>>17628296, >>17628286, >>17628323, >>17628606 VP Kamala was in a car wreck this morning …? At the Princess Diana crash tunnel entrance …?
What was she doing in France? I thoughts she was in S Korea
4 Oct, 2022 12:41
Kremlin reacts to Zelensky banning talks with Putin
Russia is ready to negotiate with the current or future Ukrainian president, Dmitry Peskov says
To resume peace talks with Kiev, Moscow will wait for either a change of stance by the current Ukrainian president or for a new leader, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. This comes after President Zelensky signed a decree ruling out negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Even before the launch of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine in late February, Moscow “was the supporter of the idea of achieving the terms put forward by the Russian side through diplomatic means,” Peskov told journalists on Tuesday.
Russia is still ready to look for a negotiated solution to the conflict between the neighbors, according to the spokesman. But “it takes two parties to negotiate,” he noted.
“We’ll now be waiting for the current president to change his stance or for the arrival of the future president of Ukraine, who would change his position in the interests of the Ukrainian people,” Peskov said.
On Tuesday, Zelensky signed a decree on Ukraine officially rejecting peace talks with Putin. It rubber stamped decisions made by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, on Friday, just hours after Putin signed agreements on Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions joining Russia.
One of the resolutions was: “stating the impossibility of conducting negotiations with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.”
Zelensky recorded a video address after the meeting claiming that “we [Ukraine] are ready for dialogue with Russia, but with another president of Russia.”
In his speech on Friday, Putin called upon Ukraine to “cease all hostilities, stop the war it started back in 2014 and return to the negotiating table.”
However, he made it clear that the decision to unite with Russia, which the people of Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions made during referendums, was not up for discussion. Kiev should treat the “free choice”of the four territories “with respect,” Putin said, adding that it was “the only way for peace.”
Moscow and Kiev have not sat down at the negotiating table since talks in Istanbul in late March. The Russian side, which initially expressed optimism on the peace process, later accused Ukraine of backtracking on all the progress achieved in Türkiye, saying it had lost trust in Kiev’s negotiators.
In recent months, Ukraine has been either putting forward terms that Moscow deemed ‘unrealistic’ for the resumption of talks, or said that they can only begin after Russia is defeated on the battlefield.
During the conflict,Zelensky has also, on several occasions, proposed meeting with Putin face-to-face in order to find a way to end the hostilities. But Moscow insisted that the two leaders should only get together to sign concrete agreements already prepared for them by the negotiating teams.
https://www.rt.com/russia/564034-peskov-putin-zelensky-talks/
Face to Face was a set up by CIA?
4 Oct, 2022 12:28
Minsk explains how it ‘takes part’ in Russia-Ukraine conflict
Belarus’ participation is limited to self-defense and having Russia’s back, President Lukashenko said
Belarus is a participant of the Russian military operation against Ukraine, President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday, stressing that its role was strictly limited.
“We are not hiding this. But we do not kill anyone. We do not send our troops anywhere. We do not break our obligations,” the Belarusian leader said during a government security meeting, as quoted by state news agency Belta.
“Our role is to prevent this conflict from spreading into the territory of Belarus, first of all. And, secondly, it is to prevent a strike against Belarus from Poland, Lithuania and Latvia under the cover of the special military operation,” he added.
Belarus, a long-time military ally of Russia, allowed its troops to use its territory to launch an offensive against Ukraine in late February. Minsk has rejected claims by officials in Kiev that its troops were directly engaged in action against Ukrainian forces.
During the Tuesday meeting, Lukashenko further described Ukraine’s participation as ensuring that “nobody would shoot Russians in the back from the territory of Belarus”. He also stated that his country offered medical assistance and food to people, Russians and Ukrainians alike.
“Most of all, we feed the refugees, those impoverished poor people who arrive to us from Ukraine, numbering 400 to 500 each day. How can we not feed them and treat them?”he asked.
Lukashenko assured that his country would not get involved in the Ukraine crisis beyond what he had outlined. He dismissed as baseless claims by some of his critics that the Belarusian government was preparing a military mobilization following a similar move by Moscow. Russia announced enrolment of some reservists into active military service last month.
