REUTERS
"Saudi Arabia says new oil cuts show teamwork with Russia is strong"
By Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler and Shadia Nasralla
July 5, 2023
Summary
* OPEC+ to do "whatever necessary" to support market
* Russia and Saudi Arabia have both made additional voluntary cuts
* Saudi-U.S. relations strained by oil policy, Russia
VIENNA, July 5 (Reuters) - Russia-Saudi oil cooperation is still going strong as part of the OPEC+ alliance, which will do "whatever necessary" to support the market, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told a conference on Wednesday.
OPEC+, a group comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia which pumps around 40% of the world's crude, has been cutting oil output since November in the face of flagging prices.
Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world's biggest oil exporters, deepened oil supply cuts on Monday in an effort to send prices higher.
Yet the move only briefly lifted the market.
On Wednesday, benchmark Brent futures almost flat at $76.30 per barrel as of 1440 GMT, remaining below the $80-$100 per barrel that most OPEC nations need to balance their budgets.
OPEC says it does not have a price target and is seeking to have a balanced oil market to meet the interests of both consumers and producers.
The United States, the biggest oil producer outside OPEC+, has repeatedly called on the group to boost production to help the global economy and has criticised Saudi cooperation with Russia after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
But Riyadh has repeatedly rebuffed U.S. calls and Prince Abdulaziz said on Wednesday that new joint oil output cuts agreed by Russia and Saudi Arabia this week have again proven sceptics wrong.
"Part of what we have done (on Monday) with the help of our colleagues from Russia was also to mitigate the cynical side of the spectators on what is going on between Saudi and Russia on that specific matter," Prince Abdulaziz said.
"It is quite telling seeing us on Monday coming out with not only our (oil cut) extension... but also with validation from the Russian side," he told a meeting of oil industry CEOs with ministers from OPEC and allies, known as the OPEC International Seminar.
OPEC has withheld media access to reporters from Reuters, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal to cover the event, which was partly broadcast online.
After the end of the broadcast, Prince Abdulaziz told the seminar that OPEC+ would do "whatever necessary" to support the market, according to a source who attended the meeting.
ENOUGH FOR NOW
The International Energy Agency has said it expects the oil market to tighten in the second half of 2023, partly because of OPEC+ cuts.
Amin Nasser, boss of energy giant Saudi Aramco, said he was optimistic about demand growth in the mid-term as the Chinese economy and global jet fuel consumption were still recovering from their decline during the pandemic.
But analysts at Morgan Stanley on Wednesday cut their oil price forecast, saying that while they anticipated a decrease in stocks in 2023 they forecast a surplus in the first half of 2024, with non-OPEC supply growing faster than demand.
Additional oil cuts should be enough to help balance the oil market, United Arab Emirates' energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told reporters on Wednesday.
"This (the latest addition output cuts) is enough to assess the market and look at the market balance," Mazrouei told reporters.
He said the UAE would not be contributing to fresh cuts as it was already producing well below its capacity.
"There’s a bigger thing… I’m seeing a lack of investments in many countries."
"We will have to invite maybe newcomers to come and join the group."
"The more countries we have... the easier the job... to ensure that the world has enough oil in the future," Mazrouei said.
"Imagine if we had 60% of the producers or 80% of the producers..."
"We will definitely do a better job."
Reporting by OPEC Newsroom; writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely and Jan Harvey
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 023-07-05/
RUSSIA
Re: RUSSIA
The Telegraph
"Biden has just made his worst decision on Ukraine so far"
Story by Bob Seely
6 JULY 2023
500 days ago this Saturday, Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, beginning Europe’s conventional largest war since Germany invaded Poland in 1939.
Militarily and politically, the war has reached a pivot point.
Perhaps 200,000 are dead or injured already.
The fate of millions more, in Ukraine, in Russia and perhaps further afield, depend on the outcome.
On the battlefield, Ukraine is making slow, but important, progress through the morass of mine fields, trenches and tunnels dug and shaped by Russian military engineers.
Politically, whilst support in weapon and money still flow, the stark question for Western leaders is: does the EU and the United States want Ukraine to win, and are we doing enough to bring it about?
This fundamental question explains, in part, the battle over who becomes the next Nato Secretary General.
Whilst the role requires delivering consensus and consultation within the Alliance, it also has an important leadership function.
Do Nato nations want an uncompromising champion of the Ukrainian cause, such as our Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, or a representative of Europe’s consensus politics, Ursula Von Der Leyen?
Do we prioritise delivering an epoch-defining task of systemically supporting Ukraine in the coming months whilst preparing for the necessary containment of Russia dictatorship, or do we prioritise the superficial preservation of unity, even if it aids Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in the long term?
These are nuanced arguments, but sadly it appears that Wallace’s more honest approach has cost him US support.
By contrast, if Von Der Leyen is chosen, uncompromising mediocrity may seal the deal.
After a failed stint at German Defence minister, and a period as head of the EU Commission when the EU’s failure to deliver vaccines was painfully clear, Von Der Leyen may again be about to fail upward.
What is confusing is why the President Biden would support this type of candidate at such a critical time.
The US is by far the biggest supplier of weaponry to Ukraine, without which Ukraine’s military would have been unable to fight anything other than a glorified resistance.
Yet again, it is the arsenal of democracy.
But there is a difference between giving Ukraine the kit not to lose and giving it the kit to win, defeating Russian forces on the battlefield and driving them from Ukraine’s territory.
The overriding US concern, and it is an understandable one, is that the Ukraine war must stay in Ukraine and that at all costs direct conflict between Nato and Russia is to be avoided.
Therefore, US thinking appears to run, Russian forces must be weakened until such time as the Kremlin is forced to the negotiating table.
The problem with this laudable argument is that it may be based on a misunderstanding of the Russian regime and a sense of wishful thinking that Russia will negotiate without keeping significant chunks of Ukrainian territory, effectively the country’s east and south.
Not only is Putin happy turning his nation into one in perpetual conflict with the West – it plays to his fantasy Slavophile belief that Russia is a nation martyred by Western decadence and greed – but also the longer the war continues the greater the danger to us all as Russia becomes more unstable, more dangerous and more willing to escalate.
Currently, Putin’s strategy in Ukraine is three-fold.
First, make life unbearable for Ukrainians by targetting the infrastructure of basic civilian life.
Second, hold a line – and the territory Russia seized in the opening phase of the war.
Third, break the Western military and financial umbilical chord by which Ukraine survives.
As to the first, I’ve been back to Ukraine four times since the war began, and civilian attacks only embolden Ukrainians, much as they did to our nation in World War II – indeed they look to our experience as a model of calm stoicism.
As to the second, Ukraine will push back Russian forces this summer, but whether we will witness a general collapse of the kind we saw last September in Kharkiv, is unclear.
Russian engineers have done their job well, and their layered defence will slow Ukrainian progress.
But there is no doubt that in morale and fighting tactics, Ukraine has by far the superior forces.
Third, can Putin break the alliance?
That now is his hope, especially if an isolationist Republican President changes the dynamic of the war anyway.
The answer to all these questions remains that which Ben Wallace and Ukraine’s champions in the West have long said.
The least dangerous of all the dangerous courses before us is to give the Ukraine the tools to finish, and the sooner the better.
Anything else increases uncertainty, increases danger, divides Ukraine society, and ultimately emboldens Putin.
Ironically, the only person truly happy should the roll of Nato’s head go to a product of Brussels mediocrity is likely to be Putin, who is now pinning his hopes on delivering a political victory where his soldiers have failed to deliver a military one.
A long war suits no one apart from the Russian dictator.
