Exemptions from sanctions will only embolden Moscow, the Ukrainian president says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has argued that Canada’s move to return a turbine required for a pipeline transporting Russian gas to Germany will be seen as “weakness” by Moscow.
Zelensky said the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has summoned a Canadian envoy over the “absolutely unacceptable” decision to allow the return of a repaired turbine to Germany. The turbine is required for the functioning of Nord Stream, a Baltic Sea pipeline that delivers gas from Russia to Germany.
“The decision on the exemption from the sanctions will be viewed in Moscow only as a sign of weakness,” Zelensky argued in a video address published on Tuesday.
“If a terrorist country can claw out such an exemption from the sanctions, what exemptions will it want tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? It is a very dangerous matter.”
“Now, there can be no doubt that Russia will try not just to limit as much as possible, but to completely shut down the supply of gas to Europe at the most acute moment. This is what we need to prepare for,” Zelensky said.
The turbine had been held up in Canada due to the sanctions imposed on Moscow in response to its military campaign in Ukraine. Russian state gas giant Gazprom said last month that it was forced to reduce the flow through the Nord Stream because the turbine had not been returned on time. The company then suspended the flow completely for 10 days starting Monday, citing planned maintenance.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck argued at the time that Gazprom’s decision to reduce the flow through the Nord Stream was politically motivated. At the same time, he also urged Canada to let the turbine be shipped to Germany.
“Strong sanctions mean it must hurt and harm Russia and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin more than it does our economy,” Habeck told Bloomberg last week. “Therefore, I ask for understanding that we have to take this turbine excuse away from Putin.”
On Monday, Ottawa greenlighted the return of the turbine. “Canada will grant a time-limited and revocable permit to Siemens Canada to allow the return of repaired Nord Stream 1 turbines to Germany,” Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said.
The US Department of State backed the move, saying that, “in the short term, the turbine will allow Germany and other European countries to replenish their gas reserves, increasing their energy security and resiliency and countering Russia’s efforts to weaponize energy.”
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 12 (IPS) – The only true path to energy security, stable power prices, prosperity and a livable planet lies in abandoning polluting fossil fuels and accelerating the renewables-based energy transition.Nero was famously accused of fiddling while Rome burned. Today, some leaders are doing worse. They are throwing fuel on the fire. Literally.
TOKYO, Jul 11 (IPS) – Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving Prime Minister of Japan, has died. It was a murder caused by a personal grudge rather than political terrorism. And it was not a direct grudge against Mr. Abe. A religious group had supported Mr. Abe, and a murderer with a grudge against the religious group killed him. Murders targeting politicians are often related to political messages or claims. This is a very unique case in that the murder was committed out of a personal grudge, not against the individual for what he did, but against the organization that supported the individual.Read the full story, “Recalling Shinzo Abe with Respectâ€, on globalissues.org →find more fun & mates at SoShow now !
Dr Atul Gawande, the surgeon and bestselling health writer talks, to NPR about the problems he has inherited as the new head of USAID’s global health office.
If Moscow is allowed to win in Ukraine, the world will revert to a state of “might makes right,” Washington believes
The ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev might threaten the existing world order, the US State Secretary Antony Blinken told the Thai public broadcaster on Monday. According to Blinken, Russia “challenges” what he called a “rules-based” world order and would create a new reality in the international arena if allowed to achieve its goals in Ukraine.
The existing international rules are based on “some basic understandings,” Blinken argued, naming “respect for sovereignty, for independence, for territorial integrity, for human rights” as the “foundations” of the order centered around the UN.
Russia’s “aggression against Ukraine” challenges all of it, Blinken said. “If Russia is allowed to do what it’s doing, that means that we’re going to go back to a world in which might makes right, in which big nations can bully small nations,” which would be “the opposite of the rules-based order,” he added.
In addition to Moscow acting as the international troublemaker, Blinken said Beijing is “posing a challenge to the order in the way that it acts with increasing aggression in the region, and with increasing repression at home.” He did not explain what exactly he meant by China’s “aggression.”
At the same time, Blinken called US relations with China “one of the most consequential relationships, one of the most complex relationships,” adding that Washington still hopes to “find ways to cooperate” with Beijing despite a “competition” between the two nations.
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”
In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 11 (IPS) – The writer is Director, Population Division of the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs.What does a young girl from Juba, in South Sudan, an 8-year-old boy living in the slums of Mumbai, in India, a young mother from the south of Lima, in Peru, and an 83-year-old man enjoying retirement in the suburbs of Stockholm, in Sweden, have in common?Read the full story, “What Future for a World of 8 Billion?â€, on globalissues.org →find more fun & mates at SoShow now !
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