The Belarusian president urged the military to use the Russian experience to keep the national armed forces ready for a possible call to defend the country.
“So learn, learn and once again learn. First of all, learn the military profession in a proper way,” he instructed officials, using two quotes from Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, which were popular in the Soviet Union.
He also reiterated his assessment that Russia would be willing to cease hostilities with Ukraine, while other parties fueled the conflict with “concrete steps.” He pointed the finger at the US, which he said continues sending planeloads of military equipment for the Ukrainian military to Poland and other NATO members.
https://www.rt.com/russia/564043-belarus-russia-military-operation/
4 Oct, 2022 11:33
HomeBusiness News
US Treasury explains how G7 will target Russian oil
The group of nations aims to limit the Kremlin’s revenue from energy exports
The G7's upcoming anti-Russia sanctions will target oil and petrochemicals in three phases, senior US Treasury official Ben Harris told the Argus European Crude Conference in Geneva on Tuesday.
According to Harris, as cited by Reuters, the sanctions will tackle Russian crude oil, then focus on diesel, and finally lower value products such as naphtha. The G7 sanctions should be seen by the industry as a way to continue trading, ensuring Russian oil continues to flow, he explained.
“The price cap can be considered a release valve on the (EU) sanctions package,” Harris said, adding: “It transforms the ban from an absolute ban to a conditional ban.”
The price at which Russian oil sales will be capped has not been decided, the official noted, adding that it will be high enough to provide an incentive to maintain output, and above the marginal production cost for Russia's most expensive oil well.
The EU also aims to sanction Russian exports, with its restrictions reportedly set to match the oil price ceiling agreed by the G7. The bloc will ban seaborne imports of Russian oil from December 5 and of oil products from February 5, 2023, cutting the trade off from financial services and potentially halting it worldwide.
Western leaders agreed in June to explore a price ceiling to limit how much refiners and traders can pay for Russian crude.Moscow has made it clear that it will not comply, instead shipping its crude to countries not bound by the cap. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has warned that nations that support the price cap will not receive any Russian fuel.
https://www.rt.com/business/564021-us-explains-russian-oil-target/
The blind leading the blind!
4 Oct, 2022 09:38
EU citizens fail first gas-saving test – regulator
Consumers in Germany increased gas consumption above the five-year average in the last full week of September, the regulator says
German households and small businesses raised their natural gas consumption by 14.5% above the five-year average in the week from September 19 to 25, according to Germany’s energy regulator, the Federal Network Agency.
The private sector represents around 40% of gas consumption in Germany, mainly using gas for heating. The increase coincided with this year’s first cold snap, with temperatures in northwest Europe dropping below the 30-year average. However, according to the regulator, “the savings required to avoid a gas shortage must be achieved independently of temperatures.”
The Federal Network Agency noted that a reduction in consumption of at least 20% is required to avoid a gas shortage in the coming months.
“The gas consumption of households and businesses in the last week was well above the average consumption of previous years. This week's figures are therefore very sobering. Without significant savings in the private sector, too, it will be difficult to avoid a gas shortage in winter,” Klaus Muller, head of the Federal Network Agency, said, commenting on the data.
According to Muller, the country can get through the winter on well-filled storage facilities, but there are conditions.
“Firstly, the projects that have been initiated to increase gas imports must be implemented. Secondly, the gas supply in our neighboring countries must also remain stable. And thirdly, gas must be saved, even if it is gets even colder towards winter. It will depend on each individual,” Muller stressed.
Large industrial consumers in Germany account for 60% of gas consumption. So far they have managed to adhere to the government’s requests, and lowered usage by some 22% in August. Demand was also well below the average in September, at 1170 GWh per week compared to 1679 GWh per week in the past four years.
The Federal Network Agency has said it will be publishing weekly figures on gas consumption in Germany throughout the heating season.
https://www.rt.com/business/564016-eu-citizens-fail-save-gas/
4 Oct, 2022 09:06
Italy ramps up surveillance of underwater cables – media
The move comes in response to sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines, an official told Reuters
The Italian government has strengthened surveillance and controls on underwater energy and telecommunications cables off its shores, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
The decision comes in response to the explosions that were detected in late September on Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, connecting Russia to the EU through Germany, the source said.