Bob Seely is the Conservative MP for the Isle of Wight and sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/bi ... 0cef&ei=36
"Biden has just made his worst decision on Ukraine so far"
Story by Bob Seely
6 JULY 2023
500 days ago this Saturday, Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, beginning Europe’s conventional largest war since Germany invaded Poland in 1939.
Militarily and politically, the war has reached a pivot point.
Perhaps 200,000 are dead or injured already.
The fate of millions more, in Ukraine, in Russia and perhaps further afield, depend on the outcome.
On the battlefield, Ukraine is making slow, but important, progress through the morass of mine fields, trenches and tunnels dug and shaped by Russian military engineers.
Politically, whilst support in weapon and money still flow, the stark question for Western leaders is: does the EU and the United States want Ukraine to win, and are we doing enough to bring it about?
This fundamental question explains, in part, the battle over who becomes the next Nato Secretary General.
Whilst the role requires delivering consensus and consultation within the Alliance, it also has an important leadership function.
Do Nato nations want an uncompromising champion of the Ukrainian cause, such as our Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, or a representative of Europe’s consensus politics, Ursula Von Der Leyen?
Do we prioritise delivering an epoch-defining task of systemically supporting Ukraine in the coming months whilst preparing for the necessary containment of Russia dictatorship, or do we prioritise the superficial preservation of unity, even if it aids Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in the long term?
These are nuanced arguments, but sadly it appears that Wallace’s more honest approach has cost him US support.
By contrast, if Von Der Leyen is chosen, uncompromising mediocrity may seal the deal.
After a failed stint at German Defence minister, and a period as head of the EU Commission when the EU’s failure to deliver vaccines was painfully clear, Von Der Leyen may again be about to fail upward.
What is confusing is why the President Biden would support this type of candidate at such a critical time.
The US is by far the biggest supplier of weaponry to Ukraine, without which Ukraine’s military would have been unable to fight anything other than a glorified resistance.
Yet again, it is the arsenal of democracy.
But there is a difference between giving Ukraine the kit not to lose and giving it the kit to win, defeating Russian forces on the battlefield and driving them from Ukraine’s territory.
The overriding US concern, and it is an understandable one, is that the Ukraine war must stay in Ukraine and that at all costs direct conflict between Nato and Russia is to be avoided.
Therefore, US thinking appears to run, Russian forces must be weakened until such time as the Kremlin is forced to the negotiating table.
The problem with this laudable argument is that it may be based on a misunderstanding of the Russian regime and a sense of wishful thinking that Russia will negotiate without keeping significant chunks of Ukrainian territory, effectively the country’s east and south.
Not only is Putin happy turning his nation into one in perpetual conflict with the West – it plays to his fantasy Slavophile belief that Russia is a nation martyred by Western decadence and greed – but also the longer the war continues the greater the danger to us all as Russia becomes more unstable, more dangerous and more willing to escalate.
Currently, Putin’s strategy in Ukraine is three-fold.
First, make life unbearable for Ukrainians by targetting the infrastructure of basic civilian life.
Second, hold a line – and the territory Russia seized in the opening phase of the war.
Third, break the Western military and financial umbilical chord by which Ukraine survives.
As to the first, I’ve been back to Ukraine four times since the war began, and civilian attacks only embolden Ukrainians, much as they did to our nation in World War II – indeed they look to our experience as a model of calm stoicism.
As to the second, Ukraine will push back Russian forces this summer, but whether we will witness a general collapse of the kind we saw last September in Kharkiv, is unclear.
Russian engineers have done their job well, and their layered defence will slow Ukrainian progress.
But there is no doubt that in morale and fighting tactics, Ukraine has by far the superior forces.
Third, can Putin break the alliance?
That now is his hope, especially if an isolationist Republican President changes the dynamic of the war anyway.
The answer to all these questions remains that which Ben Wallace and Ukraine’s champions in the West have long said.
The least dangerous of all the dangerous courses before us is to give the Ukraine the tools to finish, and the sooner the better.
Anything else increases uncertainty, increases danger, divides Ukraine society, and ultimately emboldens Putin.
Ironically, the only person truly happy should the roll of Nato’s head go to a product of Brussels mediocrity is likely to be Putin, who is now pinning his hopes on delivering a political victory where his soldiers have failed to deliver a military one.
A long war suits no one apart from the Russian dictator.
Bob Seely is the Conservative MP for the Isle of Wight and sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/bi ... 0cef&ei=36
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"War comes to Russian business after drones strike Moscow's financial centre"
By Alexander Marrow
July 31, 2023
July 31 (Reuters) - Economic sanctions have been the biggest headache for Russia's business elite since the start of the war in Ukraine, but a drone strike in the heart of Moscow's financial district is forcing companies to think about their employees' safety.
An explosion early on Sunday rocked the Moskva-Citi business district, several miles west of the Kremlin and home to several skyscrapers, in what Russia's defence ministry said was a thwarted Ukrainian drone attack, the second in a week.
Nobody was hurt and there was only minor damage, but such attacks are uncomfortable for the authorities who have told the public that Russia is in full control of what they call its "special military operation" in Ukraine.
Tech giant Yandex, which has offices dotted around the Russian capital including in Moskva-Citi, asked staff to vacate offices at night, when strikes on the Russian capital have tended to occur.
"Taking into account the situation, we ask you not to be in the office at night (from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m.)," Yandex said in a message to employees.
"The restriction applies to all Moscow offices."
"Take care!"
Yandex, which like many technology companies has relatively flexible working hours, declined a Reuters request for comment.
Many companies in Russia continue to allow employees to work in hybrid mode, split between home and the office, following the lockdowns imposed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday Ukrainian attacks on Moscow and other Russian targets were "acts of desperation" and that Russia was taking all measures possible to protect against strikes.
Kyiv typically does not claim responsibility for specific incidents on Russian territory, and did not claim the latest attack, though President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the war was "gradually returning to Russia's territory - to its symbolic centres".
Two drones reached the Kremlin in May, the most high-profile incident, but other attacks have targeted buildings near the defence ministry's headquarters on the Moscow River and the capital's exclusive Rublyovka suburb, home to much of Russia's political, business and cultural elite.
'REALLY SCARY'
Reuters spoke to several people, who asked not to be identified, in order to gauge the business community's reaction to the incident, with some expressing fear and concern, while others remained unfazed.
"I can say that for myself it has of course become more worrying for me and my colleagues," said one person who works in Moskva-Citi.
"Somewhere in the back of my mind it was always understood that Citi could be one of the targets."
One employee at a company with an office in a Moskva-Citi skyscraper said working there felt "weird", but that staff were not being sent to work remotely.
Another, who works for a bank, said most staff had been told to work from home.
Some said business was continuing as normal and that everything was calm.
One financial services professional said he did not think the attack would deter people from going to Moskva-Citi.
The attack damaged a high-rise building reported to house government offices.
Reuters on Sunday saw glass panels blown out in one high-rise building and glass, debris and office documents littering part of the pavement below.
Video footage from the incident showed a bright orange explosion, accompanied by a deafening bang.
A Telegram channel run by the Russian online media group Mash broadcast photos of the damage done to the digital ministry's headquarters.
Mash reported that the ministry's staff had been asked to be resilient, but that most employees would be permitted to work from home temporarily.
The ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
For one employee at a large Russian company, the attack was a "really scary" warning.
"No one is safe, I'm afraid now."
Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Gareth Jones and Mark Potter
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ ... 023-07-31/
"War comes to Russian business after drones strike Moscow's financial centre"
By Alexander Marrow
July 31, 2023
July 31 (Reuters) - Economic sanctions have been the biggest headache for Russia's business elite since the start of the war in Ukraine, but a drone strike in the heart of Moscow's financial district is forcing companies to think about their employees' safety.
