Search of Sputnik Estonia Office Was Illegal, Local Court Rules
Samizdat – 13.07.2022
Sputnik International’s Estonia-based sister portal Sputnik Meedia was forced to shut down in March amid unprecedented pressure from Estonian authorities and banks, and a wave of personal threats against employees. But the outlet’s persecution by local authorities goes all the way back to 2019.
An Estonian court has ruled authorities’ April search of the former editorial office of Sputnik Meedia and former Sputnik Meedia editor-in-chief Elena Cherysheva’s home illegal, Cherysheva has informed Sputnik.
Cherysheva, who was detained on April 6 for alleged “crimes against peace” and purported “violations of international sanctions,” had her house searched. Her husband was taken to the former office of Sputnik Meedia, and it too was searched. After 16 hours of rummaging, authorities sent Cherysheva to a detention center, but was later released on bail. The ex-Sputnik Meedia employee said the searches were authorized by Estonian State Prosecutor’s Office lead prosecutor Taavi Pern.
“On April 8, the Prosecutor’s Office sent a search warrant and additional documents to the preliminary investigation judge in Harju County Court requesting that the search warrant be recognized as admissible and justified. The judge did not do so. As the court clarified, a person whose activities are related to the processing of information for journalistic purposes can be searched only on the basis of a ruling by a preliminary investigation judge or a court decision,” Cherysheva explained.
She added that the Prosecutor’s Office filed a complaint with the Tallinn District Court challenging the Harju County Court’s decision, but the higher court upheld the ruling.
Cherysheva further revealed the Harju County Court had also ruled in her favor to return her part of the personal property which authorities seized in April, after the State Prosecutor’s Office refused to do so.
“In its decision, the Harju County Court emphasized that given the decision of the Tallinn District Court of May 10 on the groundlessness and illegality of the search, it is not clear to the court on what basis the investigator continues to withhold funds found and seized during the search,” she said.
Sputnik’s Estonian sister agency has been hounded by the Baltic country’s authorities for years. Sputnik Meedia itself was created in early 2020 by former employees of Sputnik Estonia, which was forced to shutter its doors amid threats of criminal charges against its journalists by police, and after Estonian banks suspended Sputnik-related accounts in late 2019.
Sputnik Meedia was forced to terminate its operations in early March of this year, with banks freezing salaries and closing the media outlet’s accounts amid alleged suspicions of “money laundering, terrorist financing and the illegal sale of alcohol.” On top of that, the agency’s editor-in-chief and staff received regular threats against their life and safety.
Asia Won’t Reject Russia’s Hydrocarbons or China’s Rare Earths Despite US Pressure
By Ekaterina Blunova – Samizdat – July 12, 2022
The International Energy Agency (IEA) and the United State have called upon Asian countries to reduce reliance on Russia and China in terms of both fossil fuels, solar power technology, and critical minerals needed for electric vehicles and batteries.
“Given that energy is the lifeline of modern economies, modern economic growth patterns, there are not that many alternatives available and there are only a few countries that are players in the global energy market. Russia certainly cannot be counted out and Russia cannot be marginalized in the global energy landscape,” says Harsh V. Pant, professor of international relations at the King’s College London India Institute and director of the strategic studies program at the Observer Research Foundation.
International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol and US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on 12 July urged Indo-Pacific countries at the Sydney Energy Forum to diversify their supply chains for energy and critical minerals to reduce “dependency” on Russia over its special operation in Ukraine, as well as on China.
“At a time when the energy prices are going up and affecting some of the poorest and most vulnerable countries around the world very significantly, I think Asian countries will continue to cooperate with Russia in order to support their economies and their domestic requirements,” says Pant.
He explains that dealing with Russia has become an economic imperative at a time of energy crunch given that Moscow is offering discounted oil to a number of countries. Furthermore, maintaining economic relations with Russia is a question of survival and the people’s well-being for some Asian nations and countries of the Global South, according to the professor. Under these circumstances it’s highly unlikely that they will succumb to the pressure from Washington and sever ties with Russia, he says.
“For political leaders across the world, at a time when economies are just beginning to grow after the long COVID pandemic, they can [not] afford a lack of energy and higher energy prices,” Pant stresses.
Anti-Russia Sanctions: India and EU Approaches
To illustrate his point, the professor cites India’s approach to Russia’s affairs and the Ukraine crisis. New Delhi continues to import energy from Russia despite the US and Europe urging India to join sweeping anti-Russia sanctions.
