Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday that five Turkish banks will begin using Russia’s Mir electronic payment system – a sign of deepening ties between NATO member Turkey and outlaw Russia, and a step toward dismantling the international financial system that allows Western nations to impose economic sanctions on rogue regimes.
(AFP) – Russian energy giant Gazprom suspended gas supplies to Latvia on Saturday following tensions between Moscow and the West over the conflict in Ukraine and sweeping European and U.S. sanctions against Russia.
China’s state-run Global Times on Wednesday boasted that China’s “energy independence capacity” is at a record high of over 80 percent thanks to the Chinese Communist Party “beefing up energy security” by burning mountains of heavily polluting coal. Some of that coal is coming from North Korea, in defiance of U.N. sanctions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in Iran on Tuesday for a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It was Putin’s first foray beyond former Soviet Union territory since he launched his invasion of Ukraine in February.
(AFP) – The European Union will discuss tightening sanctions against Russia on Monday, as Moscow is accused of using the continent’s largest nuclear power plant to store weapons and launch missiles on the surrounding regions of southern Ukraine.
BERLIN (AP) – Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Germany’s decision to reactivate coal and oil-fired power plants to relieve energy shortages because of the war in Ukraine is only temporary and his government remains committed to doing “everything” to combat the climate crisis.
Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, slammed Joe Biden for energy policies that he said are benefiting Vladimir Putin and his war on Ukraine by enriching his fossil fuel portfolio.
The Kremlin is hailing the downfall of Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said he wanted to “lead the West” against Russia in February.
In a rather suspiciously timed coincidence, several billboards reading “Alaska Is Ours” appeared in Siberia on Thursday, the day after State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin suggested Russia “take back” Alaska from the United States in retaliation for sanctions.
A potential cutting-off of Russian gas would lead to recession and “chaotic conditions”, various German officials are now warning.
BERLIN (AP) – Fearing Russia might cut off natural gas supplies, the head of Germany’s regulatory agency for energy called on residents Saturday to save energy and to prepare for winter, when use increases.
The Biden White House announced on Monday that Russia defaulted on its international bonds for the first time in over a century, ostensibly because the pressure of international sanctions is crushing the Russian government financially.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada are reportedly blocking a British plan to fight food shortages and inflation by cutting back on biofuels in favour of edible crops, claiming it endangers their “net zero” ambitions.
U.S. President Joe Biden says that the United States and other G7 leading economies intend to announce a ban on imports of gold from Russia.
The government of India this weekend followed up on its feisty refusal to apologize for buying huge amounts of Russian oil by refusing to apologize for buying huge amounts of Russian coal.
Russian companies have increasingly turned to China and India to sell products originally intended for U.S.-allied markets in recent months due to Western sanctions against Moscow, China’s state-run Global Times reported on Tuesday, noting that these alternative transactions are often settled in local currencies.
Russia threatened action after Lithuania began to block sanctioned goods from travelling into the exclave of Kaliningrad.
China’s crude oil imports from Russia broke records in May, notching a 55 percent increase year-on-year and vaulting Russia past Saudi Arabia as the rising industrial super-power’s top supplier of oil.
Bloomberg reports that some in the Biden administration are having second thoughts about the effectiveness of all the government-imposed and voluntary sanctions leveled against Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
Former McDonald’s restaurants across Russia were preparing to reopen under a new brand on Friday, Reuters reported while noting that the U.S.-based fast-food chain sold its locations in Russia to a local licensee last month in support of a U.S.-led boycott of Russian business.
The British government is launching a ‘Grow for Britain’ initiative to try and boost domestic food production, a leaked document has revealed.
LONDON (AP) – The average cost of filling up a typical family car has exceeded 100 pounds ($125) for the first time in Britain, as Russia’s war in Ukraine drives gasoline prices higher.
China’s state-run Global Times on Sunday frantically tried to convince foreign investors that now is the “right time to bet on China” – right after the Communist government demonstrated it will not hesitate to wipe out billions of dollars in value by turning key cities like Shanghai into coronavirus prison camps at the drop of a hat.
Chinese warplanes allegedly harassed a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) plane “on several occasions” from April 26 to May 26 as it attempted to monitor possible sanction evasion activities by Pyongyang in international airspace near North Korea, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Speaking at an international forum in Slovakia on Friday, Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar argued that criticism of India for buying Russian oil was unfair when Europe is still importing oil and gas from Russia.
The EU agreed to embargo two thirds of Russian oil immediately with the aims of reducing imports by 90 per cent at the end of the year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that he is “satisfied” with China’s policy of non-interference against the invasion launched by its ally Russia. Zelensky said he desires closer relations with China even though it has done nothing to protect his country from the devastating Russian assault.
Germany is reportedly preparing to institute gas rationing in Europe’s largest economy as Russia allegedly cut off shipments to Finland.
Britain froze assets of three Russian airlines, preventing them from selling landing slots at UK airports that are worth up to £50 million.
The administration of President Joe Biden, formally and via anonymous reports, announced twin policies to ease the financial misfortunes of the communist government of Cuba and its proxy socialist government in Venezuela, leaving leaders in both communities dismayed and confused.
On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) reacted to the Biden administration reportedly easing some economic sanctions against Venezuela by wondering why the administration would lift sanctions on a Russian ally
Russia shut off electricity supplies to Finland over the weekend, claiming that it had not received payments from Finland due to sanctions.
The Taliban’s defense ministry on Sunday claimed the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” has amassed a standing army of over 130,000 troops with hopes to bring that number up to 150,000.
The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy says there is no guarantee that the 27-nation bloc will be able to finalise a new set of sanctions against Russia, with a small group of countries led by Hungary opposing a full oil embargo.
German citizens should be willing to endure hardship and deprivation to help in the war effort against Russia, a Ukrainian minister has said.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) took heat online after posting a message in support of an immediate finalization of the damaging Iran Deal.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has warned that shortages of Ukrainian and Russian grain caused by the war and associated Russo-Western sanctions class will likely cause famine and new migration waves.
Nigeria’s government recently purchased potash, a raw ingredient used to blend agricultural fertilizer, from Canada after its traditional supply of Russian potash was disrupted due to Western sanctions against Moscow in response to its latest war with Ukraine, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The leftist coalition government of Germany has thrown its support behind the move for the European Union to impose an embargo on Russian oil.
Major energy firms in Italy, Germany and elsewhere in Europe are allegedly preparing to open accounts in Russian roubles in order to pay for Russian gas in a scheme that may sidestep sanctions. Italian energy giant Eni SpA is allegedly