An explosion early on Sunday rocked the Moskva-Citi business district, several miles west of the Kremlin and home to several skyscrapers, in what Russia's defence ministry said was a thwarted Ukrainian drone attack, the second in a week.
Nobody was hurt and there was only minor damage, but such attacks are uncomfortable for the authorities who have told the public that Russia is in full control of what they call its "special military operation" in Ukraine.
Tech giant Yandex, which has offices dotted around the Russian capital including in Moskva-Citi, asked staff to vacate offices at night, when strikes on the Russian capital have tended to occur.
"Taking into account the situation, we ask you not to be in the office at night (from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m.)," Yandex said in a message to employees.
"The restriction applies to all Moscow offices."
"Take care!"
Yandex, which like many technology companies has relatively flexible working hours, declined a Reuters request for comment.
Many companies in Russia continue to allow employees to work in hybrid mode, split between home and the office, following the lockdowns imposed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday Ukrainian attacks on Moscow and other Russian targets were "acts of desperation" and that Russia was taking all measures possible to protect against strikes.
Kyiv typically does not claim responsibility for specific incidents on Russian territory, and did not claim the latest attack, though President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the war was "gradually returning to Russia's territory - to its symbolic centres".
Two drones reached the Kremlin in May, the most high-profile incident, but other attacks have targeted buildings near the defence ministry's headquarters on the Moscow River and the capital's exclusive Rublyovka suburb, home to much of Russia's political, business and cultural elite.
'REALLY SCARY'
Reuters spoke to several people, who asked not to be identified, in order to gauge the business community's reaction to the incident, with some expressing fear and concern, while others remained unfazed.
"I can say that for myself it has of course become more worrying for me and my colleagues," said one person who works in Moskva-Citi.
"Somewhere in the back of my mind it was always understood that Citi could be one of the targets."
One employee at a company with an office in a Moskva-Citi skyscraper said working there felt "weird", but that staff were not being sent to work remotely.
Another, who works for a bank, said most staff had been told to work from home.
Some said business was continuing as normal and that everything was calm.
One financial services professional said he did not think the attack would deter people from going to Moskva-Citi.
The attack damaged a high-rise building reported to house government offices.
Reuters on Sunday saw glass panels blown out in one high-rise building and glass, debris and office documents littering part of the pavement below.
Video footage from the incident showed a bright orange explosion, accompanied by a deafening bang.
A Telegram channel run by the Russian online media group Mash broadcast photos of the damage done to the digital ministry's headquarters.
Mash reported that the ministry's staff had been asked to be resilient, but that most employees would be permitted to work from home temporarily.
The ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
For one employee at a large Russian company, the attack was a "really scary" warning.
"No one is safe, I'm afraid now."
Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Gareth Jones and Mark Potter
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ ... 023-07-31/
Re: RUSSIA
Business Insider
"Russia is jamming 'sophisticated' US weapons being used in Ukraine, making them useless, report says"
Story by tporter@businessinsider.com (Tom Porter) •
5 AUGUST 2023
* Russia can disable US-made Ukrainian missiles because some use GPS signals.
* Both sides are waging a battle to jam the electronics of missiles and other weapons.
* Russia's electronic warfare capability has evolved during the conflict.
Russia is disabling "sophisticated" missiles that Ukraine's Western allies provided by scrambling their GPS coordinates, according to reports.
Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, a US think tank, told BBC News that Russia's electronic-warfare capability had significantly improved during the conflict with Ukraine.
He said that Russia was now deploying hundreds of small, mobile electronic-warfare units along the front line, having previously relied on large, cumbersome units that could be easily targeted.
Clark told the BBC that Russian technologies were able to jam missiles' GPS coordinates, disable Ukrainian drones, and suppress Russian radar signals that were used by Ukraine to identify targets to attack.
One such system, the R-330Zh Zhitel, is able to suppress satellite signals.
"Zhitel can jam a GPS signal within 30km of the jammer," Clark said.
"For weapons like JDAM bombs, which use just a GPS receiver to guide it to the target, that's sufficient to lose its geolocation and go off target."
It's not the first time concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAMs, in Ukraine, with the UK think tank The Royal United Services Institute in January citing leaked US documents in which officials expressed concern that Russia was jamming JDAM GPS coordinates.
JDAM bombs are among the weapons the US had provided Ukraine with and can be launched by air to hit targets up to 45 miles away.
Like many long-range missiles, they rely on GPS coordinates to reach their targets.
They have a greater range than the HIMAR long-range missiles that Ukraine used to drive back Russian forces in a counteroffensive last year, The Defense Post reported.
They were also one of the weapons that Ukraine's Western allies hoped could help Ukraine in its new counteroffensive to drive back Russian invaders.
But Russian defenses have proven resilient against Western-supplied weapons, with Western tanks largely ineffective in the face of the huge minefields Russia has created to defend its positions in south and east Ukraine.
Western offensive tactics have so far not secured Ukraine a decisive breakthrough.
As Ukraine's troops go head-to-head with the Russian army, they face plenty of modern weapons, such as drones that can drop bombs on soldiers, Ka-52 attack helicopters armed to the teeth with anti-tank guided missiles, and precision munitions that can hit with accuracy not seen in past conflicts.
Both sides are also navigating threats and challenges that have long been a part of land warfare, like overwhelming artillery and minefields full of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, threats hidden in the mud that erupt with a violent explosion when triggered and make any sort of advance tricky and time-consuming.
There are also sprawling trenches.
They run deep along the front lines and have been seen in photos from the war, such as around Bakhmut, which saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the war.
The trenches are, as a French photographer described them years earlier, "endless bowels of Earth."
These winding trenches hinder advances by enemy troops and protect defenders, zig-zagging and crossing the battlefield, and in some respects, they're strikingly reminiscent of scenes of trench warfare from World War I and World War II, showing the enduring presence of this type of fighting.
The BBC reported that Ukraine is seeking to eliminate Russian electronic-warfare units before it launches missile strikes in a game of cat and mouse, or target them once they detect Russian attempts to block missile coordinates.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ru ... 007e&ei=36
"Russia is jamming 'sophisticated' US weapons being used in Ukraine, making them useless, report says"
Story by tporter@businessinsider.com (Tom Porter) •
5 AUGUST 2023
* Russia can disable US-made Ukrainian missiles because some use GPS signals.
* Both sides are waging a battle to jam the electronics of missiles and other weapons.
* Russia's electronic warfare capability has evolved during the conflict.
Russia is disabling "sophisticated" missiles that Ukraine's Western allies provided by scrambling their GPS coordinates, according to reports.
Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, a US think tank, told BBC News that Russia's electronic-warfare capability had significantly improved during the conflict with Ukraine.
He said that Russia was now deploying hundreds of small, mobile electronic-warfare units along the front line, having previously relied on large, cumbersome units that could be easily targeted.
Clark told the BBC that Russian technologies were able to jam missiles' GPS coordinates, disable Ukrainian drones, and suppress Russian radar signals that were used by Ukraine to identify targets to attack.
One such system, the R-330Zh Zhitel, is able to suppress satellite signals.
"Zhitel can jam a GPS signal within 30km of the jammer," Clark said.
"For weapons like JDAM bombs, which use just a GPS receiver to guide it to the target, that's sufficient to lose its geolocation and go off target."
It's not the first time concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAMs, in Ukraine, with the UK think tank The Royal United Services Institute in January citing leaked US documents in which officials expressed concern that Russia was jamming JDAM GPS coordinates.
JDAM bombs are among the weapons the US had provided Ukraine with and can be launched by air to hit targets up to 45 miles away.
Like many long-range missiles, they rely on GPS coordinates to reach their targets.
