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EU and U.S. imports of Russia's main base metal products aluminium and nickel during March-June increased by as much as 70%, official trade data compiled by Reuters from the United Nations Comtrade database show. The total value of EU and U.S. imports of the two metals from March to June were $1.98 billion... Analysts said the United States and Europe have learned lessons after huge disruption on construction, auto and power sectors caused by sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump on Russian aluminium 2018. Russia's Rusal is the world's largest aluminium producer outside China and accounts for about...

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to walk with a limp as he attended Russia's major Vostok war games today, raising fresh doubts over his health. The Russian leader, 69, observed the major military exercises from inside a command post while sitting next to his defence minister Sergei Shoigu who is said to have been 'sidelined' by Putin due to Russia's heavy losses in Ukraine. As Putin arrived at the command post at the Sergeyevsky training range in Russia's Far East, he appeared to be walking with a limp when he crossed the room to watch the war games. Video shows...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused the U.S. of wanting to maintain a “dictatorship” over global affairs at the expense of Europe and the rest of the world. Putin slammed the West repeatedly during a speech before business leaders gathered in far eastern Russia, saying sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine were a “danger” to the whole world and left Europe worse off. “The pandemic has been replaced by new challenges of a global nature, carrying a threat to the whole world, I’m talking about the sanctions rush in the West and the West’s blatantly aggressive...

[G]athered in a basement on a quiet, tree-lined street, the Belarusians preparing to leave Warsaw to join the Ukrainian army look more like a bunch of computer programmers getting ready for a long car trip. Maybe that’s because they are a bunch of computer programmers—or anyway, some of them are—gathered in a basement on a quiet, tree-lined street, getting ready for a long car trip...If they are identified, members of their families could be visited, harassed, even arrested by the Belarusian police. “Our relatives are hostages,” one of them told me. Already, mothers of Belarusian soldiers fighting in Ukraine have...

The German government plans to charter another floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal for winter 2023/24, bringing the total number to five, as part of its strategy to diversify away from Russian energy. The fifth state-owned floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) will come to Wilhelmshaven, where another FSRU is already planned, and has a capacity of 5 billion cubic metres per year, said the Economy Ministry on Thursday. Companies E On Se Engie SA BERLIN, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The German government plans to charter another floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal for winter 2023/24, bringing the total number...

Europe has caused an energy crisis for itself by phasing out energy production, the mayor of Belgium's Antwerp city said in a television interview. Bart De Wever, the Antwerp mayor and leader of the nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party, gave an interview to the VRT television channel. “This is, of course, not a crisis that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has caused, but that Europe has brought on itself by phasing out its own primary energy production this century,” he asserted. He explained that exploitation of oil, gas, and coal reserves was not allowed while “the dumbest countries, Germany and...

CHINESE space designers have unveiled plans to build their proposed lunar bases in the volcanic caves of the Moon, allowing for longer-term stays. The researchers believe that these underground hollow lava channels would offer astronauts offer a natural shield against space radiation and the extreme temperatures prevalent on the Moon. This would provide a boost to Beijing’s plans to allow astronauts to stay on the Moon for long periods by 2035. The underground tunnels, also known as lava tubes, were created by molten rock during ancient volcanic eruptions.

NEW YORK, UN. Sept 7 (Interfax) - UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday he believes that the area around the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant should become a demilitarized zone, while the Ukrainian side should pledge not to move into this territory. "An agreement on a demilitarized perimeter should be secured," Guterres said at a UN Security Council meeting. "That would include the commitment by Russian forces to withdraw all the military personnel and the equipment from this perimeter and the commitment by the Ukrainian forces not to move into it," he said. "The Zaporizhzhya facility and its surrounding...

Big banks in Europe are preparing for an energy crisis as Russia tightens the gas taps, per Reuters. JPMorgan may use diesel generators, while Deutsche Bank turned off fountains and hot water. The insurer Zurich said it could close its gym and some office floors if the situation worsens. Major banks across Europe are implementing measures in the workplace to cut down on energy consumption as Russia tightens its gas supply to the continent. The Kremlin shut off its natural-gas flow to Europe via the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline last week and said it wouldn't reopen it until the...

Is that on sale? White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre received social media scorn Tuesday after she accidentally called Russia’s Nord Stream 1 pipeline “Nordstrom” — as in the department store. The slip of the tongue came as President Biden’s chief spokeswoman accused Russia of fueling an energy crisis in Europe by shutting down the pipeline, which supplies natural gas to large swathes of the continent. “What we see Russia is doing, we’ve been very clear about this, they’re using energy, they’re weaponizing energy,” Jean-Pierre told reporters during her regular press briefing. “One of the things that has been out...

