REUTERS
"Allies offer more weapons to Ukraine, but no decisions made on tanks"
By Idrees Ali and Tom Balmforth
January 20, 2023
Summary
* U.S. urges Ukraine to hold off offensive
* No agreement reached on Leopard tanks at Ramstein meeting
* U.S. general says it will be hard to eject Russian forces
* Improvised memorials laid in Russia for Dnipro victims
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany/KYIV, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Western allies on Friday dampened Ukraine's hopes for a rapid shipment of battle tanks to boost its firepower for a spring offensive against Russian forces, with the United States urging Kyiv to hold off from mounting such an operation.
The top U.S. general, speaking after a meeting of the allies at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, also said it would be very hard for Ukraine to drive Russia's invading forces from the country this year.
The run-up to the Ramstein meeting had been dominated by the issue of whether Germany would agree to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, or permit other countries that have them to do so.
In the end, no decision on supplying Leopards was reached on Friday, officials said, although pledges were given for large amounts of other weapons, including air defence systems and other tank models.
"We had a frank discussion on Leopards 2."
"To be continued," Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleskii Reznikov said after the meeting.
The United States was also holding fast to its decision not to provide Abrams tanks to Ukraine yet, a senior U.S. official said in Washington.
In Ramstein, U.S. General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news conference: "From a military standpoint, I still maintain that for this year, it would be very, very difficult to militarily eject the Russian forces from every inch of Russian-occupied Ukraine."
The developments likely came as a disappointment to Ukraine, as the war unleashed by a Russian invasion last February grinds on, with no solution nor let-up in sight.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had specifically requested more battle tanks.
Ukraine was hit especially hard this week, reporting 44 people confirmed dead and 20 unaccounted for after a Russian missile attack on an apartment block in Dnipro.
Russians in St Petersburg and Moscow have been laying flowers at improvised memorials to the victims.
GERMANY WARY
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a news conference at the end of the Ramstein meeting that while time was of the essence for Ukraine to take the fight to Russia's forces in the spring, Ukraine was well-equipped even without the Leopards.
"Ukraine is not dependent on a single platform," he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration faces pressure at home to supply more advanced weaponry.
A group of U.S. senators visiting Kyiv on Friday blasted the delays.
"We should not send American troops to Ukraine, but we should provide Ukraine with whatever we would give our troops if they were fighting on the ground," Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told reporters.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters Ukraine's backers needed to focus not only on sending new weapons, but supplying ammunition for older systems and helping maintain them.
For its part, the Kremlin said supplying tanks to Ukraine would not help and that the West would regret its "delusion" that Kyiv could win on the battlefield.
Germany has been under heavy pressure to allow Leopards to be sent.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrat party is traditionally sceptical of military involvements and wary of sudden moves that could cause Moscow to further escalate.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said he could not say when there would be a decision on the tanks but Berlin was prepared to move quickly if there was consensus among allies.
"All pros and cons must be weighed very carefully," Pistorius said.
Defence ministers from NATO and other countries met at Ramstein amid concern that Russia would soon reenergize its military campaign to seize parts of Ukraine's east and south that it says it has annexed but does not fully control.
Zelenskiy thanked allies for their support at the start of the meeting, but said more was needed and more quickly.
"We have to speed up."
"Time must become our weapon."
"The Kremlin must lose," he said.
Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Philippa Fletcher, Angus MacSwan and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Frances Kerry and Rosalba O'Brien
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/uk ... erm=012123
RUSSIA
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"Yellen says setting price caps on Russian refined oil products 'complicated'"
By Andrea Shalal
January 21, 2023
DAKAR, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Western countries are working to structure price caps on Russian refined petroleum products to ensure continued flow of Russian diesel, but the markets are complicated and there is a chance things do not go to plan, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
Group of Seven countries and Australia implemented a price cap on Russian oil Dec. 5, banning the use of Western-supplied maritime insurance, finance and other services for cargoes priced above $60 per barrel.
They are now finalizing two separate price caps on Russian refined petroleum products, such as diesel and fuel oil, that are due to take effect on Feb. 5 along with a European Union ban on diesel imports, Yellen told reporters in Dakar, Senegal.
One will cover high-value products typically sold at a premium to crude, while another will apply to low-value products like fuel oil, she said told reporters traveling with her in Africa.
Yellen said setting the new price caps had proven "more complicated" than for crude, given the range of different refined products and price structures, and the importance of ensuring continued supplies of Russian diesel to the market.
"It's more complicated, but we've been working hard to figure out how to achieve the same objectives," as with the broader cap on Russian crude, she said.
"You know, there's always the potential that things may not go according to plan but we've studied these markets very carefully and we believe that we're going to come out with a set of caps that will achieve the same things that we've achieved with crude so far," she said, adding that adjustments could still be made over time.
While the first oil price cap only took effect on Dec. 5, it had proven successful thus far, Yellen said, citing a drop in the price that Russia was getting for crude oil.
"They've expressed concern about revenues, and we've seen no sign that Russia is withholding oil from the market," she said.
Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Nick Zieminski
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 023-01-21/
"Yellen says setting price caps on Russian refined oil products 'complicated'"
By Andrea Shalal
January 21, 2023
DAKAR, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Western countries are working to structure price caps on Russian refined petroleum products to ensure continued flow of Russian diesel, but the markets are complicated and there is a chance things do not go to plan, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
Group of Seven countries and Australia implemented a price cap on Russian oil Dec. 5, banning the use of Western-supplied maritime insurance, finance and other services for cargoes priced above $60 per barrel.
They are now finalizing two separate price caps on Russian refined petroleum products, such as diesel and fuel oil, that are due to take effect on Feb. 5 along with a European Union ban on diesel imports, Yellen told reporters in Dakar, Senegal.
One will cover high-value products typically sold at a premium to crude, while another will apply to low-value products like fuel oil, she said told reporters traveling with her in Africa.
Yellen said setting the new price caps had proven "more complicated" than for crude, given the range of different refined products and price structures, and the importance of ensuring continued supplies of Russian diesel to the market.
"It's more complicated, but we've been working hard to figure out how to achieve the same objectives," as with the broader cap on Russian crude, she said.
"You know, there's always the potential that things may not go according to plan but we've studied these markets very carefully and we believe that we're going to come out with a set of caps that will achieve the same things that we've achieved with crude so far," she said, adding that adjustments could still be made over time.
While the first oil price cap only took effect on Dec. 5, it had proven successful thus far, Yellen said, citing a drop in the price that Russia was getting for crude oil.
"They've expressed concern about revenues, and we've seen no sign that Russia is withholding oil from the market," she said.
Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Nick Zieminski
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 023-01-21/
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"Russia ramps up January oil exports, India remains top buyer"
Reuters
January 23, 2023
MOSCOW, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Urals and KEBCO crude oil loadings from Russia's Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga are set to rise by 50% this month from December as sellers try to meet strong demand in Asia and benefit from rising global energy prices, traders said and Reuters calculations showed.
Around 70% of January cargoes of Urals oil are heading to India, according to traders' data and Reuters calculations.
India has been a top buyer of the Russian grade for several months now, filling the void left by EU buyers.
In December India's oil imports jumped to a five-month record amid active buying of the Russian oil.
China, which is seen as the second largest buyer of Urals in January, is also raising oil purchases in physical markets.
Oil prices rose by around 1% on Monday to a seven-week high as the market expected economic recovery in top oil importer China this year.
Supplies of oil from Russia and Kazakhstan via Primorsk and Ust-Luga will reach 7.1 million tonnes in January for the highest level since 2019, loading plans show.
On top of that, the ports will load 300,000 tonnes of crude to catch up after delays meant that December's export plan was not completed, Reuters sources said.
Russia loaded 4.7 million tonnes of Urals and KEBCO from Baltic ports in December, traders said and Refinitiv data showed.
Last year Kazakhstan changed the name of the oil it exports via Russian sea ports, from Urals to Kazakhstan Export Blend Crude Oil (KEBCO), dissociating it from oil originating in Russia to avoid sanction risks and issues with financing.
Reporting by Reuters reporters; Editing by David Goodman and Susan Fenton
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 023-01-23/
"Russia ramps up January oil exports, India remains top buyer"
Reuters
January 23, 2023
MOSCOW, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Urals and KEBCO crude oil loadings from Russia's Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga are set to rise by 50% this month from December as sellers try to meet strong demand in Asia and benefit from rising global energy prices, traders said and Reuters calculations showed.
Around 70% of January cargoes of Urals oil are heading to India, according to traders' data and Reuters calculations.
India has been a top buyer of the Russian grade for several months now, filling the void left by EU buyers.
In December India's oil imports jumped to a five-month record amid active buying of the Russian oil.
China, which is seen as the second largest buyer of Urals in January, is also raising oil purchases in physical markets.
Oil prices rose by around 1% on Monday to a seven-week high as the market expected economic recovery in top oil importer China this year.
Supplies of oil from Russia and Kazakhstan via Primorsk and Ust-Luga will reach 7.1 million tonnes in January for the highest level since 2019, loading plans show.
On top of that, the ports will load 300,000 tonnes of crude to catch up after delays meant that December's export plan was not completed, Reuters sources said.
Russia loaded 4.7 million tonnes of Urals and KEBCO from Baltic ports in December, traders said and Refinitiv data showed.
Last year Kazakhstan changed the name of the oil it exports via Russian sea ports, from Urals to Kazakhstan Export Blend Crude Oil (KEBCO), dissociating it from oil originating in Russia to avoid sanction risks and issues with financing.
Reporting by Reuters reporters; Editing by David Goodman and Susan Fenton
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 023-01-23/
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"Russian revenues to be hit further by caps on its oil products - Yellen"
Reuters
February 3, 2023
WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday that new price caps by the West on Russian oil products would build on the crude oil cap set in December and further limit Russian oil revenues while keeping global energy markets supplied.
"The caps we have just set will now serve a critical role in our global coalition’s work to degrade Russia’s ability to prosecute its illegal war (in Ukraine)," Yellen said in a statement after the agreement was released.
"Combined with our historic sanctions, we are forcing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to choose between funding his brutal war or propping up his struggling economy."