“What we have seen in the last two months is a gradual, significant increase in what India is buying from Russia when it comes to oil,” the professor says. “This is particularly relevant again because Russia has offered India discounted oil and India’s economic requirements demand that India continues buying this oil. The challenges facing India’s population mean that the Indian leadership has an incentive in continuing to engage with Russia on this question.”
At the same time, the European Union’s decision to slap sanctions on Russia and slash energy supplies from the country have backfired on Europe’s economy, sending fuel prices up and accelerating inflation.
“We have seen how Europe is struggling to reduce its dependence and the kind of costs that it is imposing on Europeans,” says Pant. “Most Asian countries would be reluctant to go down that route.”
The disruptions in the supply of crude after the imposition of ban on imports from Russia have given a dramatic boost to energy prices and inflation, echoes Suranjali Tandon, assistant professor at the Delhi-based National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
“The current inflationary trends are the most serious challenge for policy makers,” she says. “Central banks around the world have begun the process of unwinding loose monetary policy… The current inflation rates have led to internal economic strains and as seen in Sri Lanka, a political upheaval. The cooperation between Russia and Asian countries may be economically prudent.”
Moreover, major Asian economies – India and China – are ready to absorb crude supplies from Russia rejected by the West, according to her.
At the same time, Washington’s plan to force Asian states to join anti-Russia sanctions is fraught with severe risks for the global economy, Tandon warns.
“The ban, if carried out by other Asian economies, will further cut off supplies of refined petroleum and related products,” she says. “This could lead to an unmanageable inflationary spiral while depressing global growth.”
Are There Alternatives to Russia & China?
According to Tandon, India sets an important precedent for other Asian states by withstanding the US pressure when it comes to energy sanctions against Russia. By doing this, India is defending its internal interests in the first place, the professor underscores.
She hails the idea that single technology or fuel dependence should be avoided. This principle could be applied to Russia, China, or Western countries in a similar way. However, when the West is calling upon Asian nations to shift to wind, solar, and even nuclear power and abandon fossil fuels, it’s clear that this shift cannot be done immediately, the professor emphasizes.
Over 300 Trucks From Kaliningrad Region Queue at Border With Lithuania
Samizdat – 11.07.2022
KALININGRAD, Russia – More than 300 trucks are queuing at the Russian-Lithuanian border attempting to exit the Russian exclave region of Kaliningrad, with another 200 trucks awaiting entry into the region, Kaliningrad customs service said on Monday.
“As of 9 a.m. on July 11, in the past 24 hours employees of Chernyshevskoe checkpoint processed 200 heavy trucks heading to the Republic of Lithuania and 298 trucks arriving to the territory of the Kaliningrad region. Departure from the Russian Federation is expected by 310 vehicles, entry – by 200 trucks,” the custom said.
Kaliningrad trucker drivers complain about spending days in queues, while lacking access to basic necessities.
“People [truck drivers] basically have no food, not everyone can buy it in stores, and you still have to drive to them, not everyone has euros. No toilets, no showers, they just stand in the woods in Lithuania and wait,” one of the truck drivers told Sputnik.
Queues of trucks at the Russian-Lithuanian border in Kaliningrad region at Chernyshevskoye checkpoint appeared in late June and since then their intensity has been escalating. On June 23, 150 trucks were waiting to leave the region, on June 25 their number increased to 250 trucks. Kaliningrad custom service said that the number of trucks allowed out of the region decreased because of the breakdown at Lithuanian customs.
The European Union banned Russia-registered trucks in early April but made an exemption for those transiting to Kaliningrad, which is located on the Baltic Sea coast. The current restrictions on the transit of Russian goods, announced by Lithuania, apply to all transit of goods sanctioned by the EU. Lithuanian Railways notified the Kaliningrad region’s railway of halting the transit of a number of goods subject to EU sanctions on June 18.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is considering various options for responding to Lithuania’s “unfriendly” move. Kaliningrad Region Governor Anton Alikhanov said that the restrictions would not affect transit of oil products at least until August 10 and that the region would mobilize its ferry fleet to compensate for railroad cargo cuts.
EU Climate Plan Doomed Unless Sanctions Against Russia Lifted: Lawmaker
Samizdat – 09.07.2022
The controversial EU green transition plan, also known as Fit for 55, which was designed to reduce the bloc’s greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, is unfeasible unless sanctions against Russia are lifted, a EU lawmaker from the Freedom Party of Austria, Roman Haider, told Sputnik.
