to foreign military attaches in Moscow.
"Military exercises and drills explained by contrived fairy tales of 'threat from the east' have also intensified."

He also said that leaderships of western countries are directly involved in overthrowing legitimate governments in a number of countries. "Throughout the year there were continued attempts of interference in the domestic affairs of a number of sovereign states using the so-called color revolution format," Gerasimov said during a meeting with military attaches from several countries. According to Gerasimov's assessment, "public interest and direct involvement of the political leadership of leading western countries in overthrowing the legitimate state power by using any method cannot but call for our serious concern."

Gerasimov: US Is Trying To Counter Russia's Nuclear Deterrent

General Valeriy Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff of the Russian military, warned today, that the policy of the United States, along with its European allies, is to weaken Russia's military-economic potential. He delivered the pointed message to the widest possible international audience of professionals: some 70 military attaches from 50 countries accredited to Russia.

"Steps are being taken to implement specific measures to weaken Russia's strategic nuclear force," said Gerasimov, according to Tass. "Building up the combat capabilities of the US global missile defense system has been selected as one of the chief means of such counteraction."

Gerasimov said that the military potential

Gerasimov also said that the United States and NATO take Russia as one of their main geopolitical rivals. "This relates to crisis settlement in Syria, Iranian nuclear program, events in Ukraine, creation of a positioning area of US missile defense system in Europe, and other pressing problems of global security," he said.

NATO's war build-up took another step forward this week, with the completion of Exercise Trident Lance, held with 3,700 troops at Grafenwohr, Germany, and other locations. The purpose of the exercise, according to a report in {Stars & Stripes}, was

"improving the effectiveness and reaction time [with which] the Alliance's land forces could respond to an international crisis."

The scenario, S&S further reports, "dealt with the hypothetical invasion of NATO member Estonia." Although planning for the exercise began two years ago, NATO Commander Gen. Philip Breedlove put it squarely in the current context.

Lt. Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of Land Command, said that the exercise showed that the command has finally reached its full operational capability.

"We've learned a tremendous amount through the exercise, but we're also confident that coming out of this exercise we're very capable, and we as an Alliance are capable, of conducting large-scale land operations," Nicholson said.

US War Provocations Against Russia

The US is trumpeting the impending rebasing of two additional Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyers -- the USS Carney and the USS Porter -- to Rota, Spain, in 2015. They'll be joining the USS Donald Cook and the USS Ross, which arrived there earlier this year and have both subsequently spent time in the Black Sea.

US Naval Forces Europe, the navy component of United States European Command, told Sputnik News.

Meanwhile, Victoria Nuland's boy in Kiev, Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyiuk, declared, December 10th, that the Kiev regime will be moving forward with aligning Ukraine with NATO.

"The law that was passed as a bribe to Russians, on the so-called non-bloc status of Ukraine, should be cancelled. Ukraine will adopt a new law on the foundations of domestic and foreign policy, where the non-bloc status will be cancelled and the Ukrainian army should meet NATO standards," he said.

Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Brian McKeon told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, December 10th that Russia is not in compliance with the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty, and that military measures are in preparation to "make Russia less secure." McKeon accused Russia of breaking multiple treaties: Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, the Threshold Test Ban Treaty, the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, the Treaty on Open Skies, the INF Treaty, and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

He said Russia denies non-compliance, so the US is preparing "diplomatic, economic and strategic" responses.