The coalition imposing the price cap, the Group of Seven economies, the EU and Australia, said on Friday the price caps are $100 per barrel on products that trade at a premium to crude, principally diesel, and $45 per barrel for products that trade at a discount, such as fuel oil and naphtha.
The coalition said the price caps on petroleum products would be implemented on Feb. 5 or "very soon thereafter."
In a statement, the participating countries said they would include "time-limited exceptions" for products that are loaded onto a vessel prior to Feb. 5.
Yellen said global energy markets had remained well-supplied and public reports indicated that oil importers were using the price cap to "drive steep bargains" on Russian oil.
"And, we are disrupting Russia’s military supply chains, making it harder for the Kremlin to equip its troops and continue this unprovoked invasion.”
Russia's monthly budget revenues from oil and gas fell in January to their lowest level since August 2020 under the impact of Western sanctions on its most lucrative export, Russia's Finance Ministry data showed on Friday.
Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Leslie Adler
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 023-02-03/
"Russian revenues to be hit further by caps on its oil products - Yellen"
Reuters
February 3, 2023
WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday that new price caps by the West on Russian oil products would build on the crude oil cap set in December and further limit Russian oil revenues while keeping global energy markets supplied.
"The caps we have just set will now serve a critical role in our global coalition’s work to degrade Russia’s ability to prosecute its illegal war (in Ukraine)," Yellen said in a statement after the agreement was released.
"Combined with our historic sanctions, we are forcing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to choose between funding his brutal war or propping up his struggling economy."
The coalition imposing the price cap, the Group of Seven economies, the EU and Australia, said on Friday the price caps are $100 per barrel on products that trade at a premium to crude, principally diesel, and $45 per barrel for products that trade at a discount, such as fuel oil and naphtha.
The coalition said the price caps on petroleum products would be implemented on Feb. 5 or "very soon thereafter."
In a statement, the participating countries said they would include "time-limited exceptions" for products that are loaded onto a vessel prior to Feb. 5.
Yellen said global energy markets had remained well-supplied and public reports indicated that oil importers were using the price cap to "drive steep bargains" on Russian oil.
"And, we are disrupting Russia’s military supply chains, making it harder for the Kremlin to equip its troops and continue this unprovoked invasion.”
Russia's monthly budget revenues from oil and gas fell in January to their lowest level since August 2020 under the impact of Western sanctions on its most lucrative export, Russia's Finance Ministry data showed on Friday.
Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Leslie Adler
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 023-02-03/
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"U.S. considering 200% tariff on Russian aluminum, official says"
By Steve Holland
February 6, 2023
Feb 6 (Reuters) - The United States is considering raising the import tariff on Russian-made aluminum to 200%, as it seeks to ramp up pressure on Moscow over its war in Ukraine, but a decision has not been made yet, a U.S. official said on Monday.
"It's something we are considering," the official said, adding an announcement about any tariff increase was not expected this week.
The official's comments came after Bloomberg News that an announcement of a 200% tariff on Russian-produced aluminum could be made as early as this week.
The Russian metal has also been targeted by the United States after being dumped by Moscow on the U.S. market below cost, harming American companies, the report said, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Reuters reported last October that the Biden administration was weighing restrictions on imports of Russian aluminum in response to Moscow's military escalation in Ukraine.
The White House declined to comment on potential new tariffs or other restrictions on Russian aluminum.
Spokespersons for the U.S. Trade Representative's office and the U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
It was unclear under what authority the Biden administration would impose higher tariffs.
The Commerce Department has jurisdiction over anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties, but these require investigations that typically take months.
PRICES SUBSIDE
Consideration of higher tariffs on Russian aluminum comes as prices for the widely-used metal have fallen from record levels last year, helping to ease inflation.
London Metal Exchange three-month aluminum prices reached a record of over $4,073 per tonne in March 2022, the month following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
They have fallen dramatically since then, to a likely range of about $2,441 to $2,500 per tonne this week.
The United States is also far less dependent on Russian aluminum than it was five years ago, with imports falling to 443 million pounds in the past year from 1.65 million pounds in 2017, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Russian aluminum now makes up only 3% of U.S. imports.
In 2018, the United States imposed a 10% tariff on global aluminum imports on national security grounds aimed at reviving U.S. production.
Those tariffs apply to Russian output but not to some other countries that have negotiated quota and safeguard agreements with Washington, including Canada, which now supplies roughly half of U.S. aluminum imports.
Russian output is also subject to some product-specific anti-dumping tariffs, including a62.2% tariff on imports of Russian aluminum foil.
Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Marguerita Choy
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodi ... 023-02-06/
"U.S. considering 200% tariff on Russian aluminum, official says"
By Steve Holland
February 6, 2023
Feb 6 (Reuters) - The United States is considering raising the import tariff on Russian-made aluminum to 200%, as it seeks to ramp up pressure on Moscow over its war in Ukraine, but a decision has not been made yet, a U.S. official said on Monday.
"It's something we are considering," the official said, adding an announcement about any tariff increase was not expected this week.
The official's comments came after Bloomberg News that an announcement of a 200% tariff on Russian-produced aluminum could be made as early as this week.
The Russian metal has also been targeted by the United States after being dumped by Moscow on the U.S. market below cost, harming American companies, the report said, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Reuters reported last October that the Biden administration was weighing restrictions on imports of Russian aluminum in response to Moscow's military escalation in Ukraine.