They have a greater range than the HIMAR long-range missiles that Ukraine used to drive back Russian forces in a counteroffensive last year, The Defense Post reported.
They were also one of the weapons that Ukraine's Western allies hoped could help Ukraine in its new counteroffensive to drive back Russian invaders.
But Russian defenses have proven resilient against Western-supplied weapons, with Western tanks largely ineffective in the face of the huge minefields Russia has created to defend its positions in south and east Ukraine.
Western offensive tactics have so far not secured Ukraine a decisive breakthrough.
As Ukraine's troops go head-to-head with the Russian army, they face plenty of modern weapons, such as drones that can drop bombs on soldiers, Ka-52 attack helicopters armed to the teeth with anti-tank guided missiles, and precision munitions that can hit with accuracy not seen in past conflicts.
Both sides are also navigating threats and challenges that have long been a part of land warfare, like overwhelming artillery and minefields full of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, threats hidden in the mud that erupt with a violent explosion when triggered and make any sort of advance tricky and time-consuming.
There are also sprawling trenches.
They run deep along the front lines and have been seen in photos from the war, such as around Bakhmut, which saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the war.
The trenches are, as a French photographer described them years earlier, "endless bowels of Earth."
These winding trenches hinder advances by enemy troops and protect defenders, zig-zagging and crossing the battlefield, and in some respects, they're strikingly reminiscent of scenes of trench warfare from World War I and World War II, showing the enduring presence of this type of fighting.
The BBC reported that Ukraine is seeking to eliminate Russian electronic-warfare units before it launches missile strikes in a game of cat and mouse, or target them once they detect Russian attempts to block missile coordinates.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ru ... 007e&ei=36
Re: RUSSIA
The Hill
"Germany’s capitulation to Russia puts Ukraine and all of Europe at risk"
Opinion by Stephen Blank, opinion contributor
17 AUGUST 2023
For some time, we have known that European weapons supplies to Ukraine have been insufficient for its task of surviving as an independent state.
But since Ukraine is, as one writer observed in 1997, the “Keystone in the Arch” of European security, this war is hardly only about Ukraine.
The delays and excuses about sending Ukraine high-performance aircraft, tanks, missiles and other weapons represent a major reason the Russians had the time and freedom to build formidable defensive lines, whose potency we are now seeing.
They also arguably facilitate Putin’s dreams of outlasting Kyiv, because they confirm his belief that the West is not solidly behind Ukraine and will eventually tire of supporting it.
This Western failure is pervasive, but Germany has been the most consistent equivocator of all.
Apart from earlier dramas about not sending Leopard 2 Tanks to Ukraine unless America sent its tanks first, Germany is playing the same dangerous game with regard to its Taurus missiles.
It now claims that it will not send those missiles to Ukraine unless they are programmed not to strike Russian territory.
This condition is an insulting reflection of a lack of intelligent thinking about this war and a manifestation of what increasingly looks like cowardice.
With Russia systematically and brutally trying to destroy every aspect of Ukrainian civil infrastructure, it is nonsensical to deny Ukraine the ability to retaliate in kind.
Certainly, this pettifogging approach also constitutes a dismissal of the fact that Ukraine is fighting not only for its existence but also for European security and international order more broadly.
Like the Polish Solidarity movement in the 1980s, it is fighting for ”your freedom and ours.”
Thus, to deny Ukraine the full possibility of self-defense shows a government that has unfortunately learned nothing since that movement emerged.
In similar fashion, the demand that the Taurus missiles and other weapons are not targeted at Russia betrays a shocking absence of strategic thinking in Berlin and an unmerited excessive fear of Russia.
This combination justifies Putin’s contempt for Europe and the belief that time is on his side.
It certainly speaks to the continuing success of Russian energy and influence operations in Germany that even now generate a cadre of so-called Putin-understanders, or “Putinversteher.”
Since Washington has provided considerably more to Ukraine than Europe in terms of military aid, one cannot describe American policy as harshly as German policy.
But it is clear that delays in providing Ukraine with sufficient air defense capabilities such as the F-16, to thwart Moscow’s attempts to destroy Ukraine’s infrastructure, have exacted a grievous toll both in fatalities and wounded and upon Ukraine’s economy.
The longer we go without helping Ukraine obtain a decisive victory — the only thing that will ensure Ukrainian and European security — the longer Putin will be able to preserve his murderous fantasies and sacrifice more Russians and Ukrainians to them.
Furthermore, the longer we go without giving Ukraine the tools to finish this job, the more likely Putin’s escalations, such as the new threats against Poland that we now are seeing, will unnerve some members of the coalition to the point where they seek the easy way out through a negotiated settlement on favorable terms to Putin.
German behavior calls to mind Churchill’s 1938 simile of Central and East European states that he said were appeasing a crocodile in the hope that it would eat their neighbors first and desist from eating them.
That outlook is no more feasible today than it was in 1938.
Indeed, German appeasement of Russia will only weaken its economic and political standing in Europe by proving that Germany’s government cannot assume the role called for by virtue of its economic power and capacities.
As it is, this war has already validated the proposition that America leads Europe in major matters of international security.
But what does it say about Europe when its richest and possibly strongest power publicly displays its fear and incapacity to conduct a foreign and defense policy that conforms to its national security interests and those of Europe?
Today, Germany is trying to hide in plain sight, and Europe may soon pay a high price for it.
Stephen Blank, Ph.D., is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is a former professor of Russian national security studies and national security affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College and a former MacArthur fellow at the U.S. Army War College. Blank is an independent consultant focused on the geopolitics and geostrategy of the former Soviet Union, Russia and Eurasia.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 2d78&ei=24
"Germany’s capitulation to Russia puts Ukraine and all of Europe at risk"
Opinion by Stephen Blank, opinion contributor
17 AUGUST 2023
For some time, we have known that European weapons supplies to Ukraine have been insufficient for its task of surviving as an independent state.
But since Ukraine is, as one writer observed in 1997, the “Keystone in the Arch” of European security, this war is hardly only about Ukraine.
The delays and excuses about sending Ukraine high-performance aircraft, tanks, missiles and other weapons represent a major reason the Russians had the time and freedom to build formidable defensive lines, whose potency we are now seeing.
They also arguably facilitate Putin’s dreams of outlasting Kyiv, because they confirm his belief that the West is not solidly behind Ukraine and will eventually tire of supporting it.
This Western failure is pervasive, but Germany has been the most consistent equivocator of all.
Apart from earlier dramas about not sending Leopard 2 Tanks to Ukraine unless America sent its tanks first, Germany is playing the same dangerous game with regard to its Taurus missiles.
It now claims that it will not send those missiles to Ukraine unless they are programmed not to strike Russian territory.
This condition is an insulting reflection of a lack of intelligent thinking about this war and a manifestation of what increasingly looks like cowardice.
With Russia systematically and brutally trying to destroy every aspect of Ukrainian civil infrastructure, it is nonsensical to deny Ukraine the ability to retaliate in kind.
Certainly, this pettifogging approach also constitutes a dismissal of the fact that Ukraine is fighting not only for its existence but also for European security and international order more broadly.
Like the Polish Solidarity movement in the 1980s, it is fighting for ”your freedom and ours.”
Thus, to deny Ukraine the full possibility of self-defense shows a government that has unfortunately learned nothing since that movement emerged.
In similar fashion, the demand that the Taurus missiles and other weapons are not targeted at Russia betrays a shocking absence of strategic thinking in Berlin and an unmerited excessive fear of Russia.
This combination justifies Putin’s contempt for Europe and the belief that time is on his side.
It certainly speaks to the continuing success of Russian energy and influence operations in Germany that even now generate a cadre of so-called Putin-understanders, or “Putinversteher.”
