May 4 Buonsera up-date
Ukraine, EU & Russian Oil, Germany, the Enablers,
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Here are some other stories we’re following…
David Arahamiya told Radio Svoboda that Ukrainian authorities have ties with the defenders of Mariupol on the territory of the Azovstal plant. It hasn’t fallen.
In Lviv, Russians fired missiles hitting 3 power substations yesterday.
300 lawmakers supported a ban pro-Russian parties on May 3. According to the bill, parties that support, or whitewash Russia’s war against Ukraine and deny the fact that Moscow occupies Ukrainian territories, including Crimea and eastern Donbas, are to be banned.
The other day in the mountains of Sochi, 37-y.o. general director of the Krasnaya Polyana resort Andrei Krukovsky died - he fell off a mountain trail. The deceased may have known too much about Putin's state of health, about visits to Krasnaya Polyana by oncologists doctors.
BBC- EU to ban Russian oil - but no consensus on gas- EC President Ursula von der Leyen has just laid out details of another package of sanctions against Russia to be agreed by EU countries in the coming days.
Reuters- Putin tells Macron West could use its influence to stop "atrocities" in Ukraine. (Macron needs to stop calling Putin)
Olga Lautman: “The clown circus at MFA Russia keeps digging in. Now they baselessly claim that Israeli mercenaries are working alongside Azov who Russia calls nazis.”
Meduza- Skirting sanctions- The Russian government has drafted regulations that would allow any companies connected to sanctioned individuals or legal entities to conceal their information in Russia’s commercial registry.
AP- Russia made overdue payments on two of its sovereign Eurobonds, apparently avoiding a debt default yet again by dipping into its scarce U.S. dollar reserves.
AFP- EU proposes sanctioning head of Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Gundyayev, Patriarch Kirill.
Britain bans Russia from using its management consulting and PR services.
The BBC- Hungary will veto the EU's proposal to ban imports of Russian oil, Zoltán Kovács, Secretary of State for International Communication and Relations, tells the BBC saying that they would “ruin the Hungarian economy.”
EU Press Office- President von der Leyen at the EP Plenary on the social and economic consequences for the EU of the Russian war in Ukraine – reinforcing the EU's capacity to act. (speech)
Der Spiegel- Newly Released Documents Shed Fresh Light on NATO's Eastward Expansion
In 1991, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl wanted to prevent the eastward expansion of NATO and Ukrainian independence, according to newly released files from the archive of the German Foreign Ministry. Was he trying to assuage Moscow?
Paul Massaro defines what enablers are…
The Washington Post- Three Dozen Tycoons met Putin on Invasion Day, MOst had moved money abroad
On the February day he launched the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin called to the Kremlin a group of his nation’s wealthiest businessmen.
The invasion was a “necessary measure,” Putin told the group, according to news agencies. Alluding to the economic sanctions they would probably face from the United States and European Union, he added, “We all understand the world we live in.”
CEPA- The Smart Power of Lithuanian Foreign Policy
Whether by supporting a distant Taiwan and so picking a diplomatic spat with China (relative populations less than 3m versus 1,400m), or swiftly and unquestionably aiding Ukraine and advocating for its acceptance within the Western security architecture, Lithuanian policymakers are seemingly climbing the speed-dial rank in key EU and NATO capitals.
Collective Responsibility…
Heart-wrenching testimony…
Yesterday members of the Italian Federation of Human Rights met with some of the wives of the troops who are still in Mariupol in the Azovstal steelworks to hear their testimony.
We’re signing off…thanks for reading…
Mo & Scott