“They don’t know how to save their unrealistic and dangerous Fit for 55 strategy without canceling the sanctions against Russia,” Haider said.
On Wednesday, the European Parliament backed EU regulations designating nuclear and gas energy as environmentally sustainable economic activities, saying that private investment in gas and nuclear projects may play a role in the green transition process.
This decision by the European Parliament signaled that EU governments are facing a stark reality, recognizing that more time and more realistic goals are required to transform the energy infrastructure in Europe, Haider said. Meanwhile, the Freedom Party of Austria has repeatedly raised the issue of impractical goals set as benchmarks for the EU and warned of grave consequences for the European and Austrian economy should the Fit for 55 plan be fully implemented, he noted.
“This package is a massive threat to businesses in Europe. It makes Europe even more dependent on imports and drives the price spiral further upwards. It destroys jobs, promotes the impoverishment of Europeans and is massively harmful to the environment. In short, Fit for 55 is a serious threat to Europe,” Haider warned.
Haider stressed that to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040 and meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement, Austria would have to cut emissions by 95% over the next 18 years, as a recent study shows that the country’s CO2 emissions in 2021 reached 1990 levels.
At the same time, the reality of the current energy market volatility has forced some EU countries, including Austria, to consider resuming the use of coal, which is the dirtiest fossil fuel, Haider added.
Austria’s state-owned Verbund AG was recently ordered to prepare the mothballed Mellach coal-fired power plant for emergency operation. It comes just two years after Austria became the second European country to completely eliminate coal from its energy production system.
Biden is Right… Inflation Crisis Is Not Inevitable, So End the Reckless U.S.-Led Warmongering
Strategic Culture Foundation | July 8, 2022
It’s rare for Strategic Culture Foundation to find itself in agreement with pronouncements made by American President Joe Biden. This week, Biden asserted once again that economic inflation and recession hitting the American economy are “not inevitable”. He is correct – at least in part. Although not for reasons that he would ever admit.
Of course, Biden is trying to obscure the grim reality of economic crisis that is afflicting not just the American economy but also the European Union. Inflation of living costs for ordinary citizens in the U.S. and EU are at record highs not seen in decades. There is a sense of calamity in social conditions from mass poverty amid grotesque super-rich inequality. A major input to the general inflation is the soaring price of energy.
The global impact is causing food prices to escalate putting millions of people at risk of hunger, especially in Africa and other low-income nations.
The impending crisis is on an unprecedented scale. Yet, it is not inevitable. But what is making it unavoidable is the warmongering policy of the U.S. and its European NATO allies towards Russia and China. This week saw outlandish American and British efforts to label China along with Russia as an existential threat to “global peace”. The bitter irony of these two rogue Western states casting aspersions on any other nation is too much for words.
The world is being thrown into chaos, insecurity and uncertainty by reckless stoking of war in Ukraine by the Western powers who are funneling tens of billions of dollars-worth of military weapons to that country. This week saw US-supplied HIMARS artillery hitting cities in the Donbass breakaway republics. Where are the Western efforts to mediate a diplomatic end to that war? There are none. Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated this week that Moscow would like to find a long-term peaceful settlement. The harsh and despicable truth is that the U.S. and its Western allies are incapable of seeking a political solution. They are willing to fight to the last Ukrainian.
Blaming Russia for that conflict is a fallacy. The war has been deliberately stoked by the United States and its NATO accomplices as part of their geopolitical objective of subjugating Russia and China to their hegemonic agenda.
Western sanctions against Russia have created a global energy crisis that is boomeranging on the economies of the United States and Europe as well as the wider world. Biden is trying to scapegoat Moscow for imposing price hikes and taxes on his nation. The reality is it is his administration and its European lackeys who are imposing hardships on their own citizens from a madcap policy of warmongering.
There is a straightforward way out of the abysmal situation. The U.S. and its NATO allies should halt all weapons supplies to the Nazi regime in Kiev. They should also reverse the draconian economic sanctions on Russia. They should pursue diplomatic relations to end the conflict in Ukraine that they have instigated. They should normalize relations with Russia and China instead of relentlessly pushing Cold War-style confrontation.
But that is unlikely to happen under prevailing circumstances. Because the United States and its NATO minions have locked themselves into a deceptive paradigm of hostility. This, in turn, is because of futile ambitions for hegemonic dominance and intrinsic opposition to the emergence of a multipolar world.
