An emergency mechanism to trigger a bloc-wide alert in the event of widespread gas shortages is also included to make the gas-savings targets mandatory, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
An emergency European Union (EU) gas conservation plan, prompted by fears of a cut-off of Russian gas supplies, will enter into force at the start of next week after the bloc’s member states completed a final procedural step, the Czech EU Presidency announced.
The plan provides for a voluntary 15 per cent reduction in EU member states’ gas consumption between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, compared to the average consumption in the same period over the past five years, reports dpa news agency.
An emergency mechanism to trigger a bloc-wide alert in the event of widespread gas shortages is also included to make the gas-savings targets mandatory.
The aim of the consumption cuts is to ensure emergency transfers of gas to member states who face shortages if supplies fall to critical levels, in a move to reduce Russia’s leverage over the EU.
EU member states agreed the plan in July as Russia cut gas deliveries to the bloc, citing maintenance and technical issues linked to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for invading Ukraine.
Picture shows Nord Stream pipeline equipments before the opening ceremony of the North Stream second gas link in Portovaya bay, near the town of Vyborg in northwestern Russia. (Xinhua_IANS)
The EU regards the decision as retaliation for the punitive measures and politically motivated.
Germany in particular is under pressure to save gas amid severely restricted Russian supplies.
Based on European Commission data, dpa has calculated that Germany needs to reduce its gas consumption by more than any other EU state in order to achieve the bloc’s agreed savings target of 15 per cent.
In order to reach the EU target, Germany must save 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas between the beginning of August and March next year, the equivalent to the average annual gas consumption of 5 million four-person households.
Deep fault lines are emerging in Ukraine’s political and military elite. In fact, President Zelensky is waging his war on two fronts simultaneously-one of course is against Russia and the other is supposedly against so-called “internal enemies”, writes Sergei Strokan
A big statement by Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky about his determination to recover the lost territories of Donbas in the next three to six weeks has raised eyebrows across the globe.
Zelensky’s assertion of launching a massive counteroffensive in the south, has been carefully timed. The Ukrainian President chose June 28 – the eve of the Day of Ukrainian Statehood, when nationalistic fervour runs high–for his major declaration.
But what is the real backstory that is persuading Zelensky to announce that he was now set to radically change the course of the six-month military campaign with Russia, which began in late February this year?
Is Zelensky making his move because Ukraine has already lost control over 20 per cent of its territory, which not only includes a large part of the unrecognised republics of Donbass, but also the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. As a result of his military setbacks, does he think that his political survival is now at stake?
In fact, Ukraine has lost the strategically important southeast, where one of the largest nuclear power plants in Europe is located.
This is also a region that opens the way to the Black Sea, which is inscribed in the new NATO strategy as a priority zone on the southern and eastern flanks of the North Atlantic Alliance.
It is here that Zelensky, who recently received American HIMARIS and other weapons and is waiting for new arrivals, plans to “kick Russia in the teeth”. He is also trying to assemble a one million strong army, mobilising people as old as 60.
Therefore, has a point of inflection, a now or never situation for the Ukrainian President, been reached in the Ukrainian conflict?
In all likelihood, Zelensky is feeling the heat from the West. Having invested so much money and weapons and putting its international prestige on line, the West badly wants Kiev to record a decisive victory over Russia, instead of staring at defeat.
Unsurprisingly, in his major address in the last week of July to raise national morale, Zelensky called for a unified response to stand up to Russia.
Ironically, the events of the last weeks and days show that internal cohesion may be falling apart in Ukraine.
Deep fault lines are emerging in Ukraine’s political and military elite. In fact, President Zelensky is waging his war on two fronts simultaneously-one of course is against Russia and the other is supposedly against so-called “internal enemies”.
Zelensky has therefore launched mega-purge that is targeting the pillars of the Ukrainian state–security forces, law enforcement officers, oligarchs who have huge resources and capabilities to build a phalanx against Russia. Many in the firing line today have been, until recently, part of President Zelensky’s inner circle.
The first two heads to roll a fortnight ago were that of Ivan Bakanov (a former bosom friend of the president) the head of the Security Service of Ukraine. The other to fall from grace was Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova. Both were fired in a single day. The duo was charged with high treason and collaborationist activities.
On the same day the State Bureau of Investigation (GBR) of Ukraine announced the arrest also of the former head of the Security Service of Ukraine in Crimea Oleg Kulinich, who had worked as an assistant to Ivan Bakanov before his detention.