As the war in Ukraine rages on and the people living there suffer as their leaders stubbornly resist any rational diplomatic settlement to end the crisis, it is important to take a closer look at the idea of Ukrainian territorial integrity. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky intransigently stated when discussing possible negotiations to end the conflict, “Our priorities in the negotiations are known. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are beyond doubt.” President Biden and other American political leaders have vociferously declared “the commitment of the United States to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” But if we are supporting a war...

What is the scale of the energy challenge?We got a very shocking sense of the staggering numbers involved in the existential, crippling European crisis earlier today when Norwegian energy giant Equinor echoed what Zoltan Pozsar said in March, warning that “European energy trading risks grinding to a halt unless governments extend liquidity to cover margin calls of at least $1.5 trillion." As Bloomberg put it, in its best non-Zoltan imitation, "aside from inflating bills and fanning inflation, the biggest energy crisis in decades is sucking up capital to guarantee trades amid wild price swings. That’s putting pressure on European Union...

You gotta see this... Making an art form out of messing people's minds... Roughly, 'This winter's going to be really serious, see ya in the spring.....' А зима будет большая, Вот, гляди-ка, за рекой Осень тихо умирает, Машет желтою рукой. Плачут мокрые осины, Плачет дедушка Aрбат, Плачет синяя Россия, Превратившись в листопад. И, сугробы сокрушая, Солнце брызнет по весне, А зима будет большая - Только сумерки да снег.

Yesterday, Medvedev posted a rant on his messaging app (for some reason) in which he accused the United States and NATO of plotting to “break up” the Russian Federation. But he warned that even if the alleged plot succeeded, the result would be “doomsday,” and any country attempting it would be engaged in a “chess game with Death.” And I think we all know what that means. (Associated Press)

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is the bookmakers' favorite to become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom, but the Kremlin is unlikely to be betting on a different British approach to relations with Moscow, or the war in Ukraine, should she take over from incumbent Boris Johnson. Although enjoying less support among fellow Conservative Party MPs, Truss's greater popularity among grassroots Tories than Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the final run-off has seen Betfair put her odds-on 4/6 to win. If successful, she will be the face of the British response to the war in Ukraine during which she...

Vladimir Putin has approved a 31-page "humanitarian policy" which says Russia should "protect, safeguard and advance the traditions and ideals of the Russian World". The foreign policy concept of a "Russian World" is a notion that hardliners have used to justify intervening abroad to support Russian speakers, such as in parts of Ukraine. It means that the idea is now enshrined in official policy, though it was presented as a soft power strategy. The new policy stated that Moscow should further deepen its ties with the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic - two breakaway entities in...

It was supposed to be the bright spot in a grim day. Of a dozen unclaimed bodies set for burial recently at Bucha City Cemetery, one had just been identified. The dead man’s family was present and would be able to bury him with full ceremony. His grave would be marked with his name instead of just a number. But there was a hitch. No one could find the body. (snip)When Russian troops retreated at the end of March from the region around Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, they left behind a trail of more than 1,200 bodies. At least 458 dead...

Russia is reportedly buying millions of artillery shells and rockets from North Korea to shore up its arsenal in its ongoing war with Ukraine. The New York Times reported on Monday, citing newly declassified U.S. intelligence, which lacked detail on the type of North Korean weaponry being sent to Russia, as well as the scale and timing of their shipment. The Times quoted a Washington official as saying that Moscow was expected to seek additional purchases of military equipment from Pyongyang in the future. Other global media outlets also issued similar reports, with the Associated Press citing a U.S. official...

Berlin (AFP) – Germany said Monday it would keep two nuclear plants on standby beyond the end of the year in a policy U-turn, as the shut-off of Russian gas supplies sends Europe scrambling for energy sources.Following a new network stress test, two of the three remaining power plants would "remain available until mid-April 2023 in case needed", Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.The move partly delays a nuclear exit planned under former chancellor Angela Merkel.The plants would be kept in reserve to potentially "make a further contribution to the electricity grid in southern Germany", where the development...

The Kremlin has issued its sharpest comments about cutting off Russia's natural-gas flow to Europe via the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Monday, saying supplies wwould not resume until the "collective West" lifts sanctions against Moscow. "Problems with gas supply arose because of the sanctions imposed on our country by Western states, including Germany and Britain," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during a conference call, Reuters reported on Monday. "We see incessant attempts to shift responsibility and blame onto us. We categorically reject this and insist that the collective West – in this case, the EU, Canada, the UK...