What Putin and Pompeo did not talk about

Russia is uneasy over the destabilization of Tehran, and on other hotspots the powers’ positions are clear

Even veiled by thick layers of diplomatic fog, the overlapping meetings in Sochi between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov still offer tantalizing geopolitical nuggets. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov did his best to smooth the utterly intractable, admitting there was “no breakthrough yet” during the talks but at least the US “demonstrated a constructive approach.” Putin told Pompeo that after his 90-minute phone call with Trump, initiated by the White House, and described by Ushakov as “very good,” the Russian president “got the impression that the [US] president was inclined to re-establish Russian-American relations and contacts to resolve together the issues that are of mutual interest to us.” That would imply a Russiagate closure. Putin told Pompeo, in no uncertain terms, that Moscow never interfered in the US elections, and that the Mueller report proved that there was no connection between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign. This adds to the fact Russiagate has been consistently debunked by the best independent American investigators such as the VIPS group.

‘Interesting’ talk on Iran Let’s briefly review what became public of the discussions on multiple (hot and cold) conflict fronts – Venezuela, North Korea, Afghanistan, Iran. Venezuela – Ushakov reiterated the Kremlin’s position: “Any steps that may provoke a civil war in the country are inadmissible.” The future of President Maduro was apparently not part of the discussion. That brings to mind the recent Arctic Council summit. Both Lavrov and Pompeo were there. Here’s a significant exchange: Lavrov: I believe you don’t represent the South American region, do you? Pompeo: We represent the entire hemisphere. Lavrov: Oh, the hemisphere. Then what’s the US doing in the Eastern Hemisphere, in Ukraine, for instance? There was no response from Pompeo.

North Korea – Even acknowledging that the Trump administration is “generally ready to continue working [with Pyongyang] despite the stalemate at the last meeting, Ushakov again reiterated the Kremlin’s position: Pyongyang will not give in to “any type of pressure,” and North Korea wants “a respectful approach” and international security guarantees. Afghanistan – Ushakov noted Moscow is very much aware that the Taliban are getting stronger. So the only way out is to find a “balance of power.” There was a crucial trilateral in Moscow on April 25 featuring Russia, China and the US, where they all called on the Taliban to start talking with Kabul as soon as possible. Iran – Ushakov said the JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal, was “briefly discussed.”.He would only say the discussion was “interesting.” Talk about a larger than life euphemism. Moscow is extremely uneasy over the possibility of a destabilization of Iran that allows a free transit of jihadis from the Caspian to the Caucasus.

Which brings us to the heart of the matter. Diplomatic sources – from Russia and Iran – confirm, off the record, there have been secret talks among the three pillars of Eurasian integration – Russia, China and Iran – about Chinese and Russian guarantees in the event the Trump administration’s drive to strangle Tehran to death takes an ominous turn. This is being discussed at the highest levels in Moscow and Beijing. The bottom line: Russia-China won’t allow Iran to be destroyed. But it’s quite understandable that Ushakov wouldn’t let that information slip through a mere press briefing.

https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/05/article/what-putin-and-pompeo-did-not-talk-about/

EU Fines Five Banks $1.2 Billion for Foreign Exchange Rigging

BRUSSELS—The European Union fined Barclays, Citigroup, JP Morgan, MUFG, and Royal Bank of Scotland a combined $1.2 billion (1.07 billion euros) on Thursday, May 16, for rigging the multi-trillion dollar foreign exchange market. Banks have been hit with billions of dollars in fines worldwide over the last decade for the rigging of benchmarks used in many day-to-day financial transactions, further damaging the industry’s fragile reputation after the financial crisis.

The European Commission said individual traders at the banks involved formed two cartels to manipulate the spot foreign exchange market for 11 currencies, including the dollar, the euro, and the pound. Citigroup was hit with the highest fine of 310.8 million euros, while Swiss bank UBS was not fined as it had alerted the two cartels to the European Commission. “These cartel decisions send a clear message that the Commission will not tolerate collusive behavior in any sector of the financial markets,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. The EU competition enforcer said most of the traders knew each other on a personal basis and set up chatrooms such as “Essex Express ‘n the Jimmy,” which was given this name because all of them except “James” lived in Essex, to the east of London, and met on their train commute to the British capital.