Oleg Kulinich was charged under three articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – high treason, leadership of a criminal organisation or participation in it, aiding in the transfer of data that is a state secret to another country.
According to leaks in the Ukrainian media, Kulinich and former Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Vladimir Sivkovich are suspected of “surrendering the south of Ukraine to Russian troops.”
According to the newspaper Observer, “it was Kulinich,who played a big role for ensuring the rapid occupation of the southern regions of Ukraine by concealing counterintelligence information about the Russian offensive from Crimea “from the leadership of the Security Service of Ukraine.”
Following the dismissal of Ivan Bakanov, decrees on the change of the leadership of the Security Service of Ukraine immediately followed in five key regions of the country – Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Transcarpathian, Dnipropetrovsk regions.
The cascading purge coincides with the failure of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, which unsuccessfully tried to recruit Russian pilots and persuade them to hijack combat aircraft of the Russian aerospace forces. The operation of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine was stopped by the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia.
Russian pilots, who refused to be financially seduced, were offered $ 1 million and citizenship in one of the European countries if they were ready to hijack combat aircraft, the pride of the Russian military space forces.
However, paradoxically, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, 36-year-old Kirill Budanov, not only was not fired, but got a promotion.
“I made important personnel decisions. In particular, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, will also head the intelligence committee under the President of Ukraine,” President Zelensky said this Monday in a video message published on his Telegram channel.
This week, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine charged former Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishchenko and ex-Justice Minister Alexander Lavrinovich with treason, allegedly acting in “preliminary collusion” with former President Yanukovych and former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.
And finally, the icing on the cake is the deprivation of Ukrainian citizenship of the powerful Ukrainian oligarch and uber nationalist Igor Kolomoisky. Back in 2014, Igor Kolomoisky used his own money to create Ukrainian volunteer battalions in the Donbass to fight the separatist republics.
After that, it was he who played a decisive role in the sensational victory in the 2019 presidential election of Vladimir Zelensky, who at that time was a comedian and had no political experience.
Against the backdrop of the torrential purge, there appears to be a massive competition with the Ukrainian elite to curry favour with the West.
The names include Petro Poroshenko, a former President, who has his own channels of communication with the United States and Europe. But he is not the only one in the leadership fray. Many of Zelensky’s rivals have not come out of the shadows, waiting for the decisive moment to deliver a fatal blow to Zelensky, today’s protege of the West. Will a flawed Ukrainian offensive provide that decisive moment when the knives are really out for Zelensky?
(Sergei Strokan is a veteran journalist, writer and columnist of the Kommersant publishing house based in Moscow. The views expressed are personal and exclusive to India Narrative)
(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)
Pakistan’s relationship with Russia was more often talked about at the time when former Prime Minister Imran khan was removed from power in April…reports Asian Lite News
No bilateral meeting with Russia during the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent on Friday, have raised an eyebrow over the Shahbaz Sharif-led Pakistan government as Islamabad relations with Moscow have been discussed several times during Imran Khan’s regime.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari held bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of all member states of SCO yesterday.
In an earlier statement, Pakistan Foreign Office announced that Bilawal would be holding bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of China, Russia and other SCO members, The Express Tribune reported, adding that however, there was no meeting between Bilawal and Lavrov at the forum.
Pakistan’s relationship with Russia was more often talked about at the time when former Prime Minister Imran khan was removed from power in April.
Khan has maintained that he was removed from power through a US conspiracy since he wanted to pursue an independent foreign policy, particularly one that deepens ties with Russia.
In May, Pakistan had said that it is open to importing oil and food products from Russia amid the ongoing backlash against the country for actions in Ukraine.
Russia had launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, the day when former Imran Khan decided to visit Moscow to push for the construction of a long-delayed, multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline to be built in collaboration with Russian companies.
Imran Khan, who was ousted from power, has claimed the new Shahbaz Sharif government had dropped plans to acquire cheap Russian oil that his government managed to secure.
Meanwhile, Bilawal following his meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister on Thursday held bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. He separately held a meeting with Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, discussing the current Afghan situation and reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment for a stable and prosperous Afghanistan, as per The Express Tribune.