Demonizing and antagonizing Russia and China is the real agenda for U.S.-led global imperialism. That criminal policy is covered up with cynical and absurd claims about defending “rules-based order” and democracy in Ukraine, Taiwan and elsewhere.
Nevertheless, the Empire of Lies is running out of credibility and false pretexts. What is becoming more and more evident is the awful reality. The U.S.-led collective West is one predicated on warmongering to preserve its waning global power and privileges.
Russia and China have repeatedly appealed for the existence of a multilateral global order that is consistent with the vision of the United Nations that was set up in the aftermath of World War Two. The United States and its imperial surrogates have continually attacked and undermined that vision with unilateral violations of international law and the sovereignty of countless nations. The U.S. avowed “rules-based order” is synonymous with war, war, war. Decades of relentless U.S.-driven wars – albeit under specious guises and pretenses – prove that.
Today we are witnessing the historic endgame playing out. The current war in Ukraine is but one malignant manifestation.
When asked how long Americans (and presumably Europeans) will have to endure economic pain, Biden retorted, “As long as it takes”. As long as it takes for what? To defeat Russia, China and whomever other nation the U.S.-led imperial axis deems necessary to be subjugated? That’s not going to happen. Those days are over.
Russia and China are too strong militarily and economically for the U.S.-led axis to vanquish. The world is being driven to war, potentially a catastrophic one, by American death throes in the face of reality. In the meantime, American, European and other peoples are being assailed with economic misery as a result of this criminal warmongering for the sake of empire. That is, the crumbling, bankrupt empire of U.S.-dominated Western capitalism and its imperial roguery.
The appalling state of world affairs is not inevitable. But due to the depraved and implacable pursuit of hostility towards Russia and China by the U.S. and its servile European elite, the world is – for now at least – held hostage by these psychopathic Western politicians and their corporate paymasters. That, however, is changing as people realize more and more the real nature and perpetrators of their captive condition.
The giant Western charade is no longer sustainable. From European colonialism to American imperialism, the charade has indeed had a long run. Now, though, it is in tatters from its own inherent corruption and lies. The ignominious downfall this week of Boris Johnson, Britain’s clown prime minister, is just a bit-part of the collapsing Western axis of evil. That collapse is inevitable.
EU is pricing developing countries out of the LNG market
Samizdat | July 9, 2022
European Union members are actively buying up liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative to Russian pipeline supplies, depriving poorer countries that cannot compete for the fuel due to high prices, The Wall Street Journal claimed on Friday.
According to the publication, the price of LNG has skyrocketed 1,900% from its low two years ago. Current prices are equivalent to buying oil at $230 a barrel, while LNG normally trades at a discount to oil. Developing countries cannot compete with Europe for the supplies at such prices of about $40 per million British thermal units (MMBtu).
According to Wood Mackenzie data, cited by the Journal, European nations have ramped up their LNG imports by almost 50% year-to-date through June 19. At the same time, India’s imports during that period decreased by 16%, China slashed purchases by 21%, and Pakistan by 15%.
A tender from Pakistan for around $1 billion of LNG attracted no offers on Thursday, the country’s officials said. Each day, the country’s businesses and homes are suffering hours of government-imposed electricity shutdowns because Islamabad can’t import enough natural gas to fuel power plants, they explained.
“Every molecule of gas that was available in our region has been purchased by Europe because they are trying to reduce their dependence on Russia,” Pakistan’s Minister of Energy Musadiq Malik was quoted as saying.
In some cases, cargoes that were destined for poorer countries are diverted to Europe. Experts note that’s profitable even if suppliers are forced to pay penalties under contracts with developing countries.
The world’s supply of LNG used to produce power is swallowed up by European nations, according to Valerie Chow, head of gas and LNG research for Asia Pacific at Wood Mackenzie. He told WSJ that “Emerging markets in Asia have taken the brunt of it, with no end in sight.”
Road accidents to stop Putin: Augsburg to switch off traffic lights
Free West Media | July 9, 2022
In its sanctions policy against Russia, EU leaders are increasingly overstepping boundaries – also against their own people.
One of the most active globalist trendsetters is once again the German State of Bavaria. CSU Prime Minister Söder already distinguished himself with particularly drastic measures during the Corona crisis. Citizens are now expected to accept questionable measures in the fight against Russian President Putin.