The five-year investigation found nine traders spread across the banks exchanged sensitive information and trading plans in the chatrooms and occasionally co-ordinated trading strategies. “The traders, who were direct competitors, typically logged in to multilateral chatrooms … and had extensive conversations about a variety of subjects, including recurring updates on their trading activities,” the Commission’s statement said. The “Essex Express” cartel, which also involved a chatroom called “Semi Grumpy Old Men,” ran between December 2009 and December 2012. The second cart—called “Three Way Banana Split” and involving other chatrooms named “Two and a half men” and “Only Marge”—ran from December 2007 until January 2013. Information traders swapped in the chatrooms included information on their clients’ orders, the bid-ask spreads for specific transactions, their open risk positions and other details of current or planned trading activities. Occasionally the traders would co-ordinate trading activity, for example through a practice called ‘standing down’ whereby some of the group would temporarily stop trading to avoid interfering with others, the commission said.

JP Morgan and RBS both said they were pleased to have settled the cases and that they had since made changes to their controls. JP Morgan said it related to the conduct of one former employee and RBS that it served as a reminder of how it had lost its way in the past. MUFG said it had also taken measures to prevent a re-occurrence. Barclays and Citigroup declined to comment.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/eu-fines-five-banks-1-2-billion-for-foreign-exchange-rigging_2926091.html

Officials: PG&E Equipment Sparked Deadly California Wildfire

SAN FRANCISCO—Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. power lines sparked a Northern California blaze that killed 85 people last year, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century, state fire officials said Wednesday. Cal Fire said transmission lines owned and operated by the San Francisco-based utility started the Nov. 8 fire that nearly destroyed the town of Paradise in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The fire wiped out nearly 15,000 homes. Many of those killed were elderly or disabled. The oldest was 99.

“Investigators determined there were violations of law,” Cal Fire deputy director Mike Mohler said. He said he hadn’t read the report and didn’t know the nature of the violations. Cal Fire did not release its full investigative report, saying it had been forwarded to the Butte County district attorney’s office, which is considering criminal charges against the utility. The investigation also identified a second nearby ignition site involving PG&E’s electrical distribution lines that had come into contact with vegetation. The second fire was quickly consumed by the initial fire. The disclosures came on the same day the utility’s new chief executive was testifying before a legislative committee in Sacramento. Bill Johnson told the state Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee he had expected the utility would be blamed for the fire. “I have made the assumption when I got here that PG&E equipment caused the fire,” he said, noting the utility had said that was probable in recent filings. “It’s a disappointment that this happened. Let’s not do it again.”

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said in a statement that he is still weighing possible criminal charges against the utility, a decision that could take months. He called Cal Fire’s decision to forward its report to Butte County “strictly symbolic.” because it has been long known that PG&E’s equipment caused the fire. State fire investigators have determined that PG&E caused 18 wildfires in 2017. They referred 12 for possible criminal prosecution.

Attorney Mike Danko, who represents 2,000 victims of the fire, said he was encouraged by the fact that Cal Fire sent its latest report to the district attorney, which could mean it has evidence that the utility was negligent on safety issues. “We know from our work that PG&E knew its towers in the area were corroded and were at risk of failing,” Danko said.

The utility, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, said in February it was “probable” that one of its transmission lines sparked the blaze. PG&E has estimated its total liability from the Paradise fire and 2017 wildfires could top $30 billion. The Paradise fire spread rapidly, burning into the communities of Concow and Magalia and the outskirts of Chico. Authorities said it was like no fire they had seen before. Strong wind gusts blew hot embers a mile or more, creating multiple fires. “The tinder dry vegetation and red flag conditions consisting of strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures promoted this fire and caused extreme rates of spread,” Cal fire said in its release. The utility previously acknowledged that the Caribou-Palermo transmission line lost power right before the fire and was later found to be damaged.

Paradise Mayor Jody Jones said she was not surprised to hear Pacific Gas & Electric power lines sparked the blaze that decimated her town and she hopes the findings help the city’s legal case against the utility. “It’s nice to have a definite answer,” Jones said. Paradise sued PG&E in January seeking damages for the loss of infrastructure, land, property, trees, public and natural resources, and lost taxpayer resources.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/officials-pge-equipment-sparked-deadly-california-wildfire_2925681.html