RUSSIA - UKRAINE WAR UPDATE 06 SEP 2022

The US to blame for Europe’s gas supply crisis says Russia

The Guardian - Léonie Chao-Fong (now); Jane Clinton and Samantha Lock (earlier) Tue 6 Sep 2022 BST

Russia’s foreign ministry has said the US is responsible for Europe’s gas supply crisis by pushing European leaders towards the “suicidal” step of cutting economic and energy cooperation with Moscow.

Asked what needed to happen for the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline to begin pumping again, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Reuters:

Listen, you are asking me questions that even children know the answer to: those who started this need to finish this.

She said the US had long sought to break the energy ties between Russia and major European powers such as Germany. Political forces playing the role of “sheep-provocateurs” were brought to power in EU countries, she added.

The “dominance of Washington prevailed”, Zakharova said. She added:

It is absolute suicide but it seems they will have to go through this.

• 5m ago13.00

More from Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who accused the west of not honouring its promise to help Russian food exports reach global markets, according to Russian state media.

Russian state-owned news agency Ria Novosti cited Lavrov as claiming that western countries had not relaxed sanctions that would allow it easier access to shipping its agricultural products abroad.

Russia had seen the commitment as a key part of an UN-brokered grain deal that helped end a blockade on Ukrainian grain exports from its southern ports.

• Updated at 13.00 BST27m ago12.38

The US to blame for Europe’s gas supply crisis says Russia

Russia’s foreign ministry has said the US is responsible for Europe’s gas supply crisis by pushing European leaders towards the “suicidal” step of cutting economic and energy cooperation with Moscow.

Asked what needed to happen for the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline to begin pumping again, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Reuters:

Listen, you are asking me questions that even children know the answer to: those who started this need to finish this.

She said the US had long sought to break the energy ties between Russia and major European powers such as Germany. Political forces playing the role of “sheep-provocateurs” were brought to power in EU countries, she added.

The “dominance of Washington prevailed”, Zakharova said. She added:

It is absolute suicide but it seems they will have to go through this.

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34m ago12.30

A court in Moscow has revoked the licence of Novaya Gazeta’s sister magazine, a day after the newspaper was stripped of its print media licence and effectively banned from operating inside Russia.

On Monday, the Basmanny District Court revoked Novaya Gazeta of its licence after Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, accused the publication of failing to provide documents related to a change of ownership in 2006.

Speaking outside court yesterday, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief and Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov said the ruling was “a political hit job, without the slightest legal basis”. He said the paper would appeal.

The same court today revoked the licence of “No” (“But”), because of its failure to appear from 2009, when it was registered, until 2022.

Novaya Gazeta lawyer Yaroslav Kozheurov said:

Why did Roskomnadzor go to court only after the magazine was printed? It is absolutely clear that the appeal to the court is not due to the fact that the magazine was not published, but due to the fact that the magazine started appearing.

Novaya Gazeta is one of the country’s most important independent publications. Since it was established by Muratov and colleagues in 1993, it has investigated corruption inside and outside Russia, as well as the wars in Chechnya.

In March, Novaya Gazeta said it would cease operations until the end of the war in Ukraine after it received several warnings from the state censor for allegedly violating the country’s “foreign agent” law.

• Updated at 12.31 BST54m ago12.10

West reluctant to put Putin on trial, say Ukrainian officials

Ukraine’s major western allies have yet to sign up to establish a tribunal to try Vladimir Putin and his inner circle for the crime of aggression, wanting to leave space for future relations with Russia, according to Ukraine’s top officials.

“It’s big politics. On the one hand, countries publicly condemn the aggression but on the other, they are putting their foot in the closing door on relations with Russia so that it doesn’t close completely,” said Andriy Smyrnov, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, who is leading the country’s effort to establish the international tribunal.

Smyrnov said:

They are attempting to keep some space for diplomatic manoeuvres. We know that agreements with Russia are not worth the paper they are written on.

His claims come as the US president, Joe Biden, said on Monday that Russia should not be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism, something Ukrainian officials and some US politicians had pushed for. Russia had previously said such a designation would mean Washington had crossed the point of no return.

Ukrainian officials say that since April, they have been trying to convince their western allies to establish an ad hoc tribunal that would hold Russia’s senior leadership responsible for the crime of aggression in invading Ukraine. Aggression is viewed as the supreme crime under international law because without the transgression of borders during an invasion, subsequent war crimes would not have been committed.