In the Bavarian city of Augsburg, for example, it has been calculated that energy costs are likely to rise by almost 80 percent in the current year. That is why everything that can be switched off, including traffic lights, will soon be switched off.
Mayor Eva Weber (CSU) explained: “The situation is serious.” Therefore, room temperatures in municipal offices are to be lowered in autumn and winter, and some buildings will be left completely cold through “effective room management”.
Water temperatures in swimming pools will be reduced. The façade lighting on historical buildings and museums will be switched off, and fountains will also be turned off. Street lighting will be dimmed. Switching off of traffic lights will also be considered.
The city and the police will be explaining which traffic lights are most relevant to safety – all others could be switched off without further ado. There are no longer any taboos when it comes to saving energy in the state.
The taboo, however, is to demand an end to the self-imposed energy shortage. This could be done quickly and easily: by ending sanctions against Russia and by opening the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline, which has long been completed.
Chancellor gets carried away
Chancellor Scholz has now let himself be carried away into making an extremely partisan (and possibly illegal) statement about the AfD. He called it the “party of Russia” during the government’s questioning in the Bundestag on Wednesday.
The chancellor was responding to a question from AfD MP Steffen Kotré, who had called sanctions against Russia “useless” and called for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany to be put into operation. Scholz responded, “I stand fast: the AfD is not only a right-wing populist party, but also the party of Russia.”
Scholz reiterated that Germany was preparing to do without Russian oil and gas and was also building the necessary infrastructure to do so. He added: “This is real energy security for Germany in the interest of all citizens.” Scholz’s argument does not sound convincing in the face of the many hardships that ordinary Germans now have to struggle with.
In the past, the AfD had filed a lawsuit against similar statements by then Chancellor Angela Merkel before the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) in Karlsruhe and won the case. As recently as June 15 this year, the BVerfG ruled that Angela Merkel was not allowed to comment on the outcome of the Thuringia state parliamentary election, in which FDP politician Kemmerich had been elected with votes from the AfD, among others, as “unforgivable” and a result that “must be reversed”.
That ministers are obliged to neutrality when they make public statements in their function as members of the government has been cast in stone by the BVerfG. Politicians must therefore remain neutral towards all parties as a matter of principle.
This also applies to a Federal Chancellor, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled. If the Federal Constitutional Court sticks to this assessment, Scholz should also expect a similar rebuke from Karlsruhe.
Serbia’s EU ascension dead as Brussels demands Belgrade renounce Kosovo and impose sanctions on Russia
By Drago Bosnic | July 7, 2022
The European Union is adamant that it is a “union of equals” and that the “interests and concerns of all of its current and/or prospective members will be taken into consideration”. Within the EU legal system, this is also made crystal clear by Article 4(2) TEU which states that “the Union shall respect the equality of Member States before the Treaties”. Still, the reality is starkly different. On paper, every member state is equally important. However, nobody truly believes that countries like Luxembourg or Malta could ever be as important and powerful as Germany or France. Worse yet, even France has trouble matching German dominance in the EU, to say nothing of other member states, particularly those in Southern and Eastern Europe.
And then there’s Southeast Europe. Current and prospective EU members there are as overlooked and dismissed as they could possibly be. Greece, by far the most important and powerful member in Southeast Europe is held in perpetual debt enslavement, while Bulgaria and Romania are virtually without sovereignty. And last, the so-called “Western Balkans” or former Yugoslavia (and Albania). This region’s EU perspective is questionable, at best. However, not so much thanks to the region itself. It is the bureaucratic empire that has treated the region as an outright colony, the one it created by destroying the relatively prosperous (and sovereign) Yugoslavia, instead creating half a dozen neo-colonies with little in terms of actual historical heritage and identity, a practice better known as the so-called “nation-building”, which is an expertise of the US and NATO.
The only exception to this is Serbia, the original founding state and by far the most important member of former Yugoslavia. Currently a semi-sovereign state, Serbia has been through a lot in recent decades, particularly since 1991, when the political West placed the country under a decade-long siege, destroying and dismantling Yugoslavia, while doing everything possible to expand the territorial scope of everyone else in the region, at the expense of ethnic Serbs, who have been expelled from nearly all regions of former Yugoslavia. The EU itself was (and still is) instrumental in this, together with the US. To achieve this, the political West has bombed Serbs 3 times in less than a decade, starting with the Republic of Serbian Krajina (1994-1995), Republika Srpska (1994-1995) and Serbia itself (1999).