The White House declined to comment on potential new tariffs or other restrictions on Russian aluminum.
Spokespersons for the U.S. Trade Representative's office and the U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
It was unclear under what authority the Biden administration would impose higher tariffs.
The Commerce Department has jurisdiction over anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties, but these require investigations that typically take months.
PRICES SUBSIDE
Consideration of higher tariffs on Russian aluminum comes as prices for the widely-used metal have fallen from record levels last year, helping to ease inflation.
London Metal Exchange three-month aluminum prices reached a record of over $4,073 per tonne in March 2022, the month following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
They have fallen dramatically since then, to a likely range of about $2,441 to $2,500 per tonne this week.
The United States is also far less dependent on Russian aluminum than it was five years ago, with imports falling to 443 million pounds in the past year from 1.65 million pounds in 2017, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Russian aluminum now makes up only 3% of U.S. imports.
In 2018, the United States imposed a 10% tariff on global aluminum imports on national security grounds aimed at reviving U.S. production.
Those tariffs apply to Russian output but not to some other countries that have negotiated quota and safeguard agreements with Washington, including Canada, which now supplies roughly half of U.S. aluminum imports.
Russian output is also subject to some product-specific anti-dumping tariffs, including a62.2% tariff on imports of Russian aluminum foil.
Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Marguerita Choy
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodi ... 023-02-06/
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"Russia: U.S. has questions to answer over Nord Stream explosions"
Reuters
February 8, 2023
Feb 8 (Reuters) - Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday the United States had questions to answer over its role in explosions on the undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines last year.
Commenting on a report published earlier on Wednesday that said the United States was involved in the explosions, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the White House to comment on the "facts" that had been presented.
Reuters was unable to verify the report, published by U.S. investigative journalist Seymour Hersh on his blog, alleging U.S. involvement in the explosions.
The White House said on Wednesday that Hersh's account was "utterly false and complete fiction".
Moscow, without providing evidence, has repeatedly said the West was behind the explosions affecting the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines last September - multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects that carried Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
Western officials have denied those accusations.
"The White House must now comment on all these facts," Zakharova said in a post on her Telegram page where she summarised Hersh's main claims regarding the alleged U.S. involvement.
Investigators from Sweden and Denmark - in whose exclusive economic zones the explosions occurred - have said the ruptures were a result of sabotage, but have not said who they believe was responsible.
Russia said the countries "have something to hide" and are purposefully blocking Russia out from the investigation.
Construction of Nord Stream 2, designed to double the amount of gas Russia could send directly to Germany under the sea, was completed in September 2021, but was never put into operation after Berlin shelved certification just days before Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine in February.
Reporting by Jake Cordell; Editing by Gareth Jones
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 023-02-08/
"Russia: U.S. has questions to answer over Nord Stream explosions"
Reuters
February 8, 2023
Feb 8 (Reuters) - Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday the United States had questions to answer over its role in explosions on the undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines last year.
Commenting on a report published earlier on Wednesday that said the United States was involved in the explosions, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the White House to comment on the "facts" that had been presented.
Reuters was unable to verify the report, published by U.S. investigative journalist Seymour Hersh on his blog, alleging U.S. involvement in the explosions.
The White House said on Wednesday that Hersh's account was "utterly false and complete fiction".
Moscow, without providing evidence, has repeatedly said the West was behind the explosions affecting the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines last September - multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects that carried Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
Western officials have denied those accusations.
"The White House must now comment on all these facts," Zakharova said in a post on her Telegram page where she summarised Hersh's main claims regarding the alleged U.S. involvement.
Investigators from Sweden and Denmark - in whose exclusive economic zones the explosions occurred - have said the ruptures were a result of sabotage, but have not said who they believe was responsible.
Russia said the countries "have something to hide" and are purposefully blocking Russia out from the investigation.
Construction of Nord Stream 2, designed to double the amount of gas Russia could send directly to Germany under the sea, was completed in September 2021, but was never put into operation after Berlin shelved certification just days before Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine in February.
Reporting by Jake Cordell; Editing by Gareth Jones
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 023-02-08/
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"Russia accuses Nord Stream blast investigators of cover-up"
Reuters
February 9, 2023
Feb 9 (Reuters) - Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday that European countries were trying to hide the results of their investigations into last year's blasts on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, accusing them of covering up who was to blame.
"The investigation is being carried out in such a way that... the remains are literally and figuratively left in the water," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said, according to the state-run RIA news agency.
The blasts, which are being investigated by Swedish and Danish authorities, could put three of Nord Stream 1 and 2's four undersea lines permanently out of use.
Moscow had asked Stockholm to be allowed to join the investigation, but both Sweden and Denmark rejected the idea of Russian participation.
Construction of Nord Stream 2, designed to carry Russian gas to Germany, was completed in September 2021.
Berlin shelved its certification just days before Moscow invaded Ukraine in February.
Swedish and other European investigators say the attacks were carried out on purpose, but they have not said who they think was responsible.
Moscow, without providing evidence, has blamed the explosions on Western sabotage.
Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Gareth Jones
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ru ... 023-02-09/
"Russia accuses Nord Stream blast investigators of cover-up"
Reuters
February 9, 2023
Feb 9 (Reuters) - Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday that European countries were trying to hide the results of their investigations into last year's blasts on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, accusing them of covering up who was to blame.
"The investigation is being carried out in such a way that... the remains are literally and figuratively left in the water," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said, according to the state-run RIA news agency.
The blasts, which are being investigated by Swedish and Danish authorities, could put three of Nord Stream 1 and 2's four undersea lines permanently out of use.
Moscow had asked Stockholm to be allowed to join the investigation, but both Sweden and Denmark rejected the idea of Russian participation.
Construction of Nord Stream 2, designed to carry Russian gas to Germany, was completed in September 2021.
Berlin shelved its certification just days before Moscow invaded Ukraine in February.
Swedish and other European investigators say the attacks were carried out on purpose, but they have not said who they think was responsible.
Moscow, without providing evidence, has blamed the explosions on Western sabotage.
Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Gareth Jones
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ru ... 023-02-09/
Re: RUSSIA
RIGZONE
"Russia Was Forced Into Oil Production Cuts"
by Bloomberg | Paul Wallace and Salma El Wardany
Monday, February 13, 2023
The European Union downplayed the impact of Russia’s cut in oil production and said it was forced on Moscow by sanctions related to its invasion of Ukraine.
“It wasn’t voluntary,” EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said in an interview in Cairo.
“It was forced on them."
"They don’t have the ability to keep up the production volumes because they don’t have access to necessary technology.”
The sanctions have restricted Russia’s ability to find buyers for all the 10.9 million barrels a day it was pumping as of late 2022, Simson said, adding that the giant producer is struggling even after accepting big discounts.
Brent crude jumped on Friday after Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia would lower production by 500,000 barrels a day next month.
That extended the benchmark’s weekly rise to 8.1%, the most in about four months.
Still, it retraced some of its gains on Monday, dropping to about $86 a barrel as the dollar strengthened.
Simson said Russia’s move — which follows an EU ban on imports of almost all of Moscow’s crude and refined fuels and a G7 price cap — was unlikely to push oil higher in the long run.
Russia’s crude production and exports have proved resilient to several waves of Western sanctions, according to industry data seen and analyzed by Bloomberg.
While the nation had to reduce output in the weeks after the invasion last February to just over 10 million barrels per day, by the end of the year it rebounded.
The EU’s energy commission will publish an assessment at the end of this month looking at the bloc’s ability to restock on natural gas ahead of next winter.
It managed to refill its storage rapidly before this winter even as Russia lowered piped gas flows in retaliation against the sanctions.
That was in part due to the ramp up of purchases of liquefied natural gas from the US and other nations.
While Russia still sends Europe some piped gas, those volumes could drop further, Simson said.
“Our crisis strategy, of course, is built on the assumption that they will cut those deliveries completely,” Simson said.
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/russi ... 2-article/
"Russia Was Forced Into Oil Production Cuts"
by Bloomberg | Paul Wallace and Salma El Wardany
Monday, February 13, 2023
The European Union downplayed the impact of Russia’s cut in oil production and said it was forced on Moscow by sanctions related to its invasion of Ukraine.
“It wasn’t voluntary,” EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said in an interview in Cairo.
“It was forced on them."
"They don’t have the ability to keep up the production volumes because they don’t have access to necessary technology.”
The sanctions have restricted Russia’s ability to find buyers for all the 10.9 million barrels a day it was pumping as of late 2022, Simson said, adding that the giant producer is struggling even after accepting big discounts.
Brent crude jumped on Friday after Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia would lower production by 500,000 barrels a day next month.
That extended the benchmark’s weekly rise to 8.1%, the most in about four months.
Still, it retraced some of its gains on Monday, dropping to about $86 a barrel as the dollar strengthened.
Simson said Russia’s move — which follows an EU ban on imports of almost all of Moscow’s crude and refined fuels and a G7 price cap — was unlikely to push oil higher in the long run.
Russia’s crude production and exports have proved resilient to several waves of Western sanctions, according to industry data seen and analyzed by Bloomberg.
While the nation had to reduce output in the weeks after the invasion last February to just over 10 million barrels per day, by the end of the year it rebounded.
The EU’s energy commission will publish an assessment at the end of this month looking at the bloc’s ability to restock on natural gas ahead of next winter.
It managed to refill its storage rapidly before this winter even as Russia lowered piped gas flows in retaliation against the sanctions.
That was in part due to the ramp up of purchases of liquefied natural gas from the US and other nations.
While Russia still sends Europe some piped gas, those volumes could drop further, Simson said.
“Our crisis strategy, of course, is built on the assumption that they will cut those deliveries completely,” Simson said.
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/russi ... 2-article/
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"Ukrainian troops holding Bakhmut line demand weapons as world powers meet"
By Yiming Woo and Andrew Gray
February 18, 2023
Summary
* Soldiers resisting Russian attacks want more arms
* Western officials meet in Munich over Europe's security
* Anniversary of Putin's Feb. 24 invasion nears, costs mount
NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine/MUNICH, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Ukrainian soldiers fighting to hold off a Russian push on the small eastern city of Bakhmut pleaded for more weapons from the outside world as senior Western leaders met in Munich on Friday to assess the year-long war shaking Europe.
