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☆ Ukraine, Baltics rebuke Macron for suggesting 'security guarantees' for Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

read moreUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's top aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, said that it is the world that needs security guarantees from Russia, not the other way around. "Civilized world needs 'security guarantees' from barbaric intentions of post-Putin Russia," Podolyak said on Twitter on Sunday. "Someone wants to provide security guarantees to a terrorist and killer state?" "The only security guarantees we should focus on are essentially non-Russian," he said on his Twitter account. "After that, we are ready to sit down at the negotiation table and talk about security guarantees."

☆ EU sanctions on Russian oil take effect on Monday - here's what to expect and why the price cap may not yield any real results
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

EU officials have agreed to set a price cap on Russian oil at $60 a barrel. Starting Monday, seaborne imports of Russian oil into the EU will be banned, as will European insurance and shipping services for vessels carrying Russian oil anywhere in the world. How would the oil price cap work? At the same time, the EU, G7 member countries, and Australia are participating in the price cap on Russian oil. But the EU ban on Russian oil supersedes a price cap, Energy Aspects analyst Amrita Sen has pointed out.

☆ Russia condemns German parliament for declaring Ukraine Soviet-era famine a genocide
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 1 (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday the German parliament's move to recognise the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine as a Soviet-imposed genocide was an anti-Russian provocation and an attempt by Germany to whitewash its Nazi past. In a decision welcomed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, German lawmakers passed a resolution on Wednesday declaring the death by starvation of millions of Ukrainians - the Holodomor - was genocide. Millions of Ukrainian peasants starved to death in the following months from what Yale University historian Timothy Snyder calls "clearly premeditated mass murder". Russia on Thursday rejected the claim that this was a genocide and said millions of people across other parts of the Soviet Union, including in Russia, also suffered. "The Germans are trying to rewrite their history ... downplay their own guilt and muddy the memory of the unprecedented nature of the countless crimes committed by Nazi Germany during World War Two," it added.

☆ - Have patience, Russia sanctions will work, Lithuania PM says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Poland and other Western states have said the missile was a Ukrainian air defence missile that went astray in pursuit of a Russian missile. "The better air defence system Ukraine has, the less probability of incidents like that might happen... It is important not only for NATO to provide a decent (air) defence system, but also provide Ukraine with a decent (air) defence system," she said. Since the invasion, NATO has named Russia a persistant threat, nearby Sweden and Finland have applied to join the alliance and the NATO presence in the Baltics has increased. The Belarus military did not take part in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but Russian troops used Belarus territory for their offensive.

☆ The bubble in predicting the end of the world
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Edward Chancellor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers says the world faces the “most complex, disparate and cross-cutting set of challenges” he’s ever encountered. In his wittily titled “The End of the World is Just the Beginning”, the geopolitical strategist suggests that a number of countries from Germany to China face insuperable demographic challenges. The threat to America’s global hegemony from China is the subject of Ray Dalio’s “The Changing World Order”. The U.S. stock market bubble has only partially deflated, bond yields around the world trail below inflation, and global property markets are exposed to rising interest rates. The Assyrian who forecast the world would end in 2800 BC was wrong.

Russia acknowledges attacking Ukrainian infrastructure but denies deliberately seeking to harm civilians. NATO foreign ministers pledged to step up political and practical support to Ukraine and maintain it for as long as necessary. If we have air defence systems, we can protect from the next Russian missile strikes," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. [1/4] NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg poses with foreign ministers of NATO countries during the family photo at their meeting in Bucharest, Romania November 29, 2022. Foreign ministers also reaffirmed a 2008 NATO summit decision that Ukraine would eventually become a member of the alliance.

☆ Russian oil is now 20% below the proposed price cap as EU nations remain split in talks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

That's 20% lower than the European Union's proposed price cap of $65 per barrel, though some nations want it lower. EU member countries are resuming talks on Monday over the Russia oil price cap. Last week, reports said a price cap of $65-$70 was under discussion. The price cap will coincide the EU's December 5 embargo on seaborne Russian crude imports and ban on related services for deliveries worldwide. But because Russian oil is already selling below the proposed price cap level, analysts have noted that it wouldn't be low enough to weaken Moscow's revenue.

☆ Cap on Russian oil prices is probably too high to be effective, economist says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailCap on Russian oil prices is probably too high to be effective, economist saysVivek Dhar of CBA says it remains to be seen whether disagreement from Poland and the Baltic states will lower the oil price cap.

☆ NATO troops hold drills in Poland's Suwalki Gap
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Kuba Stezycki | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KLUSY, Poland, Nov 25 (Reuters) - NATO forces took part in drills in northern Poland on Friday, an area of crucial significance to the security of the alliance's eastern flank. "As part of these drills there were exercises that... were formulated based on our experience and observation of the battlefield in Ukraine," said Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak. The TUMAK- 22 exercises involve 2,000 soldiers from land and air forces, the Polish Ministry of Defence said. On the snowy day, drills included practicing crossing water and landing. The drill saw dozens of Polish and allied soldiers cross the water with military vehicles on amphibious transporters, while U.S. troops in Abrams tanks simulated chasing the enemy.

☆ Oil drops 4% as the EU considers capping Russian oil prices between $65-$70, with the bloc split on the potential move
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Oil prices fell Wednesday following reports the European Union is thinking about capping Russian oil prices at $65-$70 a barrel. The Group of Seven nations has been working on a price cap since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But several EU diplomats said the proposed range was too high, Bloomberg reported. The price cap is meant to provide a carve-out in the EU's December 5 ban on seaborne Russian oil imports and related services worldwide. As Western customers shun Moscow, Russia has been selling its crude at a discount, which some analysts have estimated is already below the proposed price cap.