It was catastrophic for Serbs, with tens of thousands killed, nearly a million refugees being forced out of their millennia-old ancestral lands and the ensuing economic and social devastation, the result of which was decades of stagnation. However, the EU and the US weren’t done with destroying the country. Even this much smaller Serbia was “too big” and “too sovereign” for the political West, so they decided to dismantle it further, causing Montenegro to secede in 2006, as well as supporting the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo (2008), a historically Serbian province with an engineered Albanian majority. Since then, 22 out of 27 EU member states have recognized the narco-terrorist entity. Brussels has tried to convince others to do so as well.
Formally, the EU never set Kosovo recognition as a condition for EU membership, although it did imply it many times since. However, on July 6, the EU crossed that line as well, when the European Parliament adopted the Resolution on Serbia, which “expresses support” for Serbia’s membership in the EU, but conditions the ascension with “urgent compliance” with the EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus, as well as the recognition of Kosovo as an independent state. These two requirements are now set as mandatory for further ascension talks. Top EU bureaucrat for Serbia Vladimir Bilcik emphasized Brussels expects Serbia to fully comply.
“That is why it is important that Serbia moves towards the EU, and not to any other side,” said Bilcik.
The European Parliament also “expressed regret” that five EU member states have not yet recognized the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and are again invited to do so. While Serbia was criticized for not sanctioning Russia and Belarus, the narco-terrorist neocolonial entity in occupied Kosovo was praised by the European Parliament for aligning with the European Union’s position on sanctions against Russia and Belarus.
Naturally, these terms are absolutely unacceptable to Serbia and can be considered indecent, to say the least. Neither Russia nor Belarus have ever done anything wrong to Serbia. On the contrary, both countries have been adamantly supporting Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and continue to do so. Historically, Serbia has been supported by Russia for centuries. Without the involvement of the Eurasian giant, it’s highly unlikely Serbia would’ve ever gotten its independence, let alone survived numerous brutal invasions and genocides coming from the political West in the last 100 years.
Turning against Russia for the sake of becoming a full colony of a centuries-old enemy could only be described as a mindless stab in the back which no government in Serbia would be able to survive, as it would be tantamount to political suicide. Thus, this resolution by the European Parliament means that Serbia’s EU ascension is effectively dead. Considering that the majority of Serbs don’t want to become part of the EU anyway, all they themselves could say is good riddance.
Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst.
Sanctions catch up to Russian energy project
Samizdat | July 7, 2022
Oil production at Russia’s far-eastern Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project has decreased significantly due to sanctions imposed by the West, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev.
“As for the Sakhalin-1 project, due to the restrictions imposed … oil production at the project has decreased by 22 times – from 220,000 barrels per day to 10,000 barrels per day,” Trutnev said.
The Sakhalin-1 project produces Sokol grade crude oil off the coast of Sakhalin Island in Russia’s Far East, exporting about 273,000 barrels per day, mainly to South Korea, but also to other destinations including Japan, Australia, Thailand, and the US.
In May, US oil giant ExxonMobil’s Russian unit Exxon Neftegas declared force majeure for its Sakhalin-1 operations due to sanctions. It had become increasingly difficult to ship crude to customers, the company explained.
Project stakeholders, which also include Japan’s Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development consortium and Indian explorer ONGC Videsh, were reportedly having difficulty chartering tankers to ship oil out of the region.
Exxon had earlier announced it would exit about $4 billion in assets and discontinue all of its Russia operations, including the Sakhalin-1 project.
On Thursday, Reuters reported the head of the energy committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament, Pavel Zavalny, as saying that the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project would be put under Moscow’s jurisdiction, just as the neighboring Sakhalin-2 has.
Last week, President Vladimir Putin ordered the re-organization of the Sakhalin-2 LNG project, transferring ownership to a new, domestic, company.
Norway-Russia Tensions Escalate Over Sanctions Impacting Arctic Islands
By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | July 6, 2022
The latest point of confrontation between NATO and Russia is the Svalbard archipelago, located midway between Norway and the North Pole. Moscow claims Oslo is restricting trade with the island’s hundreds of Russian residents. A top member of the Russian legislature is now calling for Moscow to leave its agreement with Oslo that resolved the territorial dispute over the far-northern archipelago.
During a discussion about Norway restricting trade to the islands in the Russian Duma, the body’s speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, requested the head of the chamber’s international affairs committee to look into “denouncing” the treaty. The agreement was signed in 2010.
