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☆ EU discussing Russian oil price cap at $60/barrel with bi-monthly review
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationBRUSSELS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Representatives of European Union governments were discussing on Thursday a price cap on Russian seaborne oil at $60 per barrel, with a review every two months, yielding to pressure from some countries to lower the cap, diplomats said. The Group of Seven nations (G7) proposed last week a price cap on Russian oil, meant to diminish Moscow's revenues and its ability to finance its war in Ukraine, of $65-70 per barrel. Poland, Lithuania and Estonia refused to back the cap at that level, arguing Russian Urals crude was already trading lower so the cap would be ineffective. Two others confirmed the $60 level, noting there was no agreement yet. The three countries also insist that the price cap be regularly reviewed to adjust to changing market and geopolitical conditions and diplomats said EU government representatives were discussing a review every two months.

☆ Brussels proposes plan to confiscate frozen Russian assets
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( John Chalmers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Wednesday proposed confiscating Russian assets that have been frozen to punish Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine, exploring legal options with the EU's partners to compensate Kyiv for damage to the country. Officials in the European Union, the United States and other Western countries have debated for months how to legally seize Russian assets held abroad - both state and private - that are frozen by sanctions. The problem is that in most EU member states, seizing frozen assets is only legally possible where there is a criminal conviction. Also, many assets of blacklisted Russian citizens are difficult to seize or even freeze because they are registered as belonging to family members or front people. Russia says the freezing of its central bank's reserves and the assets of its citizens are illegal.

☆ EU seeks tribunal to probe possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We are ready to start working with the international community to get the broadest international support possible for this specialised court," von der Leyen said. Ukraine has been pushing for the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian military and political leaders it holds responsible for starting the war. The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) launched its own investigation into alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes days after Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion, but it does not have jurisdiction to prosecute aggression in Ukraine. The G7 agreed on Tuesday to set up a network to coordinate investigations into war crimes as part of a push to prosecute suspected atrocities in Ukraine. There are several forms the special aggression tribunal could take but legal experts say the most likely is a so-called hybrid tribunal, operating under Ukrainian law with support from the international community.

☆ EU inches towards deal on Russian oil price cap this week
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Jan Strupczewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Last Wednesday, representatives of EU governments debated for the first time a price cap level that would still provide an incentive for Moscow to sell, but at a much smaller profit. "But since then prices have kept falling and are now below the cap level, so that level achieves no objective," he said. The three countries, which all border Russia, back a $30 price cap. The oil price cap has not been added to their agenda, but still could be, diplomats said. They also said talks would continue in smaller groups, and between EU and G7 countries, to find a deal before Monday.

☆ Ukraine holds food security summit in Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo attend a meeting, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 26, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERSKYIV, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hosted an international summit in Kyiv on Saturday to discuss food security and agricultural exports with the prime ministers of Belgium, Poland and Lithuania and the president of Hungary. Zelenskiy opened the summit speaking at a panel flanked by his chief of staff and prime minister. French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen delivered speeches that were shown by video. Reporting by Dan Peleschuk; writing Tom Balmforth; Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU to provide more help to maintain power, heating in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The European Union will step up efforts to provide Ukraine with support to restore and maintain power and heating, the head of the European Commission said on Friday, after a new wave of Russian missile attacks on critical Ukrainian infrastructure. Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement after a phone call with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy the EU executive arm was preparing the delivery to Ukraine large donations from EU countries and from the Commission's reserves. Von der Leyen said the EU would provide 200 medium-sized transformers and a large autotransformer from Lithuania, a medium-sized autotransformer from Latvia and 40 heavy generators from the EU reserve in Romania. "Each of these generators can provide uninterrupted power to a small to medium-sized hospital," she said. Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The West is struggling to set an oil price cap that hurts Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Putin said Thursday that Western plans to introduce oil price caps would have “grave consequences” for energy markets. The oil price cap aims to amend that policy. Shipping services and insurance could be provided to tankers transporting Russian oil — so long as it’s purchased at or below the price cap established by Western nations. “But reality will be different.”Some analysts think the price cap will ultimately be less important than Europe’s oil embargo. “Due to the EU oil embargo and the planned price cap on oil from Russia, oil production there is likely to be significantly curtailed,” Commerzbank said in a note to clients.

