The Canada Border Services Agency has confirmed that officers in Montreal have seized more than a dozen shipments of “dual use goods” destined for Russia but banned under Canada’s sanctions after the invasionof Ukraine. All involved “suspected links to the Russian military.” [node:read-more:link]
For the first time since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a shipment of 26,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain left the Black Sea port of Odesa today under an internationally brokered deal to unblock agricultural exports. Sixteen loaded ships had been blockaded by Russia since February, prompting a UN warning of a looming international hunger catastrophe. [node:read-more:link]
U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, used a video call today, their fifth since Biden took office, to discuss for more than two hours the future of an increasingly complicated relationship. China’s ascendency as a global power, economic policies, human rights and the ongoing political clash over Taiwan remained key issues. [node:read-more:link]
More shelling, more sanctions against Russia and more deliveries of western weapons and other materiel show that the invasion of Ukraine may be slowed but is continuing. Also, there are accusations of stolen grain and a threat by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of broader territorial ambitions. [node:read-more:link]
Russia's state-owned Gazprom is halving natural gas shipments through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany, prompting political panic on both sides of the Atlantic. A U.S. official says the retaliation against western sanctions puts the west in “uncharted territory and has resulted in the administration’s global energy coordinator leaving for Europe today to discuss options. [node:read-more:link]
Five months into his country’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said July 24 that his ultimate goal is help Ukrainians to “liberate themselves” from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “absolutely unacceptable regime.” In Egypt at the start of an African tour to drum up support, he said western propaganda is designed to ensure Ukraine “becomes the eternal enemy of Russia.” [node:read-more:link]
An agreement signed today by Ukraine and Russia could mean shipments of Ukrainian grain to international markets could resume in weeks. Mediated by the UN and Turkey, it would permit five million tonnes a month to be shipped from three Black Sea ports through a safe maritime corridor monitored by a multinational Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul. [node:read-more:link]
After threatening to curb or stop natural gas shipments to Europe, Russia has restarted its Nord Stream 1 pipeline after a maintenance break, but at reduced capacity. State-controlled Gazprom supplied 40 per cent of Europe’s gas last year but the war on Ukraine, western sanctions and President Vladimir Putin’s belligerence has prompted the European Commission to urge its members to reduce consumption. [node:read-more:link]
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is defending the government’s extraordinary decision to ship six repaired natural gas pipeline turbines back to Russia despite criticism at home and abroad. “I understand the concern . . . but it was the right thing to do,” said Freeland, who has family roots in Ukraine. [node:read-more:link]
Canada's former chief of the defence staff Rick Hillier said July 19 that Canada should not have agreed to return six turbines to Germany needed to keep Russian natural gas flowing into Europe because Russian President Vladimir Putin could see it as a “sign of encouragement" and a signal that western sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine could weaken. [node:read-more:link]
Russian President Vladimir Putin said July 19 that reduced supplies natural gas to European customers is the West’s fault and warned of further cuts. He said capacity could soon drop to 20 per cent if pipeline turbines are not replaced quickly. Germany said today Russia is using the turbine issues as an “excuse” to curtail deliveries. [node:read-more:link]
In only his second foreign trip since launching his “special military operation” against Ukraine in February, Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Tehran today for a meeting with his Iranian counterpart about the war, its impact on global grain markets and the ongoing conflict in Syria. He was to meet later in the day with Iran’s supreme leader and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later [node:read-more:link]
The commander of the U.S. Coast Guard said July 14 that her service needs to beef up its icebreaker capability to counter growing Russian and Chinese activities in the North. “We are an Arctic nation,” Admiral Linda Fagan pointed out to a congressional committee. “Getting the capability and capacity to create an enduring presence in the Arctic, in the waters off Alaska, are absolutely a priority.” Russia has more than 40 icebreakers and China, hoping to exploit a longer ice-free season, has declared itself a “near-arctic power.” [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. dollar and the Euro reached parity today for the first time in two decades as the European currency has depreciated by some 12 per cent since the beginning of the year amid fears of recession stoked by inflation and energy uncertainty due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. [node:read-more:link]
As concern grows in some European markets about the security of supplies of natural gas from Russia, Canada has agreed, despite protests from Ukraine, to return a turbine to Germany which is essential to pipeline operations. Gas supplies to Germany via a submarine line across the Baltic Sea have been shut down for 10 days for annual maintenance but German Economy Minister Robert Habeck says EU countries must prepare in case shipments do not resume. [node:read-more:link]