In June, a shipment of goods to a Russian-operated mining colony on Svalbard was turned back. Moscow claimed the move by Oslo deprived the miners of needed food and medicine. “Norwegian authorities are trying to leave Russian miners without food, which is inherently immoral. This violates human rights and the principles of humanism,” said Russian Senator Konstantin Kosachev.
Konstantin went on to claim that Norway’s blocking of shipments violated international agreements. Oslo disputed the accusations saying it had not broken treaties and was legally enforcing sanctions. The shipment was “stopped on the basis of the sanctions that prohibit Russian road transport companies from transporting goods on Norwegian territory,” Norway’s Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said.
Huitfeldt noted there were potential options to allow the Kremlin to supply the miners without violating sanctions. The Russian Foreign Ministry promised Moscow would take “retaliatory measures” in response, though did not elaborate on what that might entail.
Foreign Policy Fail: Biden’s Sanctions are a Windfall For Russia!
By Ron Paul | July 4, 2022
It’s easy to see why, according to a new Harris poll, 71 percent of Americans said they do not want Joe Biden to run for re-election. As Americans face record gas prices and the highest inflation in 40 years, President Biden admits he could not care less. His Administration is committed to fight a proxy war with Russia through Ukraine and Americans just need to suck it up.
Last week a New York Times reporter asked Biden how long he expects Americans to pay record gasoline prices over his Administration’s Ukraine policy. “As long as it takes,” replied the president without hesitation.
“Russia cannot defeat Ukraine,” added Biden as justification for his Administration’s pro-pain policy toward Americans. The president has repeatedly tried to deflect blame for the growing economic crisis by claiming Russia is solely behind recent inflation. “The reason why gas prices are up is because of Russia. Russia, Russia, Russia,” he said in the same press conference.
But Biden has a big problem: Americans do not believe him. According to a Rasmussen poll earlier this month, only eleven percent of Americans believe Biden’s claim that Russian president Vladimir Putin is to blame for high prices.
When it comes to disdain for the average American hurt by higher prices, there is more than enough in the Biden Administration to go around.
Brian Deese, Director of President Biden’s National Economic Council, was asked in a recent CNN interview, “What do you say to those families that say, listen, we can’t afford to pay $4.85 a gallon for months, if not years?”
His answer? “This is about the future of the Liberal World Order and we have to stand firm.”
Has there ever been an Administration more out of touch with the American people? If you asked working Americans whether they’d be happy to suffer poverty for the “liberal world order,” how many would say “that sounds like a great idea”?
President Biden’s attempts to bring down gasoline prices are bound to fail because he does not understand the problem. He can beg the Saudis to pump more oil, he can even threaten the US oil companies as he did in a Tweet yesterday. He can buy and sell from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an attempt to give the impression that prices are lowering. None of it will work.
The strangest part of this idea that Americans must suffer to hurt the Russians is that these policies aren’t even hurting Russia! On the contrary: Russia has seen record profits from its oil and gas exports since the beginning of the Ukraine war.
According to a recent New York Times article, increasing global oil and gas prices have enabled Russia to finance its war on Ukraine. US sanctions did not bring the Russian economy to its knees, as Biden promised. They actually brought the American economy to its knees while Russian profits soared.
As Newsweek noted last week, Russian television pundits are joking that with the financial windfall Russia has seen since sanctions were imposed, “Biden is of course our agent.”
Washington’s bi-partisan foreign policy of wasting trillions on endless wars overseas has finally come home. Biden is clearly out of touch, but there is plenty of blame to go around. The only question is whether we will see an extended recession… or worse.
Copyright © 2022 by RonPaul Institute.
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UK Researchers: Tax Food to Reduce Climate Change
I doubt these professors have anything to fear from a food tax
By Eric Worrall | Watts Up With That? | November 19, 2016
A group of researchers in Oxford University, England have suggested that imposing a massive tax on carbon intensive foods – specifically protein rich foods like meat and dairy – could help combat climate change. […]
This proposal, from a group of people who have probably never missed a meal in their lives, is totally obscene. High income countries often have a lot of poor people who would be hard hit by increases in the price of food.
Needlessly exacerbating the risk poor people don’t get enough to eat, especially children and pregnant mothers, who are especially vulnerable to adverse health impacts from lack of protein in their diet – if this ghastly proposal is ever implemented, future generations will look upon it as a crime against humanity. – Read full article
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