☆ EBRD warns of rise in 'zombie' firms if pandemic measures continue
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Jorgelina Do Rosario | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development urged governments in its region to rethink COVID-19 support measures for companies, warning that propping up "zombie" firms could have a knock-on effect on healthy businesses. However, ongoing support was no longer sustainable in a world of high interest rates, the EBRD said. Having zombie firms present in an economy creates negative spillovers for healthy firms, which see lower investment, revenue and employment, the EBRD warned. The problem is more present in economies dominated by government-run companies and banks, the EBRD found: 13% of state-owned enterprises in the 12-country sample used for the study could be classified as zombie firms, compared with 9% of privately-owned firms. The EBRD report also showed mixed progress on reforms by countries in six key areas, from competitiveness and resilience to the way they are governed.

The previous day, the 27 EU leaders locked horns over a joint response to the acute energy crunch that has engulfed the bloc since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Smaller countries also appealed for a united EU front vis-a-vis Beijing, pointing to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's planned visit to China next month. "Germany's industrial strategy, and its economic model that feeds it, is toxic for the EU," Eurointelligence said in a commentary on Thursday. Germany, the EU's biggest economy, also leads the small EU camp opposed to capping gas prices, with Scholz defending himself on Thursday against accusations from other EU leaders that Berlin is pursuing selfish and unfair energy policies. Some EU countries want wider sanctions imposed on Iran, and the summit will also condemn Tehran's use of force against protests.

☆ Watch Estonia's foreign minister — whose country just voted to declare Russia a terrorist state— bluntly say he wants to see Putin go 'to hell'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Estonian Foreign Affairs Minister Urmas Reinsalu was asked Tuesday about Vladimir Putin. When political reporter Nina Haase-Trobridge of DW News asked Reinsalu, "Would you like to see Vladimir Putin go to jail," the foreign minister had another place in mind. Reinsalu's forward answer may not come as a surprise given his outspoken support for Ukraine and denunciation of Putin's war. The foreign minister previously defended his country's decision to ban Russian tourists and stop issuing new visas to Russians. At the outset of Russia's invasion, Estonia donated one-third of its military budget to Ukraine, according to the foreign minister.

☆ Estonia turns back to shale oil as it cuts off Russian power
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Janis Laizans | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AUVERE, Estonia, Oct 19 (Reuters) - When Baltic states switched off Russian power and halted other imports in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Estonia restarted its shale oil power plants and set back its efforts to phase out heavily polluting fuels. "This is just to replace the missing power supplies and compensate for high power prices." "This is just to replace the missing power supplies and compensate for high power prices," Stutter said of the shift back to shale oil. About 80% of cost of power from the power plants are environmental taxes. Eesti Energia said it had hired 600 people this year to ramp up shale oil production and to staff the power plants.

☆ Russia’s EU Neighbors Won’t Welcome Conscripts Fleeing Mobilization for Ukraine War
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Drew Hinshaw | Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN—Russians hoping to flee President Vladimir Putin’s mass mobilization of civilians are facing a cold shoulder from the country’s European Union neighbors, who say they won’t roll out the welcome mat. Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which all share land borders with Russia, have swiftly and collectively ruled out expanding their asylum categories to allow Russians fleeing mobilization to enter their territory. Officials from Poland and the Baltic states said in interviews they wouldn’t compromise their internal security by extending that welcome to the vast number of Russians who could potentially qualify. Those governments also hold little sympathy for Russian citizens who can’t demonstrate a longstanding opposition to their country’s incursions into Georgia, Crimea and other military interventions.

☆ Estonian PM tells nation to prepare for blackouts if Russia switches off power grid
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas speaks to media after an extraordinary parliamentary session in Tallinn, Estonia July 18, 2022. REUTERS/Ints KalninsVILNIUS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told her nation that power blackouts are possible if Russia kicks the Baltic states from the joint power grid, as she announced a snap defence readiness exercise. Thirty years after seceding from the then-Soviet Union and 17 years since joining the EU, Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia still depend on Russia for stable power supplies. A 1.6-billion-euro ($1.94 billion) EU-funded project aims to disconnect the Baltic states from their common power grid with Russia and Belarus in 2025 in favour of the decentralised power system of continental Europe. read moreEuropean power grid network ENTSO-E will connect to the Baltic states' grids within 24 hours if the countries were to be disconnected by Russia, helping avoid blackouts, Lithuanian power grid operator Litgrid said in July.

☆ Russia's Putin says Russian weapons showing 'great effectiveness' in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Baltic states and Poland close doors to Russian tourists, article with galleryEurope · September 19, 2022Four of the five European Union countries bordering Russia began turning away Russian tourists at midnight on Monday, saying they should not travel while their country is at war with Ukraine.

☆ Baltic states and Poland close doors to Russian tourists
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A general view of the bridge over Narva river at the border crossing point with Russia in Narva, Estonia September 18, 2022. Monday's entry ban is targeted at tourists and excludes Russian dissidents seeking refuge in the EU along with lorry drivers, refugees and permanent residents of EU countries as well as those visiting family members. The border guard told me I won't t be allowed to come here anymore," he told Reuters. "I will still be able to get to Estonia through other countries," he told Reuters shortly after crossing into Narva. Russia said it would retaliate against the curbs, but would not close itself off from the bloc.

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