"Give us more military equipment, more weapons, and we will deal with the Russian occupier, we will destroy them," said Dmytro, a serviceman standing in the snow near Bakhmut, echoing a plea by his president to the Munich conference.
Nearly one year into the invasion, President Vladimir Putin's troops are intensifying assaults in the east.
Ukraine is planning a spring counter-offensive, for which it wants more, heavier and longer-range weapons from its Western allies.
Europe's worst conflict since World War Two war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted millions from their homes, pummelled the global economy and made Putin a pariah in the West.
He says he is fighting for Russia's security against an aggressively expanding NATO alliance, but Kyiv and its allies cast the invasion as a colonial-style land grab in Ukraine, formerly part of the Russian-dominated Soviet Union.
On the freezing battlefield, Ukrainian servicemen showed a visiting journalist the benefits of Australian-provided Bushmaster armoured vehicles in an area where Russian soldiers have become bogged down in months of fighting to take Bakhmut, which Russia's Wagner mercenary group is attacking.
The vehicles shield soldiers from bullets, enable evacuations of wounded and give cover for reconnaissance, Dmytro added.
"There were cases when anti-tank mines were detonated, and the soldiers only received contusions."
"There were no serious injuries to the soldiers."
"It has worked very well."
The governor of Luhansk, one of two provinces in what is known as the Donbas which Russia partially controls and wants to take completely, said ground and air attacks were increasing.
"Today it is rather difficult on all directions," Serhiy Haidai told local TV.
"There are constant attempts to break through our defence lines," he said of fighting near the city of Kreminna.
In its latest update, Russia said a barrage of missile strikes on Thursday around Ukraine had achieved their goals in hitting facilities providing fuel and ammunition to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's army.
Kyiv reported 36 missiles, of which 16 were shot down, and said its largest oil refinery, Kremenchuk, was struck.
'AMERICAN WARMONGERS'
Attending the three-day Munich Security Conference were a host of senior Western officials including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.
Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region
At last year's gathering, they had urged Putin not to invade and warned of dire consequences if he did.
This year, they are grappling with the implications of that.
Zelenskiy, speaking by video link, called for allies at the meeting to speed up sending weapons and won immediate support from Scholz and Macron.
In another sign of international backing, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday it had reached a staff-level agreement with Ukraine, paving the way for talks on a full loan programme.
As well as the pressing problem of the war, the Cold War-style standoff with Russia has revived huge wider security issues for Europe: how much to rely on the United States, how much to spend on defence, how to build its own capacity.
Kyiv said only a full Russian exit was acceptable.
"Negotiations can begin when Russia withdraws its troops from the territory of Ukraine."
"Other options only give Russia time to regroup forces and resume hostilities at any moment," Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
The Pentagon said on Friday that the first Ukrainian battalion with about 635 soldiers had completed a roughly five-week-long U.S. course of combined arms training on the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Germany.
Additional battalion-level combined arms training was already underway, it said.
The United States has announced plans to give Ukraine more than 50 of the armoured vehicles, which have a powerful gun and have been used by the U.S. Army to carry troops around battlefields since the mid-1980s.
Moscow accuses the United States of inciting Ukraine to escalate the war and now being directly involved.
"The American warmongers ... supply weapons in huge quantities, provide intelligence and participate directly in the planning of combat operations," said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry.
Russia's current focus is on Bakhmut, a now largely shattered city in Donetsk province - adjacent to Luhansk - whose pre-war population of about 70,000 people have mainly fled.
The Ukrainian 80th Air Assault Brigade's press officer, Taras Dzioba, said the Russians had paid a heavy price after waves of assaults around the city.
"There are places where their bodies are just piled up."
"There is a trench ..."
"They just don't evacuate their wounded or killed," Dzioba said near a howitzer battery outside a defensive bunker.
Capturing Bakhmut would give Russia a stepping stone to advance on two bigger cities further west, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
But Ukraine and allies say it would be a pyrrhic victory given the time taken and losses sustained.
The White House said Russian mercenary company Wagner Group has suffered more than 30,000 casualties so far during Russia's invasion, with about 9,000 of those fighters killed in action.
Reporting by Yiming Woo, Olena Harmash, Alexander Vasovic, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Gray and Andreas Rinke; Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne and Andrew Heavens; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Daniel Wallis and Diane Craft
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/uk ... erm=021823
"Ukrainian troops holding Bakhmut line demand weapons as world powers meet"
By Yiming Woo and Andrew Gray
February 18, 2023
Summary
* Soldiers resisting Russian attacks want more arms
* Western officials meet in Munich over Europe's security
* Anniversary of Putin's Feb. 24 invasion nears, costs mount
NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine/MUNICH, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Ukrainian soldiers fighting to hold off a Russian push on the small eastern city of Bakhmut pleaded for more weapons from the outside world as senior Western leaders met in Munich on Friday to assess the year-long war shaking Europe.
"Give us more military equipment, more weapons, and we will deal with the Russian occupier, we will destroy them," said Dmytro, a serviceman standing in the snow near Bakhmut, echoing a plea by his president to the Munich conference.
