Enceladus skrev: ↑tisdag 04 juni 2024 20:29
Kina storsatsar på den gröna omställningen och vill därför inte göra sig beroende av fossilgas, speciellt från opålitliga Ryssland. Putin fick dock ett litet tröstpris.
Gazprom badly hurt by Ukraine war, says company-commissioned report
Financial Times skrev:“It’s very grim,” said Elina Ribakova, a non-resident senior fellow at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, after reading the research. “Gazprom is at a dead end, and they’re very much aware of it.”
[...]
It also studies the impact of western sanctions in countries such as Iran, North Korea and Venezuela in a sign that Russia “is thoroughly preparing for permanent sanctions”, according to Tatiana Mitrova, a research fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.
“To their credit, its authors are not afraid to say that sanctions always lead to a decline in living standards and a loss of international competitiveness,” Mitrova said.
[...]
If completed on schedule in 2030, the Power of Siberia 2 is expected to bring additional capacity of 50 bcm a year. But China’s ability to extract significantly lower prices than Europe paid for Russian gas means Gazprom’s exports will be less profitable even if restored to prewar volumes, according to the report.
“The fundamental problem that they have is that most of the revenues were coming from Europe. Those have been lost, and the gas that was going to go to Europe cannot go to any other good market,” said Craig Kennedy, a Harvard-affiliated scholar and former vice-chair at Bank of America.
Tyskar älskade fossilgas, och i synnerhet rysk sådan. Hur tänkte Putin ersätta Europa med Kina? De nya förebilderna är visst Iran, Nordkorea och Venezuela.
dr Cassandra Nojdh skrev: ↑måndag 03 juni 2024 20:30
Men som jag har sagt, Meloni är mycket smartare än Orban och inser att det, så länge Trump inte sitter i Vita Huset, inte är läge att frondera. Men sedan..............
US seeks EU sanctions guarantee to back $50bn Ukraine loan
Financial Times skrev:The US is ready to lead a loan of $50bn to Ukraine repaid by profits from frozen Russian assets if the EU can indefinitely extend sanctions against Moscow, according to a leaked discussion paper.
Washington needs the EU to prolong the bloc’s sanctions on Russian state assets, which expire every six months unless renewed by unanimous consent, until the end of the war to ensure the US is not left on the hook for repayments.
But any such change to the EU regime would require the approval of leaders including Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, who has jealously guarded his regular veto rights over sanctions decisions.
Nu är det ju Orban som är problemet, och inte Meloni. Hur många toabesök kan Orban gå på innan EU får nog?
Enceladus skrev: ↑fredag 17 maj 2024 11:30
Den georgiska EU-drömmen står på spel efter att parlamentet röstade igenom lagen om "utländska agenter". Kan Ivanisjvili utklassa Putin som Aliyev gjorde?
With a Controversial New Law, Georgia Invites Bids From Russia and the EU
Carnegie Politika skrev:If the party is voted out in October, after twelve years in power, the opposition will not fail to take revenge. Georgian Dream’s honorary chairman and the country’s de facto leader, the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, can fully expect to repeat the fate of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who is now behind bars. However counterintuitive, therefore, it seems that the adoption of the foreign agents law simply reflects a new approach by Georgian Dream to maintaining its grip on power.
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Making the first part of that dream a reality would require deeper interaction not with the West, but with Russia, which effectively sponsors the two breakaway regions and has influence over them. At least as many Georgians would like to see the return of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as would like to see their country join the EU: both have the support of an absolute majority. Moreover, polls show that if they have to choose just one thing, more than three quarters of Georgians would choose the return of Abkhazia and South Ossetia over joining the EU and NATO.
Tbilisi has already proven that it has the courage to disobey the EU and the United States. Now it is Moscow’s turn to take the initiative. Even if Russia simply facilitates the start of the reintegration process, that may be more important for Georgian Dream’s popularity than a setback in the process of European integration.
Kan oligarken Ivanisjvili utmanövrera en försvagad Putin som Aliyev gjorde, eller riskerar han att istället utmanövrera sig själv?
Enceladus skrev: ↑onsdag 15 maj 2024 15:56
Har Fico trampat fel personer på tårna? Vi alla vet hur det gick för journalisten Kuciak. Fico sägs dock inte ha livshotande skador.
Bulletproof Vests on Red Square: Kremlin Secretly Beefs Up Putin’s Personal Security
The Moscow Times skrev:Among the risk factors for the Kremlin are the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s arrest warrant for Putin on war crimes charges as well as the risk of Ukrainian drone and sabotage attacks and attacks by Islamist radicals, a second official said.
He added that the Kremlin was on especially high alert following the 2022 assassination of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and last month’s attempt on Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico’s life.
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In reality, the special services control practically every aspect of Putin’s life, down to testing all of his meals for poison using a portable lab, a source close to the Kremlin said.
Säkerheten kring Rysslands president är däremot oerhört hög. Kalsongförgiftaren gifttestar alla sina måltider i labb. Putin vet mycket väl vad han har att frukta!
Russia Adds Anti-Drone ‘Cope Cages’ To All-Terrain Buggies, Motorcycles
The War Zone skrev:Standing inside a cavernous garage, Russian military blogger Alexander Sladkov shows off the latest iteration of the so-called cope cage craze. As the camera pans across the workspace, about a half dozen Chinese-made DesertCross All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) come into view, outfitted with metal caging installed to ward off Ukrainian drones.
A few months ago, Russian troops began using ATVs and motorcycles to attempt quick attacks as mechanized infantry in the push toward Kharkiv and around Avdiivka. However, they soon found themselves targeted by Ukrainian First Person-View (FPV) drones. To counter that, it appears that the Russians have begun to install so-called metal cope cages on both types of vehicles.
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Unfortunately for its occupants ATVs are also unarmored and highly vulnerable to drones, artillery, mines, ATGMs and small arms fire. As you can see in the video below, troops in these vehicles can be sitting ducks when facing off against FPV drones. So it's isn't an illogical step that combat golf carts would be equipped with the additional perceived protection of a cope cage.
Det är emellertid inte bara Putin som behöver beskydd!