Read the full story by my colleagues, Isobel Koshiw and Patrick Wintour. West reluctant to put Putin on trial, say Ukrainian officials read more

• Updated at 12.28 BST1h ago12.03

Liz Truss 'won't help Britain on the international stage, says Russian foreign minister

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has criticised Britain’s next prime minister, Liz Truss, for not being able to compromise and said the UK will not strengthen its position in the international arena under her leadership.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov said the incoming prime minister tried to “defend Britain’s interests without taking into account the positions of others in any way and without any attempt to compromise”, he said.

Lavrov added:

I do not think that this will help Britain to maintain or strengthen its position in the international arena, which has clearly been shaken after it left the European Union.

He also mocked the incoming prime minister for saying she did not know if the French president, Emmanuel Macron, was a friend or an enemy.

He said:

For Liz Truss ... it should be more of a priority to deal with her closest neighbours, including finally deciding whether President Macron is her friend or enemy. This question is still hanging in the air.

Lavrov said the UK had tried to “compensate” for Brexit by taking “drastic steps on the world stage” and was acting “aggressively over the situation in Ukraine”.

• Updated at 12.07 BST2h ago11.30

Summary of the day so far

Hello everyone. I’m Léonie Chao-Fong, taking over the blog from Jane Clinton to bring you all the latest developments from the Russia-Ukraine war. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.

Here’s a quick roundup of what’s been happening so far:

• Russia’s biggest natural gas pipeline to Europe will not resume pumping until Siemens Energy repairs faulty equipment, Gazprom has said. Siemens Energy said an engine oil leak at the last remaining turbine in operation at the Portovaya compressor station did not warrant keeping the pipeline closed.

The Kremlin said Russia will not resume full its gas supplies to Europe until the west lifts its sanctions against Moscow, as gas prices surged and the pound and euro slumped. Speaking to journalists on Monday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, blamed sanctions for Russia’s failure to deliver gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. “It is these sanctions imposed by the western states that have brought the situation to what we see now.”

• The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has blamed Europe’s energy crisis on sanctions it imposed on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine – a line was taken by the Kremlin itself. European nations were “harvesting what they sowed” by imposing economic restrictions on Russia, Erdoğan added.
• The backup power line at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine has been disconnected to extinguish a fire, officials said on Monday. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the line itself was not damaged and that the backup line “will be reconnected once the fire has been extinguished”.
• An expert mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is set to release their findings from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in a detailed report later on Tuesday. Four of the six UN mission members at the plant have left the site and the remaining two IAEA experts will stay on a permanent basis, the UN nuclear watchdog said.
• The Kremlin has said “with much certainty” that Russia-UK relations will not improve under the leadership of Liz Truss. “Judging by statements made by Madame Truss when she was still foreign minister … one can say with much certainty that no changes for the better are expected,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
• Ukraine’s forces are conducting counteroffensive actions in the east and south-east of the country, a senior Ukrainian presidential adviser has said. Writing on Telegram, Oleksiy Arestovych said Kyiv’s troops had “liberated several settlements on the western bank of the Dnieper” and that Russian forces on the right bank of the Dnieper would be in an “extremely difficult” position within a month.
• The Russian defence ministry is in the process of buying millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea to support its invasion of Ukraine, according to a newly downgraded US intelligence finding. A US official said the fact Russia was turning to North Korea demonstrated that “the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions”.
• Vladimir Putin attended large-scale military exercises on Tuesday involving China and several other Russia-friendly countries. Participating countries in the military drills included several of Russia’s neighbours, as well as Syria, India and key ally China.
• Jailed Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny’s chief of staff have said worsening prison conditions were threatening his health. In a post on his Twitter and Instagram accounts, Navalny wrote last week via his lawyers that he had been sent to a punishment cell for a third time in August in revenge for his political activity.
• Ukraine’s southern offensive has prompted Kherson occupiers to “pause” a planned referendum on whether to become part of Russia. Russian state news agency Tass reported that the head of Kherson’s Russian-appointed authorities, Kirill Stremousov, said plans for a referendum on joining Russia had been “paused” because of the security situation.
  
• Updated at 12.08 BST2h ago10.58

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said European Union politicians are being “suicidal” over Russian energy supplies, Reuters reports.

• Updated at 11.45 BST2h ago10.52

Russian President Vladimir Putin was shown smiling and joking with his defence minister as he inspected a military exercise in Russia’s far east.

The “Vostok” (East) exercises also involve troops from China and India, although it was not clear if units from those countries were taking part in the exercise observed by Putin.

The Zvezda military news service showed a clip of Putin seated next to defence minister Sergei Shoigu, both were wearing military combat jackets and were seen exchanging a joke as they listened to a phone call between Shoigu’s deputy and the head of the general staff, Reuters reports.