Nearly one year into the invasion, President Vladimir Putin's troops are intensifying assaults in the east.
Ukraine is planning a spring counter-offensive, for which it wants more, heavier and longer-range weapons from its Western allies.
Europe's worst conflict since World War Two war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted millions from their homes, pummelled the global economy and made Putin a pariah in the West.
He says he is fighting for Russia's security against an aggressively expanding NATO alliance, but Kyiv and its allies cast the invasion as a colonial-style land grab in Ukraine, formerly part of the Russian-dominated Soviet Union.
On the freezing battlefield, Ukrainian servicemen showed a visiting journalist the benefits of Australian-provided Bushmaster armoured vehicles in an area where Russian soldiers have become bogged down in months of fighting to take Bakhmut, which Russia's Wagner mercenary group is attacking.
The vehicles shield soldiers from bullets, enable evacuations of wounded and give cover for reconnaissance, Dmytro added.
"There were cases when anti-tank mines were detonated, and the soldiers only received contusions."
"There were no serious injuries to the soldiers."
"It has worked very well."
The governor of Luhansk, one of two provinces in what is known as the Donbas which Russia partially controls and wants to take completely, said ground and air attacks were increasing.
"Today it is rather difficult on all directions," Serhiy Haidai told local TV.
"There are constant attempts to break through our defence lines," he said of fighting near the city of Kreminna.
In its latest update, Russia said a barrage of missile strikes on Thursday around Ukraine had achieved their goals in hitting facilities providing fuel and ammunition to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's army.
Kyiv reported 36 missiles, of which 16 were shot down, and said its largest oil refinery, Kremenchuk, was struck.
'AMERICAN WARMONGERS'
Attending the three-day Munich Security Conference were a host of senior Western officials including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.
Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region
At last year's gathering, they had urged Putin not to invade and warned of dire consequences if he did.
This year, they are grappling with the implications of that.
Zelenskiy, speaking by video link, called for allies at the meeting to speed up sending weapons and won immediate support from Scholz and Macron.
In another sign of international backing, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday it had reached a staff-level agreement with Ukraine, paving the way for talks on a full loan programme.
As well as the pressing problem of the war, the Cold War-style standoff with Russia has revived huge wider security issues for Europe: how much to rely on the United States, how much to spend on defence, how to build its own capacity.
Kyiv said only a full Russian exit was acceptable.
"Negotiations can begin when Russia withdraws its troops from the territory of Ukraine."
"Other options only give Russia time to regroup forces and resume hostilities at any moment," Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
The Pentagon said on Friday that the first Ukrainian battalion with about 635 soldiers had completed a roughly five-week-long U.S. course of combined arms training on the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Germany.
Additional battalion-level combined arms training was already underway, it said.
The United States has announced plans to give Ukraine more than 50 of the armoured vehicles, which have a powerful gun and have been used by the U.S. Army to carry troops around battlefields since the mid-1980s.
Moscow accuses the United States of inciting Ukraine to escalate the war and now being directly involved.
"The American warmongers ... supply weapons in huge quantities, provide intelligence and participate directly in the planning of combat operations," said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry.
Russia's current focus is on Bakhmut, a now largely shattered city in Donetsk province - adjacent to Luhansk - whose pre-war population of about 70,000 people have mainly fled.
The Ukrainian 80th Air Assault Brigade's press officer, Taras Dzioba, said the Russians had paid a heavy price after waves of assaults around the city.
"There are places where their bodies are just piled up."
"There is a trench ..."
"They just don't evacuate their wounded or killed," Dzioba said near a howitzer battery outside a defensive bunker.
Capturing Bakhmut would give Russia a stepping stone to advance on two bigger cities further west, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
But Ukraine and allies say it would be a pyrrhic victory given the time taken and losses sustained.
The White House said Russian mercenary company Wagner Group has suffered more than 30,000 casualties so far during Russia's invasion, with about 9,000 of those fighters killed in action.
Reporting by Yiming Woo, Olena Harmash, Alexander Vasovic, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Gray and Andreas Rinke; Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne and Andrew Heavens; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Daniel Wallis and Diane Craft
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/uk ... erm=021823
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"EU close to deal on 10th sanctions package against Russia"
By Jan Strupczewski, Andrew Gray
FEBRUARY 21, 2023
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is close to a 10th sanctions package against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and EU governments hope to reach a deal on Wednesday if they can overcome differences about a ban on Russian rubber and diamond imports, EU diplomats said.
Among those the bloc is seeking to target are Russians it says are involved in the illegal deportation of some 6,000 Ukrainian children.
The package, worth 11 billion euros ($11.70 billion), is also likely to include, for the first time, a ban on all exports to seven Iranian entities believed to be making items used by Russia in the war.
“We were discussing today the 10th sanctions package against Russia,” Polish ambassador to the EU Andrzej Sados said after talks by ambassadors of the EU’s 27 governments in Brussels.
“We will restart the discussion tomorrow afternoon in the hope that we can find a common denominator,” he said.
The EU wants to have the package, including against those accused of the deportation of children, ready in time for the anniversary of the invasion on Feb. 24.