☆ EU preparing new Russia sanctions package, von der Leyen says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Essi Lehto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HELSINKI, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The European Union is pressing ahead with a ninth sanctions package on Russia in response to Moscow's attack on Ukraine, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said during a visit to Finland on Thursday. "We are working hard to hit Russia where it hurts to blunt even further its capacity to wage war on Ukraine and I can announce today that we are working full speed on a ninth sanctions package," von der Leyen told a news conference. We will not rest until Ukraine has prevailed over Putin and his unlawful and barbaric war," she said. Von der Leyen did not provide details of what measures a new round of EU sanctions could contain. At a joint news conference with the prime ministers of Finland and Estonia, and the deputy prime minister of Sweden, von der Leyen said Russia's attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure such as power supply amounted to war crimes.

☆ Zelenskyy calls for 'strong reaction' from the UN after Russian bombs left millions of Ukrainians without heat and water in below-freezing temperatures: 'We expect the reaction of friends — not just o
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Zelenskyy condemned recent Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. The president called for a strong global response to the assault, which has left millions without power. "We expect a strong reaction from the world to today's Russian terror. We expect the reaction of friends — not just observers," Zelenskyy said. A newborn baby was killed in an earlier Russian missile attack that hit a hospital maternity ward in the Zaporizhzhia region late Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said.

BRUSSELS, Nov 24 (Reuters) - European Council President Charles Michel will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in China on Dec. 1 to discuss a range of global challenges including the war in Ukraine, tensions over Taiwan and EU concerns about imbalanced economic ties. The visit comes after European leaders jointly expressed concern at a meeting last month about economic reliance on China. Michel was likely to stress the need to rebalance the EU-China economic relationship and the importance of abiding by global trading rules. Since 2019, the European Union has regarded China more warily, describing it then as a partner, an economic competitor and a system rival. Reporting by Marine Strauss @StraussMarine, Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Alex Richardson, Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Yves HermanSummary Attack followed EU declaring Russia a state sponsor of terrorismBRUSSELS, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The European Parliament's website was unavailable for several hours on Wednesday due to a denial-of-service attack by "Pro-Kremlin" hackers, after its lawmakers designated Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, the institute's president said. The parliament's website was up again shortly after 1700 GMT, around two hours after the institution had reported the outage. "The European Parliament is under a sophisticated cyberattack. A pro-Kremlin group has claimed responsibility," European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said in a tweet shortly after the website went down. The move is largely symbolic, as the European Union does not have a legal framework in place to back it up.

Leaders from the Group of Seven nations as well as Spain and the Netherlands, who are all on the Indonesian island of Bali for the G20 summit, held an emergency meeting in response to the missile strike in Poland. The G20 leaders' meeting on Wednesday will be important to raise their awareness of the war in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron's office said on Tuesday after reports of the blasts in Poland. G20 leaders were due to visit a site in Bali to plant mangroves on Wednesday morning, although the schedule of the meeting hosted by Indonesia has not always run to plan. As at other recent international forums, the United States and its allies were seeking a statement from the G20 summit against Moscow's military actions. A 16-page draft declaration seen by Reuters, which diplomats said was yet to be adopted by leaders, acknowledged the rift over the Ukraine war.

☆ Biden says it's 'unlikely' the missile that hit Poland was fired from Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. President Joe Biden said it is unlikely that the missile that hit Poland and killed two people was fired from Russia, but the United States and allies unanimously agreed to support the country's investigation. "There is preliminary information that contests that," Biden said when asked if the missile was fired from Russia. Biden didn't address whether the missile could have been fired by Russia from Ukraine or elsewhere. Participants included G-7 members and allies: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Spainish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and European Council President Charles Michel. "The moment when the world came together at the G-20 to urge de-escalation, Russia continues to escalate in Ukraine," Biden said.