Since Washington has provided considerably more to Ukraine than Europe in terms of military aid, one cannot describe American policy as harshly as German policy.
But it is clear that delays in providing Ukraine with sufficient air defense capabilities such as the F-16, to thwart Moscow’s attempts to destroy Ukraine’s infrastructure, have exacted a grievous toll both in fatalities and wounded and upon Ukraine’s economy.
The longer we go without helping Ukraine obtain a decisive victory — the only thing that will ensure Ukrainian and European security — the longer Putin will be able to preserve his murderous fantasies and sacrifice more Russians and Ukrainians to them.
Furthermore, the longer we go without giving Ukraine the tools to finish this job, the more likely Putin’s escalations, such as the new threats against Poland that we now are seeing, will unnerve some members of the coalition to the point where they seek the easy way out through a negotiated settlement on favorable terms to Putin.
German behavior calls to mind Churchill’s 1938 simile of Central and East European states that he said were appeasing a crocodile in the hope that it would eat their neighbors first and desist from eating them.
That outlook is no more feasible today than it was in 1938.
Indeed, German appeasement of Russia will only weaken its economic and political standing in Europe by proving that Germany’s government cannot assume the role called for by virtue of its economic power and capacities.
As it is, this war has already validated the proposition that America leads Europe in major matters of international security.
But what does it say about Europe when its richest and possibly strongest power publicly displays its fear and incapacity to conduct a foreign and defense policy that conforms to its national security interests and those of Europe?
Today, Germany is trying to hide in plain sight, and Europe may soon pay a high price for it.
Stephen Blank, Ph.D., is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is a former professor of Russian national security studies and national security affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College and a former MacArthur fellow at the U.S. Army War College. Blank is an independent consultant focused on the geopolitics and geostrategy of the former Soviet Union, Russia and Eurasia.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 2d78&ei=24
Re: RUSSIA
REUTERS
"US imposes sweeping new sanctions targeting Russia over war in Ukraine"
By Daphne Psaledakis and Timothy Gardner
November 2, 2023
WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday imposed sweeping new measures against Moscow over the war in Ukraine, targeting Russia's future energy capabilities, sanctions evasion and a suicide drone that has been a menace to Ukrainian troops and equipment, among others, in sanctions on hundreds of people and entities.
The latest measures target a major entity involved in the development, operation and ownership of a massive project in Siberia known as Arctic-2 LNG, the State Department said in a statement.
The project expected to ship chilled natural gas, known as liquefied natural gas to global markets.
Washington also targeted the KUB-BLA and Lancet suicide drones being used by the Russian military in Ukraine, designating a network it accused of procuring items in support of their production as well as the creator and designer of the drones.
The Biden administration on Thursday added a dozen Russian companies to a trade blacklist for supporting Russia's military with drones that could be used to aid in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the Commerce Department said in a statement.
The U.S. also cracked down on sanctions evasion in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and China, as the Treasury Department said companies based in the countries continue to send high priority dual-use goods to Russia, including components Moscow relies on for its weapons systems.
Seven Russia-based banks and dozens of industrial firms were also hit with sanctions by the Treasury Department, including Gazpromneft Catalytic Systems LLC, which Treasury said manufactures chemical agents for advanced oil refining in Russia.
The Kremlin said on Thursday ahead of the action that it expected the West to impose ever tougher sanctions on it over the war, but that there was a growing sense that such penalties hurt Western interests while Russia's economy was adapting well.
LNG, LANCET DRONE
With the sanctions on limited liability company Arctic LNG 2, and previous measures imposed on the project in September, the U.S. is trying to target Russia's upcoming energy production, similar to how it targeted its future deep-sea, shale and Arctic oil production after Moscow's invasion of Crimea in 2014.
All of these hard-to-produce projects depend on Western technology.
The U.S., itself a large LNG producer that exports to Europe, is also trying to reduce Russia's LNG shipments to Europe, which has only banned Russian gas sent via pipeline.
Arctic-2 LNG has been expecting to start exporting soon and it is uncertain how much Russian LNG would be blocked by the new measures.
The largest Russian LNG producer Novatek said in September it would start shipments from Arctic-2 LNG early next year.
The United States, European Union and other Western nations have imposed rafts of sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine, including targeting Russian banks and President Vladimir Putin, as the partners seek to hold Russia to account for the conflict that has killed thousands and reduced cities to rubble.
"We will continue to use the tools at our disposal to raise the cost for Russia of waging this war and promote accountability for its atrocities and abuses in Ukraine," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Thursday's action marks the first measures Washington has taken directly targeting the Lancet drone, an angular grey tube with two sets of four wings that has been an increasing threat on Ukraine's frontlines, according to Ukrainian solders.
Washington targeted limited liability company ZALA Aero, a Russia-based manufacturer the State Department said designs, manufactures and sells loitering munition and suicide drones to the Russian Ministry of Defense, as well as A Level Aerosystems CST, a Russia-based entity manufacturing and selling drones under the ZALA brand.
The owner of the companies, Aleksandr Zakharov, was also targeted, as were his wife, daughter and sons, and companies they own.
The State Department said Zakharov is the creator and designer of the drones.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the measures in his nightly video address as "just what is needed."
"And every sanctions decision must work in full, so that there is no chance for Russia to bypass them."
Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, welcomed sanctions tied to the Lancet drone.
"I am very pleased that...restrictions are being tightened against companies associated with the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation...,"Yermak said on Telegram.
SANCTIONS EVASION
Washington has stepped up diplomatic pressure on countries and private companies globally to ensure enforcement of the barrage of sanctions it has unleashed on Moscow.
Among those designated on Thursday were Turkish and UAE firms, including companies that sent high-priority goods to Russia and firms that have shipped aviation parts and equipment.
Three Chinese entities - two that the Treasury said have conducted hundreds of shipments of electro-optical equipment, cameras and other items, and one that has shipped radar components to Russia-based firms - were also targeted.
The State Department also imposed sanctions on multiple defense-related entities and procurement companies in the UAE.
Construction companies, Russian officials and a metals and mining company implementing a project to develop the largest titanium ore deposit in the world located in Russia were also hit with sanctions.
Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper Mike Stone in Washington and Karen Freifeld in New York; Additional reporting by Yuliia Dysa in Gdansk and Ron Popeski; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Diane Craft
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-impose ... 023-11-02/
"US imposes sweeping new sanctions targeting Russia over war in Ukraine"
By Daphne Psaledakis and Timothy Gardner
November 2, 2023
WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday imposed sweeping new measures against Moscow over the war in Ukraine, targeting Russia's future energy capabilities, sanctions evasion and a suicide drone that has been a menace to Ukrainian troops and equipment, among others, in sanctions on hundreds of people and entities.
The latest measures target a major entity involved in the development, operation and ownership of a massive project in Siberia known as Arctic-2 LNG, the State Department said in a statement.
The project expected to ship chilled natural gas, known as liquefied natural gas to global markets.
Washington also targeted the KUB-BLA and Lancet suicide drones being used by the Russian military in Ukraine, designating a network it accused of procuring items in support of their production as well as the creator and designer of the drones.
The Biden administration on Thursday added a dozen Russian companies to a trade blacklist for supporting Russia's military with drones that could be used to aid in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the Commerce Department said in a statement.
The U.S. also cracked down on sanctions evasion in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and China, as the Treasury Department said companies based in the countries continue to send high priority dual-use goods to Russia, including components Moscow relies on for its weapons systems.
Seven Russia-based banks and dozens of industrial firms were also hit with sanctions by the Treasury Department, including Gazpromneft Catalytic Systems LLC, which Treasury said manufactures chemical agents for advanced oil refining in Russia.