“At least 34 Russian institutions are involved in systemic stealing of Ukrainian children, including the Russian children’s ombudsman,” Sados said.
The U.N. refugee agency said last month Russia was giving the children Russian passports and putting them up for adoption.
A U.S.-backed report this month said Russia had held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children in sites in Russian-held Crimea and Russia whose primary purpose appeared to be political re-education.
Russia’s embassy in Washington said Russia accepted children who were forced to flee Ukraine.
In response to the UNHCR, Russia’s foreign ministry accused its chief of being silent when children died as a result of what she said was Ukrainian shelling in the Donbas region after pro-Moscow separatists declared independence in 2014.
DIAMOND TRADE
Sados said there was some progress on setting an embargo on imports of Russian diamonds, either polished or rough, because Belgium was easing its opposition to it even though it would hurt Europe’s biggest diamond trading centre in Antwerp.
But he and other diplomats said diamonds were unlikely to be part of this package because such a measure still needed to be coordinated with G7 countries, whose leaders were likely to mention the issue in a statement on Friday.
Neither would the package include sanctioning Russia’s nuclear energy sector and putting Rosatom on the sanctions list, diplomats said, because several European countries, including France, buy uranium from Russia for their reactors.
But the EU was close to a compromise on banning Russian synthetic rubber, diplomats said, even though Germany and Italy opposed a complete embargo which Poland and the Baltic countries are calling for.
The solution could be a quota and the talks were focusing on how much could be allowed, diplomats said.
The EU will also ban sales to Russia of all dual-use and electronic components used in Russian armed systems such as drones and missiles and helicopters -- basically anything that can be found in Russian weapons on Ukrainian battlefields.
The EU is also likely to cut more Russian banks, including the private Alfa-Bank, the online bank Tinkoff and the commercial lender Rosbank from the global messaging system SWIFT.
The EU is likely to ban Russia Today’s Arabic service from its territory and prohibit sales to Russia of electronic circuits and components, thermal cameras, radios and heavy vehicles, as well as steel and aluminium used in construction and machinery serving industrial and construction purposes.
Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Alison Williams
https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine ... SL8N3516EO
"EU close to deal on 10th sanctions package against Russia"
By Jan Strupczewski, Andrew Gray
FEBRUARY 21, 2023
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is close to a 10th sanctions package against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and EU governments hope to reach a deal on Wednesday if they can overcome differences about a ban on Russian rubber and diamond imports, EU diplomats said.
Among those the bloc is seeking to target are Russians it says are involved in the illegal deportation of some 6,000 Ukrainian children.
The package, worth 11 billion euros ($11.70 billion), is also likely to include, for the first time, a ban on all exports to seven Iranian entities believed to be making items used by Russia in the war.
“We were discussing today the 10th sanctions package against Russia,” Polish ambassador to the EU Andrzej Sados said after talks by ambassadors of the EU’s 27 governments in Brussels.
“We will restart the discussion tomorrow afternoon in the hope that we can find a common denominator,” he said.
The EU wants to have the package, including against those accused of the deportation of children, ready in time for the anniversary of the invasion on Feb. 24.
“At least 34 Russian institutions are involved in systemic stealing of Ukrainian children, including the Russian children’s ombudsman,” Sados said.
The U.N. refugee agency said last month Russia was giving the children Russian passports and putting them up for adoption.
A U.S.-backed report this month said Russia had held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children in sites in Russian-held Crimea and Russia whose primary purpose appeared to be political re-education.
Russia’s embassy in Washington said Russia accepted children who were forced to flee Ukraine.
In response to the UNHCR, Russia’s foreign ministry accused its chief of being silent when children died as a result of what she said was Ukrainian shelling in the Donbas region after pro-Moscow separatists declared independence in 2014.
DIAMOND TRADE
Sados said there was some progress on setting an embargo on imports of Russian diamonds, either polished or rough, because Belgium was easing its opposition to it even though it would hurt Europe’s biggest diamond trading centre in Antwerp.
But he and other diplomats said diamonds were unlikely to be part of this package because such a measure still needed to be coordinated with G7 countries, whose leaders were likely to mention the issue in a statement on Friday.
Neither would the package include sanctioning Russia’s nuclear energy sector and putting Rosatom on the sanctions list, diplomats said, because several European countries, including France, buy uranium from Russia for their reactors.
But the EU was close to a compromise on banning Russian synthetic rubber, diplomats said, even though Germany and Italy opposed a complete embargo which Poland and the Baltic countries are calling for.
The solution could be a quota and the talks were focusing on how much could be allowed, diplomats said.
The EU will also ban sales to Russia of all dual-use and electronic components used in Russian armed systems such as drones and missiles and helicopters -- basically anything that can be found in Russian weapons on Ukrainian battlefields.
The EU is also likely to cut more Russian banks, including the private Alfa-Bank, the online bank Tinkoff and the commercial lender Rosbank from the global messaging system SWIFT.
The EU is likely to ban Russia Today’s Arabic service from its territory and prohibit sales to Russia of electronic circuits and components, thermal cameras, radios and heavy vehicles, as well as steel and aluminium used in construction and machinery serving industrial and construction purposes.
Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Alison Williams
https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine ... SL8N3516EO