☆ Degrowth: A dangerous idea or the answer to the world's biggest problems?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“An innocent 2 or 3% per year, it’s an enormous amount of growth — cumulative growth, compound growth — over time,” said Giorgos Kallis, a top degrowth scholar based at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Action Press/ShutterstockThe UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently cited degrowth in a major report. Investment bank Jefferies said investors should consider what happens if degrowth gathers steam, noting “climate-anxious” younger generations have different consumer values. She’s criticized “fairy tales about non-existent technological solutions” and “eternal economic growth.” And she’s touched on another point degrowthers raise: Is our current system, which has produced rampant inequality, even working for us? Gates, the Microsoft co-founder who’s prioritized investing in climate innovations, admits that overhauling global energy systems is a Herculean task.

☆ Factbox: G20 summit: Which leaders will attend Bali summit?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It will also mark the first face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping since Biden became president. CHINA'S PRESIDENT XI JINPINGXi's visit to Southeast Asia will be only his second foreign trip since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. UKRAINE'S PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY (VIRTUAL)Indonesia invited Zelenskiy to attend the summit as an obsever, although the Indonesian foreign ministry has said he will appear at the summit virtually. INDIAN PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODIModi is due to symbolically take over the G20 presidency from current chair Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Bali. He also committed to work closely with the Indonesian president to help deliver a successful summit.

[1/2] European Council President Charles Michel speaks with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the Chinese President Xi Jinping via video conference during an EU-China summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Belgium April 1, 2022. Olivier Matthys/Pool via REUTERSBEIJING/BRUSSELS, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Chinese authorities behind a major trade expo in Shanghai pulled an opening ceremony address by the European Council president that was set to criticise Russia's "illegal war" in Ukraine and call for reduced trade dependency on China, diplomats said. "President Michel was invited to address 5th Hongqiao Forum/CIIE in Shanghai," Barend Leyts, a spokesman for Michel told Reuters. Europe has been over-dependent on Russia for fossil fuels, leading to a trade imbalance, Michel was to say. Michel was also set to call for China to do more do put an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine.

☆ What to watch on Tuesday at COP27
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 8 (Reuters) - World leaders will take the stage again on Tuesday as the COP27 climate summit enters its second full day. Among the expected speakers are outspoken advocates for measures to compensate poor, climate-vulnerable countries for damage already being wrought by global warming. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, will also speak on Tuesday, along with European Council President Charles Michel, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and dozens of others. U.S. President Joe Biden won't arrive until next week, but his delegation will open its pavilion at the COP27 venue on Tuesday and Special Envoy John Kerry and John Podesta, Biden's senior adviser on clean energy innovation will be there. Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Sarah McFarlane, editing by Deepa BabingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest news: Zelenskiy warns of more attacks on energy infrastructure
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 7 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned against more potential Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, while the mayor of Kyiv urged residents to consider preparing to leave temporarily if the capital lost water and power supplies. * Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday to discuss macro-financial aid for Ukraine and further sanctions on Iran, Zelenskiy said. * Iran acknowledged for the first time that it had supplied drones to Moscow, but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used them to target power stations and civilian infrastructure. FIGHTING, CONFLICTRussia is suffering heavy losses in "fierce" attacks in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region and is preparing new assaults on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Zelenskiy said in nightly video remarks on Sunday. * External power has been restored to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant two days after it was disconnected from the power grid following damage to high-voltage lines from Russian shelling, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy discusses financial aid, Iran sanctions with EU's von der Leyen
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a joint news conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (not seen), as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 31, 2022. REUTERS/Viacheslav RatynskyiKYIV, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday to discuss macro-financial aid for Ukraine and further sanctions on Iran, Zelenskiy said. "Noted the importance of continuing the grain initiative for world food security. Discussed increasing sanctions & opposing actions of Iran, which supports aggression," Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter. Reporting by Max Hunder; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Europe Seeks Exemption From U.S. Rules on EV Tax Breaks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Kim Mackrael | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The task force is being led by the cabinet of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the U.S. National Security Council. BRUSSELS—U. S. and European Union environmental policies are on a collision course, prompting an urgent meeting to defuse rising tensions over clean-technology subsidies that threaten to upset a trade relationship that leaders had pledged to rebuild. A new task force focused on clean-energy tax credits that were included in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act will hold its first in a series of weekly meetings on Friday, an EU official said. The task force, which is being led by the U.S. National Security Council and the cabinet of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen , is meant to address EU concerns that many European-made products won’t qualify for the credits because of where they were made.