Last week, Reuters also reported that Italy had boosted surveillance of the pipelines bringing gas to the country from the south and east.
According to two senior officials, who talked to the agency, security measures were boosted at the TransMed pipeline, which connects Algeria to Sicily, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), running from Azerbaijan to Apulia, and the GreenStream connection, between Libya and Sicily.
Danish authorities reported leaks on both the Nord Stream 1 and 2 on September 26 after the operator experienced loss of pressure on the pipelines. Danish and Swedish authorities later said a series of undersea explosions had been detected near Bornholm island in the Baltic Sea.
The incident is widely considered to be the result of sabotage. Some Western officials claimed that it was Russia, which blew up its own pipelines, while Moscow has pointed the finger at the US as the potential culprit.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said last week that “sanctions are no longer enough for the Anglo-Saxons [the US and UK]. They have turned to sabotage – it’s unbelievable, but it’s a fact – by organizing the explosions on the Nord Stream international gas pipelines.”
Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the explosions a “tremendous opportunity” to wean the EU off Russian energy, while boasting about the US becoming “the leading supplier of [liquefied natural gas] to Europe.”
The pipelines, which have been at the heart of the energy standoff between Moscow and Brussels amid the conflict in Ukraine, suffered significant damage, but, according to Russia’s gas giant Gazprom, they can be restored with “time and appropriate funds.”
The company also said that one of the lines of Nord Stream 2 could have been unaffected by the blasts. Pressurized gas had to be drained from it in order to carry out diagnostic tests, it added.
https://www.rt.com/news/564019-italy-nord-stream-surveillance/
4 Oct, 2022 03:21
Ukraine scolds EU over aid delays
The criticism from Kiev comes as European countries debate how to disburse billions in financial assistance
Delays in economic aid from the European Union to Ukraine are “unacceptable” and must be resolved to avert disaster, a senior Ukranian official warned, pointing to massive budget shortfalls as the EU approved another $4.9 billion (€5 billion) assistance package.
Speaking to Politico on Monday, a top economic adviser to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, Oleg Ustenko, slammed the European bloc after it agreed to send another tranche of aid between mid-October and the end of the year, insisting his country’s needs must be met sooner.
“Our minister of finance is under extreme high pressure,when he sends these checks to the military, to pension funds… we have to have this money in his hands. So something like one week or several weeks' delay is just not acceptable,” Ustenko told the outlet.
While the EU initially approved $8.8 billion (€9 billion) in assistance last May, only a small fraction of that has been sent so far. The latest move would break up a $4.9 billion (€5 billion) payment into three installments to be transferred before the end of 2022, though the rest of the original package likely won’t be sent until next year.
Monday’s agreement followed months of debate between EU member states over the exact form the aid should take, with Germany arguing in favor of grants instead of loans. Berlin has accepted a plan to provide the latest $4.9 billion as a loan, but the body has yet to reach a consensus on the remaining funds.
Ukraine has heavily relied on foreign aid since Russia’s attack commenced in February, with the country’s economic output taking a hit of up to 40% this year and the government facing a budget gap of some $5 billion per month.
While the United States has raced to inject cash into Ukraine, approving some $20 billion in economic and humanitarian assistance alone, the EU has been more hesitant, instead sending a little over $13 billion between all of its members, according to an aid tracking toolcreated by the Kiel Institute. American weapons transfers to Kiev have also dwarfed those of Europe, nearly ten-fold. Washington has reportedly noticed the disparity, with US officials recently telling Bloomberg that the Joe Biden administration “has pressed Europe to do more” to support Ukraine and take on “more burden sharing.”
Talks on future aid from the EU will be held at an upcoming meeting in the German capital later this month, where Ustenko voiced hopes that member states will be convinced to speed up the process, saying “Berlin is going to be just the next step of these discussions.”
https://www.rt.com/news/564007-ukraine-scold-eu-aid/
How to win friends and influence the EU, scold them!
Its called a theory