The defence ministry says the four-yearly war games that began on 1 September involve only 50,000 troops, a fraction of the 300,000 they said took part in 2018.

Western military analysts say they believe both figures are exaggerated.

The defence ministry released a video of the naval part of the exercise, showing Russia’s Pacific Fleet practising launching Kalibr cruise missiles which it said had successfully struck a target more than 300km (185 miles) away.

On Monday, Russian and Chinese combat ships practised repelling an enemy air attack using air defence artillery systems.

India has sent an army contingent to the drills which it says is taking part in “joint field training exercises, combat discussions and firepower exercises”.

Russia is the biggest supplier of military hardware to India.

Moscow says the war games also involve military contingents and observers from Algeria, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Syria and six former Soviet republics.

• Updated at 11.46 BST3h ago10.19

The Swiss government has agreed to offer financial help to the publicly owned electricity group Axpo, Agence France-Presse reports.

It is the latest European energy company to require state aid after Russia’s war in Ukraine sent gas prices soaring.

Axpo, which requested temporary government help last week, will have access to a credit line of 4bn Swiss francs ($4.1bn) to ensure liquidity amid the energy crisis.

The Federal Energy Office said:

The government responded favourably to avoid putting Switzerland’s energy supply in jeopardy.”

It added that Axpo was an electricity firm of “systemic importance” for the country.

• Updated at 10.26 BST3h ago10.06

Erdoğan blames the Europe energy crisis on sanctions imposed on Russia

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has blamed Europe’s energy crisis on sanctions it imposed on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine – a line was taken by the Kremlin itself.

He said European nations were “harvesting what they sowed” by imposing economic restrictions on Russia, Agence France-Presse reports.

Erdoğan added:

Europe’s attitude towards Mr Putin, its sanctions, brought Mr Putin – willingly or not – to the point of saying: ‘If you do this, I will do that.’

He is using all his means and weapons. Natural gas, unfortunately, is one of them.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday blamed Russia’s halting of gas deliveries to Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline on “sanctions that were imposed against our country”.

• Updated at 10.27 BST3h ago09.56

Jailed Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny’s chief of staff said worsening prison conditions were threatening his health.

In a post on his Twitter and Instagram accounts, Navalny wrote last week via his lawyers that he had been sent to a punishment cell for a third time in August in revenge for his political activity. The prison service did not respond to a request for comment.

Navalny’s cell is reported to be two by three metres wide with a table, chair and bed which is folded from 6 am to 10 pm.

His chief of staff, Leonid Volkov, told Reuters:

Suddenly, three weeks ago, they started to dramatically worsen his conditions, which actually poses an enormous threat to his health, because no normal person could spend a long time in that ‘special’ cell.

And for Alexei, who had just survived the poisoning, it is especially dangerous.”

Volkov, who keeps in touch with the opposition leader through lawyers, said that Navalny is still “mentally and physically very fit”.

He added:

The fact that Putin is losing (the war), and is getting less and less predictable, makes the situation more dangerous.”

Navalny is serving eleven-and-a-half years in prison for parole violations, fraud and contempt of court charges, which he denies.

His Anti-Corruption Foundation is preparing to turn the upcoming local elections in Moscow into an anti-war vote.

• Updated at 10.28 BST4h ago09.27

Gazprom continues to blame Siemens for the closure of the Nord Stream pipeline despite their claim leak is no reason to stop operating

Russia’s biggest natural gas pipeline to Europe will not resume pumping until Siemens Energy repairs faulty equipment, Gazprom’s deputy chief executive Vitaly Markelov has told Reuters.

Gazprom said on Friday that the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would remain shut as a turbine at a compressor station had an engine oil leak, sending wholesale gas prices soaring.

When asked when Nord Stream 1 would start pumping gas again, Markelov said: “You should ask Siemens. They have to repair equipment first.”

Siemens Energy said an engine oil leak at the last remaining turbine in operation at the Portovaya compressor station did not warrant keeping the pipeline closed.

In a written statement, Siemens Energy said:

We cannot comprehend this new representation based on the information provided to us over the weekend.

Therefore, until further notice, our assessment is that the finding communicated to us does not represent a technical reason for stopping operation. Such leaks do not normally affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site.”

• Updated at 09.31 BST4h ago09.23

Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum said it has signed a bridge financing arrangement with Finnish government investment company Solidium for €2.35bn ($2.34bn/£2.02bn) to cover collateral needs in the Nordic power commodity market.