But even if the bloc's 27 member countries reach agreement on the plan, to enforce it they must overcome rising costs and uncertainties linked to power market reforms triggered by the price surge linked to war in Ukraine. As energy prices have increased all costs, including of the materials needed for renewable infrastructure, investment models built on low prices for renewably-produced electricity are in doubt. RECORD PRICES, EXTREME UNCERTAINTYFar-reaching inflation, driven by expensive energy, has led governments to seek to cap wholesale energy costs and consider reforming markets after years of stability. The wholesale benchmark German baseload front year electricity price hit a record above 1,000 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) on Aug. 29. Beyond the short-term fixes, the EU plans a major overhaul of its electricity market to decouple the price of electricity from the price of gas.

☆ Europe warms more than any other continent in last 3 decades
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Gloria Dickie | Isla Binnie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Europe has warmed more than twice as much as the rest of the world over the past three decades and experienced the greatest temperature increase of any continent, according to a report by the World Meteorological Organization. The report on the state of the climate in Europe follows a summer of extremes. "Europe presents a live picture of a warming world and reminds us that even well prepared societies are not safe from impacts of extreme weather events," WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas said in a statement. For example, fewer clouds over Europe during the summer has meant more sunlight and heat now reaches the continent, said Freja Vamborg, senior scientist with the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Some scientists have called Europe a "heatwave hotspot" as the number of heatwaves on the continent have increased faster than in other regions due to changes in atmospheric circulation.

☆ Europe's militaries have been working together for years to keep an eye on what Russia is up to at sea
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Nord Stream pipeline sabotage in September drew new attention to maritime threats in Europe. European militaries have already been working on new ways to protect undersea infrastructure. Although the pipelines were not in use— Nord Stream 1 was shut down in March by EU sanctions against Russia, and Nord Stream 2 wasn't yet operational—the incident highlights the risks to underwater infrastructure. Even before the war in Ukraine, Western officials had grown worried about increasing activity by Russian ships and submarines around underwater cables crossing the Atlantic. "Russia is clearly taking an interest in NATO and NATO nations' undersea infrastructure," the admiral said at the time.

☆ U.S., EU launch formal group to discuss conflict over EV subsidies
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - U.S. and European Union officials will formally launch a task force next week to discuss new American laws that Europeans fear will discriminate against foreign electric car makers, according to a statement on Tuesday. Among the law's provisions are requirements that EVs be assembled in North America to qualify for tax credits. The law also ends subsidies for other EV models and requires that a percentage of critical minerals used in those cars' batteries come from the United States or an American free-trade partner. The task force would "promote deeper understanding" on the "opportunities and concerns for EU producers," Watson said, and comes after high-level meetings between Biden administration officials and allied countries angered over the new law. Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia has destroyed over a third of Ukraine's energy sector - President Zelenskiy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

KYIV, Oct 25 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a conference on Ukraine reconstruction on Tuesday that Russian rockets and Iran-made drones had destroyed more than a third of his contry's energy sector. Zelenskiy also told the conference in Berlin via video link that Ukraine had yet to receive "a single cent" towards a fast recovery plan worth a total $17 billion. "Russia is destroying everything so that it is harder for us to get through the winter," Zelenskiy told the conference, which was attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and other senior politicians and officials. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Max Hunder and Pavel Polityuk Writing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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