The Kremlin said on Thursday ahead of the action that it expected the West to impose ever tougher sanctions on it over the war, but that there was a growing sense that such penalties hurt Western interests while Russia's economy was adapting well.
LNG, LANCET DRONE
With the sanctions on limited liability company Arctic LNG 2, and previous measures imposed on the project in September, the U.S. is trying to target Russia's upcoming energy production, similar to how it targeted its future deep-sea, shale and Arctic oil production after Moscow's invasion of Crimea in 2014.
All of these hard-to-produce projects depend on Western technology.
The U.S., itself a large LNG producer that exports to Europe, is also trying to reduce Russia's LNG shipments to Europe, which has only banned Russian gas sent via pipeline.
Arctic-2 LNG has been expecting to start exporting soon and it is uncertain how much Russian LNG would be blocked by the new measures.
The largest Russian LNG producer Novatek said in September it would start shipments from Arctic-2 LNG early next year.
The United States, European Union and other Western nations have imposed rafts of sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine, including targeting Russian banks and President Vladimir Putin, as the partners seek to hold Russia to account for the conflict that has killed thousands and reduced cities to rubble.
"We will continue to use the tools at our disposal to raise the cost for Russia of waging this war and promote accountability for its atrocities and abuses in Ukraine," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Thursday's action marks the first measures Washington has taken directly targeting the Lancet drone, an angular grey tube with two sets of four wings that has been an increasing threat on Ukraine's frontlines, according to Ukrainian solders.
Washington targeted limited liability company ZALA Aero, a Russia-based manufacturer the State Department said designs, manufactures and sells loitering munition and suicide drones to the Russian Ministry of Defense, as well as A Level Aerosystems CST, a Russia-based entity manufacturing and selling drones under the ZALA brand.
The owner of the companies, Aleksandr Zakharov, was also targeted, as were his wife, daughter and sons, and companies they own.
The State Department said Zakharov is the creator and designer of the drones.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the measures in his nightly video address as "just what is needed."
"And every sanctions decision must work in full, so that there is no chance for Russia to bypass them."
Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, welcomed sanctions tied to the Lancet drone.
"I am very pleased that...restrictions are being tightened against companies associated with the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation...,"Yermak said on Telegram.
SANCTIONS EVASION
Washington has stepped up diplomatic pressure on countries and private companies globally to ensure enforcement of the barrage of sanctions it has unleashed on Moscow.
Among those designated on Thursday were Turkish and UAE firms, including companies that sent high-priority goods to Russia and firms that have shipped aviation parts and equipment.
Three Chinese entities - two that the Treasury said have conducted hundreds of shipments of electro-optical equipment, cameras and other items, and one that has shipped radar components to Russia-based firms - were also targeted.
The State Department also imposed sanctions on multiple defense-related entities and procurement companies in the UAE.
Construction companies, Russian officials and a metals and mining company implementing a project to develop the largest titanium ore deposit in the world located in Russia were also hit with sanctions.
Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Timothy Gardner, Alexandra Alper Mike Stone in Washington and Karen Freifeld in New York; Additional reporting by Yuliia Dysa in Gdansk and Ron Popeski; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Diane Craft
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-impose ... 023-11-02/
Re: RUSSIA
FOX NEWS
"Republicans demand answers after top Biden official invited CCP leaders to sensitive national security site"
Story by Thomas Catenacci
10 NOVEMBER 2023
FIRST ON FOX: A coalition of 18 House Republicans led by GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., are pressing Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm over her agency's invitation for foreign adversaries to inspect a sensitive U.S. nuclear testing site.
In a letter sent Thursday morning, Stefanik and the other Republicans blasted Granholm for recently offering China and Russia "unprecedented access" to the Department of Energy's (DOE) Nevada National Security Site.
Bloomberg reported in September that the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration invited Chinese and Russian officials to tour the site to prove the U.S. is upholding a three-decade moratorium against testing nuclear weapons.
"I am leading my colleagues in demanding that President Biden revoke this misguided invitation to our adversaries in Beijing and Moscow that grants them unprecedented access and insight into our nuclear weapons," Stefanik told Fox News Digital.
"Inviting Communist China and Russia to have a front row seat for our sensitive nuclear weapons tests will give them invaluable information on how to defeat our nuclear capabilities and improve their own."
"At a time when our adversaries are growing their nuclear stockpiles to undermine America’s leadership allowing them access to one of our nuclear test sites will only advance this pursuit and lead to our own destruction," she continued.
The National Nuclear Security Administration invited its Chinese and Russian counterparts to tour the Nevada site — where sensitive nuclear experimentation is conducted — during the latest International Atomic Energy Agency summit, according to Bloomberg.
Corey Hinderstein, a senior National Nuclear Security Administration official, said China and Russia didn't immediately respond to the invitation.
The invitation came months after Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended his nation's participation in the only remaining nuclear arms control pact with America.
And last week Putin signed a law withdrawing Russia from its ratification of a global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests in a move quickly condemned by the State Department and which is evidence of deteriorating relations between the two sides.
Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., who was one of the co-signers of Stefanik's letter to Granholm on Thursday, said allowing foreign adversaries to observe U.S. nuclear testing activities "allows them to derive our methods and procedures and this destroys deterrence."
"As Chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, one of my priorities has been to strengthen and protect our nuclear arsenal," he told Fox News Digital.
"In the world today, nothing could jeopardize our national security more than losing this advantage."
"I was stunned to hear recent reports of Biden administration officials inviting citizens from our two greatest adversaries to observe U.S. nuclear weapons tests."
"Russia and China should not have insider access to our testing."
"Both countries have had ample opportunity to be more open about their nuclear weapons development and deployments and refuse to do so."
"The amendment I introduced on this matter will halt the Biden administration's latest lapse in judgment," the Colorado lawmaker continued.
Late last month, Lamborn introduced a bill to block foreign nationals from witnessing U.S. nuclear weapons testing at national labs.
The bill was attached to the Fiscal Year 2024 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act which the House passed on Oct. 26.
The letter Thursday also comes as China continues to expand its own nuclear capabilities and armament.
Stefanik, Lamborn and the other GOP lawmakers noted the Department of Defense has warned China’s nuclear expansion is exceeding previous U.S. projections.
"The PRC is now projected to have over 1,000 warheads by the end of this decade," General Anthony Cotton, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, told lawmakers during an Armed Services Committee hearing in March.
In their letter, the Republicans told Granholm that China now has no reason to halt the aggressive expansion of its nuclear development "if they are given this access while offering nothing in return."
They further noted that China has refused to engage in discussions on its nuclear expansion and DOE's actions threaten to "embolden their efforts to continue growing their arsenal."
"The notion of granting America’s adversaries’ access to our military sites — and enabling them to gain information about U.S. nuclear capabilities — is deeply alarming and fundamentally absurd," Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., another letter co-signer, told Fox News Digital.
"I am proud to join my colleagues in demanding the Biden administration explain why they are inviting Russian and Chinese Communist Party officials to access our most sensitive laboratories and testing facilities."
In addition to Stefanik, Lamborn and Wittman, fellow GOP Reps. Joe Wilson, James Moylan, Bill Posey, Pat Fallon, Chris Smith, Ashley Hinson, Carlos Gimenez, Scott DesJarlais, John Moolenaar, Lance Gooden, Brett Guthrie, Dale Strong, Julia Letlow, Robert Aderholt and Brad Wenstrup also co-signed the letter.