It comes after the Finnish government on Sunday unveiled plans to offer up to €10bn in guarantees to the power industry after Russia’s Gazprom shut the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, worsening Europe’s energy shortage.

Fortum chief executive Markus Rauramo said in a statement:

The ongoing energy crisis in Europe is caused by Russia’s decision to use energy as a weapon and it is now also severely affecting Fortum and other Nordic power producers.”

The Finnish government said:

The arrangement is aimed at strengthening Fortum’s liquidity reserves and thereby securing Finnish energy supply.”

The first instalment of the one-year loan would be €350m and it needs to be withdrawn by 30 September for the arrangement to remain effective, Fortum said.

The effective annual interest cost for the bridge financing, including arrangement and commitment fees, would be 14.2%, it added.

• Updated at 09.43 BST4h ago09.04

Russia’s economy is expected to contract by 2.9% this year before returning to growth in 2023-24, according to its economy minister Maxim Reshetnikov, as quoted by the Tass news agency.

In its base case scenario, Russia’s economy ministry said it expected a 0.9% GDP contraction in 2023, up from predictions of a 2.7% decline made just last month, Reuters reports.

Reshetnikov said the economy would return to periods of growth on a quarterly basis from as early as the end of this year.

The economy ministry also forecast 2.6% growth in 2024, down from the 3.7% it had predicted in August.

Reshetnikov said the economy was on course to post GDP growth in excess of 3% a year after 2024.

This new forecast is a significant improvement from the predictions made just last month when the economy ministry forecast a 4.2% contraction for 2022 and a 2.7% fall in GDP in 2023.

Reshetnikov said expectations had improved as the Russian economy continued to weather the fallout from western sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine better than expected.

• Updated at 09.45 BST4h ago09.03

Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the newswires from Kharkiv.

Russian energy giant Gazprom said it will ship 42.4m cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday, a figure unchanged from Monday, Reuters reports.

• Updated at 08.49 BST5h ago08.21

Further reaction from the Kremlin on its expectations of relations with Britain under the soon-to-be new prime minister, Liz Truss.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the state TASS agency:

Judging by statements made by Madame Truss when she was still foreign minister... one can say with much certainty that no changes for the better are expected.”

• 5h ago08.15

In his farewell speech from Downing Street in London this morning, outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson referenced the early delivery of weapons to Ukraine.

PA Media reports that Johnson added that the “early supplies of weapons to the heroic Ukrainian armed forces” may “very well have helped change the course of the biggest European war of 80 years”.

He praised his government for getting “this economy moving again from July last year despite all the opposition”.

Johnson continued:

We have and will continue to have that economic strength to give people the cash they need to get through this energy crisis that has been caused by Putin’s vicious war.

… And if Putin thinks that he can succeed by blackmailing or bullying the British people, then he is utterly deluded.”

• Updated at 09.22 BSTreserved.

Editors Comments:

*Follow the WEF trail to Switzerland to discover the Khazarian Mafia hiding behind Klaus Schwab and his cohorts. The US and its people have nothing to do with the disasters caused to the ordinary people of the Earth.

It is the Khazarian Mob that is presently using Ukraine as a battlefield to destroy both the US as well as the world's economy and human subsistence. The participants get temporary awards but they must remember: The Devil shows no gratitude. When your usefulness is over you will be cast into the abyss as a traitor!

The Khazarian Mob has once again constructed an intricate web, whose aim is to destroy the world's economy by setting people up against each other, blocking each other's supply chains, and leaving just death and ruins. As a consequence, the world is now facing life-threatening price rises of both electricity and gas.

What everybody must be aware of is that this is not a war to prevent Putin from occupying Ukraine, but an attempt by the evil Khazarian Jews/WEF/NATO to control yet another country in their growing New World Order. They are simply using Ukraine as a battlefield. Their plan is to destroy totally the world's economy and turn the population into slaves.

Like the Freemasons, they have also life-threatening rules in their membership, one being REVENGE, 10 times harder than was ever perpetrated on them.

Russia in particular, in the past, has expelled the Khazars several times. I have 20 detailed articles in book format on the Khazarian Jews if anybody is interested in further information.

Putin, and earlier also Trump, are the ONLY Presidents who have enough guts to see what they are attempting to do to the world population and have sufficient courage to do something about it.

HUMAN SYNTHESIS

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WHO and WHAT is behind it all? : >

The bottom line is for the people to regain their original, moral principles, which have intentionally been watered out over the past generations by our press, TV, and other media owned by the Illuminati/Bilderberger Group, corrupting our morals by making misbehaviour acceptable to our society. Only in this way shall we conquer this oncoming wave of evil.

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