The DOE didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 4b03&ei=61
"Republicans demand answers after top Biden official invited CCP leaders to sensitive national security site"
Story by Thomas Catenacci
10 NOVEMBER 2023
FIRST ON FOX: A coalition of 18 House Republicans led by GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., are pressing Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm over her agency's invitation for foreign adversaries to inspect a sensitive U.S. nuclear testing site.
In a letter sent Thursday morning, Stefanik and the other Republicans blasted Granholm for recently offering China and Russia "unprecedented access" to the Department of Energy's (DOE) Nevada National Security Site.
Bloomberg reported in September that the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration invited Chinese and Russian officials to tour the site to prove the U.S. is upholding a three-decade moratorium against testing nuclear weapons.
"I am leading my colleagues in demanding that President Biden revoke this misguided invitation to our adversaries in Beijing and Moscow that grants them unprecedented access and insight into our nuclear weapons," Stefanik told Fox News Digital.
"Inviting Communist China and Russia to have a front row seat for our sensitive nuclear weapons tests will give them invaluable information on how to defeat our nuclear capabilities and improve their own."
"At a time when our adversaries are growing their nuclear stockpiles to undermine America’s leadership allowing them access to one of our nuclear test sites will only advance this pursuit and lead to our own destruction," she continued.
The National Nuclear Security Administration invited its Chinese and Russian counterparts to tour the Nevada site — where sensitive nuclear experimentation is conducted — during the latest International Atomic Energy Agency summit, according to Bloomberg.
Corey Hinderstein, a senior National Nuclear Security Administration official, said China and Russia didn't immediately respond to the invitation.
The invitation came months after Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended his nation's participation in the only remaining nuclear arms control pact with America.
And last week Putin signed a law withdrawing Russia from its ratification of a global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests in a move quickly condemned by the State Department and which is evidence of deteriorating relations between the two sides.
Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., who was one of the co-signers of Stefanik's letter to Granholm on Thursday, said allowing foreign adversaries to observe U.S. nuclear testing activities "allows them to derive our methods and procedures and this destroys deterrence."
"As Chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, one of my priorities has been to strengthen and protect our nuclear arsenal," he told Fox News Digital.
"In the world today, nothing could jeopardize our national security more than losing this advantage."
"I was stunned to hear recent reports of Biden administration officials inviting citizens from our two greatest adversaries to observe U.S. nuclear weapons tests."
"Russia and China should not have insider access to our testing."
"Both countries have had ample opportunity to be more open about their nuclear weapons development and deployments and refuse to do so."
"The amendment I introduced on this matter will halt the Biden administration's latest lapse in judgment," the Colorado lawmaker continued.
Late last month, Lamborn introduced a bill to block foreign nationals from witnessing U.S. nuclear weapons testing at national labs.
The bill was attached to the Fiscal Year 2024 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act which the House passed on Oct. 26.
The letter Thursday also comes as China continues to expand its own nuclear capabilities and armament.
Stefanik, Lamborn and the other GOP lawmakers noted the Department of Defense has warned China’s nuclear expansion is exceeding previous U.S. projections.
"The PRC is now projected to have over 1,000 warheads by the end of this decade," General Anthony Cotton, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, told lawmakers during an Armed Services Committee hearing in March.
In their letter, the Republicans told Granholm that China now has no reason to halt the aggressive expansion of its nuclear development "if they are given this access while offering nothing in return."
They further noted that China has refused to engage in discussions on its nuclear expansion and DOE's actions threaten to "embolden their efforts to continue growing their arsenal."
"The notion of granting America’s adversaries’ access to our military sites — and enabling them to gain information about U.S. nuclear capabilities — is deeply alarming and fundamentally absurd," Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., another letter co-signer, told Fox News Digital.
"I am proud to join my colleagues in demanding the Biden administration explain why they are inviting Russian and Chinese Communist Party officials to access our most sensitive laboratories and testing facilities."
In addition to Stefanik, Lamborn and Wittman, fellow GOP Reps. Joe Wilson, James Moylan, Bill Posey, Pat Fallon, Chris Smith, Ashley Hinson, Carlos Gimenez, Scott DesJarlais, John Moolenaar, Lance Gooden, Brett Guthrie, Dale Strong, Julia Letlow, Robert Aderholt and Brad Wenstrup also co-signed the letter.
The DOE didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... 4b03&ei=61
Re: RUSSIA
The Western Journal
"Bombshell: Biden Pentagon Exposed for Buying Russian Fuel Oil, Evading Wartime Sanctions - Report"
Story by Bryan Chai
19 NOVEMBER 2023
A blistering exposé from The Washington Post is casting new aspersions on the oversight -- or lack thereof -- stemming from President Joe Biden's administration.
"Forbidden Russian oil flows into the Pentagon supply chain," the ominous, exclusive report warned readers right off the bat.
The salacious headline and report are rooted in two key issues:
* Russian oil imports were collectively banned by the U.S. and the European Union in March 2022 as a response to the country's war with Ukraine, per The Post.
* A Greek refinery that serves the U.S. military claimed it adapted to these new sanctions -- but apparently did not.
The Motor Oil Hellas refinery on the Aegean Sea in Greece is at the center of this Washington Post investigation, and the company stands accused of continuing to pump Russian petroleum in spite of those 2022 sanctions.
Interestingly, Motor Oil Hellas wasn't using some particularly Rube Goldberg plot to pump the allegedly illegal oil.
According to The Post, the refinery allegedly rerouted the illegal product "hundreds of miles out of the way through an oil storage facility in Turkey," a detour which the outlet claimed "obscured Russia’s imprint as ownership of the products changed hands multiple times before they reached Greece."
The common practice of mixing oil from various countries of origin at refineries (before they're sent out again) also has reportedly allowed the proliferation of Russian oil.
The paper trail that The Post said it dug up directly links Biden's Pentagon to this compromised product, as "federal contracting data" revealed that the government entity signed nearly $1 billion worth of new contracts with Motor Oil Hellas since the wartime sanctions were enacted last March.
The Post also noted that since February 2022, a million barrels of jet fuel from Motor Oil Hellas have gone to various entities in Italy, France, Spain and Britain -- with those first two countries being founding members of the EU.
All of these entities effectively stand accused of purchasing sanctioned oil via a middleman.
Worse yet, The Post report suggested that all of this sanctioned oil was coming at a hefty premium as part of the sanctions involved a price cap on Russian oil -- a price cap that apparently countries are not following through on, allowing Russia to sell its oil for far more money than it's supposed to.
A Pentagon Defense Logistics Agency representative told the outlet that they had "no knowledge" of banned Russian fuel being found at a contracted supplier.
Motor Oil Hellas has vociferously denied these allegations.
The refinery offered a statement to The Post, noting that the company "does not buy, process or trade Russian oil or products."
"All its imports are certified of non sanctioned origin."
An evidently wide-spanning and complicated scandal, it's unclear what comes next, though the Washington Post did note that enforcement of related penalties have "been scant."
“The U.S. military has not done its due diligence on the origin of this oil,” Isaac Levi, an analyst for a European nonprofit that tracks the flow of Russian oil, told The Post.
“It is not hard to see where it is coming from.”
For Biden, this is a familiar headache.
Up until America acquiesced with the E.U. on sanctions, Biden's administration actually vociferously opposed them.
Biden's waffling on the sanctioned petroleum forced the hands of Republicans to push for the "Independence from Russian Energy Act" in March 2022.
For Biden, it's just the latest in a stretch of headaches for the octogenarian incumbent in the midst of what will likely be a grueling re-election campaign -- a re-election bid that sees former President Donald Trump nipping at his heels.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/bo ... 524a&ei=18
"Bombshell: Biden Pentagon Exposed for Buying Russian Fuel Oil, Evading Wartime Sanctions - Report"
Story by Bryan Chai
19 NOVEMBER 2023
A blistering exposé from The Washington Post is casting new aspersions on the oversight -- or lack thereof -- stemming from President Joe Biden's administration.
"Forbidden Russian oil flows into the Pentagon supply chain," the ominous, exclusive report warned readers right off the bat.
The salacious headline and report are rooted in two key issues:
* Russian oil imports were collectively banned by the U.S. and the European Union in March 2022 as a response to the country's war with Ukraine, per The Post.
* A Greek refinery that serves the U.S. military claimed it adapted to these new sanctions -- but apparently did not.
The Motor Oil Hellas refinery on the Aegean Sea in Greece is at the center of this Washington Post investigation, and the company stands accused of continuing to pump Russian petroleum in spite of those 2022 sanctions.
Interestingly, Motor Oil Hellas wasn't using some particularly Rube Goldberg plot to pump the allegedly illegal oil.
According to The Post, the refinery allegedly rerouted the illegal product "hundreds of miles out of the way through an oil storage facility in Turkey," a detour which the outlet claimed "obscured Russia’s imprint as ownership of the products changed hands multiple times before they reached Greece."
The common practice of mixing oil from various countries of origin at refineries (before they're sent out again) also has reportedly allowed the proliferation of Russian oil.
The paper trail that The Post said it dug up directly links Biden's Pentagon to this compromised product, as "federal contracting data" revealed that the government entity signed nearly $1 billion worth of new contracts with Motor Oil Hellas since the wartime sanctions were enacted last March.
The Post also noted that since February 2022, a million barrels of jet fuel from Motor Oil Hellas have gone to various entities in Italy, France, Spain and Britain -- with those first two countries being founding members of the EU.
All of these entities effectively stand accused of purchasing sanctioned oil via a middleman.
Worse yet, The Post report suggested that all of this sanctioned oil was coming at a hefty premium as part of the sanctions involved a price cap on Russian oil -- a price cap that apparently countries are not following through on, allowing Russia to sell its oil for far more money than it's supposed to.
A Pentagon Defense Logistics Agency representative told the outlet that they had "no knowledge" of banned Russian fuel being found at a contracted supplier.
Motor Oil Hellas has vociferously denied these allegations.
The refinery offered a statement to The Post, noting that the company "does not buy, process or trade Russian oil or products."
"All its imports are certified of non sanctioned origin."
An evidently wide-spanning and complicated scandal, it's unclear what comes next, though the Washington Post did note that enforcement of related penalties have "been scant."
“The U.S. military has not done its due diligence on the origin of this oil,” Isaac Levi, an analyst for a European nonprofit that tracks the flow of Russian oil, told The Post.
“It is not hard to see where it is coming from.”
For Biden, this is a familiar headache.
Up until America acquiesced with the E.U. on sanctions, Biden's administration actually vociferously opposed them.
Biden's waffling on the sanctioned petroleum forced the hands of Republicans to push for the "Independence from Russian Energy Act" in March 2022.
For Biden, it's just the latest in a stretch of headaches for the octogenarian incumbent in the midst of what will likely be a grueling re-election campaign -- a re-election bid that sees former President Donald Trump nipping at his heels.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/bo ... 524a&ei=18
Re: RUSSIA
CNBC
"Ukraine war live updates: Putin’s spy chief says Ukraine could become a ‘second Vietnam’ for the U.S. as it drags on resources"
Holly Ellyatt
7 DECEMBER 2023
U.S. President Joe Biden pleaded with Republicans on Wednesday for a fresh tranche of military aid for Ukraine, warning that a victory for Russia in Ukraine would strengthen Moscow to such an extent that it could then attack NATO allies and draw U.S. troops into a war.
The U.S. announced Wednesday $175 million in additional Ukraine aid from its dwindling funds for Kyiv but Biden failed to convince Republican senators to back a larger $110 billion emergency spending bill that included a large chunk of aid for Ukraine (of around $50 billion) amid continued disputes over southern border security.
Biden signaled a willingness to make significant changes to U.S. border policy in an effort to win Republican support but Senate Republicans voted against moving forward with the bill, demanding more immigration limits.
“If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there,” Biden said, Reuters noted.
Putin will attack a NATO ally, he predicted, and then “we’ll have something that we don’t seek and that we don’t have today: American troops fighting Russian troops,” Biden said.
“We can’t let Putin win,” he said.
The address drew an angry response from Moscow, with Russia’s Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov commenting on Telegram that Biden’s comments were “provocative rhetoric unacceptable for a responsible nuclear power.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/07/ukraine ... raine.html
"Ukraine war live updates: Putin’s spy chief says Ukraine could become a ‘second Vietnam’ for the U.S. as it drags on resources"
Holly Ellyatt
7 DECEMBER 2023
U.S. President Joe Biden pleaded with Republicans on Wednesday for a fresh tranche of military aid for Ukraine, warning that a victory for Russia in Ukraine would strengthen Moscow to such an extent that it could then attack NATO allies and draw U.S. troops into a war.
The U.S. announced Wednesday $175 million in additional Ukraine aid from its dwindling funds for Kyiv but Biden failed to convince Republican senators to back a larger $110 billion emergency spending bill that included a large chunk of aid for Ukraine (of around $50 billion) amid continued disputes over southern border security.
Biden signaled a willingness to make significant changes to U.S. border policy in an effort to win Republican support but Senate Republicans voted against moving forward with the bill, demanding more immigration limits.
“If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there,” Biden said, Reuters noted.
Putin will attack a NATO ally, he predicted, and then “we’ll have something that we don’t seek and that we don’t have today: American troops fighting Russian troops,” Biden said.
“We can’t let Putin win,” he said.
The address drew an angry response from Moscow, with Russia’s Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov commenting on Telegram that Biden’s comments were “provocative rhetoric unacceptable for a responsible nuclear power.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/07/ukraine ... raine.html
Re: RUSSIA
Dagens.Com
"U.S. close to strike a big blow on Russia"
Story by Jeppe W
18 DECEMBER 2023
The United States is reportedly exploring new avenues to seize frozen Russian assets and transfer them to Ukraine, as per recent developments shared by the Financial Times.
Amidst ongoing private negotiations, the U.S. has presented a more assertive approach in G7 meetings, suggesting that it has identified a method to carry out asset confiscation while adhering to international law.
This initiative by the U.S. comes at a time when Western countries are revisiting the idea of redirecting frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine.
An anonymous official indicated to the Financial Times that the U.S. is optimistic about reaching a decision on this matter swiftly.
The topic is likely to be on the agenda at a potential G7 leaders' meeting, which would coincide with the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The renewed focus on asset confiscation emerges amidst political frictions within the European Union and the United States.
These internal disagreements have hindered the process of allocating substantial financial aid to Ukraine, estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... 1a0c&ei=23
"U.S. close to strike a big blow on Russia"
Story by Jeppe W
18 DECEMBER 2023
The United States is reportedly exploring new avenues to seize frozen Russian assets and transfer them to Ukraine, as per recent developments shared by the Financial Times.
Amidst ongoing private negotiations, the U.S. has presented a more assertive approach in G7 meetings, suggesting that it has identified a method to carry out asset confiscation while adhering to international law.
This initiative by the U.S. comes at a time when Western countries are revisiting the idea of redirecting frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine.
An anonymous official indicated to the Financial Times that the U.S. is optimistic about reaching a decision on this matter swiftly.
The topic is likely to be on the agenda at a potential G7 leaders' meeting, which would coincide with the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The renewed focus on asset confiscation emerges amidst political frictions within the European Union and the United States.
These internal disagreements have hindered the process of allocating substantial financial aid to Ukraine, estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets ... 1a0c&ei=23