The 20th Meeting of SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) was held on November 25, 2021, in Nur-Sultan through video conference under the Chairmanship of Kazakhstan and Jaishankar represented India in the meeting, according to the statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs.
PTI hits out at Bilawal
Hitting out at Foreign Minister Bilawal, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry said that was on an “internship” and that no one knows him.
During a press conference in Islamabad on Saturday, the PTI leader also said that his Bilawal’s Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov refused to meet him, The News International reported.
While the former human rights minister Shireen Mazari in a Tweet that FM Bilawal’s meeting with all foreign ministers at the SCO except those from India and Russia.
“Bilawal meets all SCO foreign ministers except Indian FM – which was proper given Modi’s fascism in IIOJK – & Russian FM. Why would he not meet Lavrov except out of fear of US! Shameful how subservience before US prevents Imported govt’s FM from even mtg Russian FM bilaterally!” she tweeted.
U.S. officials say Russia is trying to shore up the few alliances it has left — some of which are American adversaries like Iran…reports Asian Lite News
The Biden administration likes to say Russia has become isolated internationally because of its invasion of Ukraine. Yet Moscow’s top officials have hardly been cloistered in the Kremlin. And now, even the U.S. Is talking to them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been meeting with world leaders, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a NATO member. Meanwhile, his top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, is jetting around the world, smiling, shaking hands and posing for photos with foreign leaders — including some friends of the U.S.
And on Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about American detainees and Ukraine.
Blinken would not discuss the specific details of the call but said he had pressed Lavrov to accept a “substantial proposal” the U.S. has made for the release of jailed Americans Paul Whelan and Brittany Griner. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov “strongly suggested” to Blinken “returning to a professional dialogue in the mode of quiet diplomacy” on any efforts at American detainees ’ release.
The phone call and the handshakes cast doubt on a core part of the U.S. strategy aimed at ending the Ukraine war: that diplomatic and economic isolation, along with battlefield setbacks, would ultimately force Russia to send its troops home.
Even as he announced plans for the call two days earlier, Blinken continued to insist Russia is indeed isolated. He argued the travel of its top officials is purely damage control and a reaction to international criticism Moscow is facing for the Ukraine war.
U.S. officials say Russia is trying to shore up the few alliances it has left — some of which are American adversaries like Iran. But countries that are ostensibly U.S. partners, like Egypt and Uganda, are also warmly welcoming top Russians.
And after making the case since February that there’s no point in talking to Russia because Russia is not serious about diplomacy and cannot be trusted, the U.S. has conceded it needs to engage with Moscow as well.
The public outreach to Lavrov combined with the announcement of a “substantial proposal” to Russia to win the release of Whelan and Griner took many by surprise.
The Blinken-Lavrov conversation was the highest-level contact between the U.S. and Russia since Feb. 15, before the Russian invasion, and could set the stage for possible in-person discussions, although administration officials say there are no plans for that.
The Kremlin presumably reveled in the fact that the U.S. is now seeking engagement and will likely delay the process of arranging a call to gain maximum advantage.
“They are going to drag this out and try to humiliate us as much as they can,” said Ian Kelly, a retired career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Georgia in the Obama and Trump administrations. “I don’t think it goes along with (the administration’s) overall policy.”
Kelly saw Blinken’s interest in the call as “counterproductive to our broader effort to isolate Russia.”
“Other countries will look at this and say, ’Why shouldn’t we deal with Lavrov or the Russians more broadly?’” he said.
Already, Western appeals to convince Asian, African and Middle Eastern nations to shun Russia appear to have been ignored as Lavrov travels around the world.
Still, on Wednesday, Blinken played down the importance of Lavrov’s globetrotting. He said it was a response to the cold reception Russia has gotten to Ukraine-related wheat and grain shortages now plaguing large portions of the developing world, particularly as a United Nations-backed agreement to free up those supplies has yet to be implemented.
“What I see is a desperate game of defense to try somehow to justify to the world the actions that Russia has taken,” Blinken said. “Somehow trying to justify what’s unjustifiable.”
U.S. and European officials point out that Russia has come under heavy criticism for the Ukraine invasion and the food and energy security shortages that have resulted.
Biden administration officials, including Blinken, have noted with satisfaction that Lavrov chose to leave a recent meeting of G-20 foreign ministers in Indonesia after listening to a litany of complaints from counterparts about the global impact of the war.
Despite that, there is no sign Russia will be excluded from major international events such as the ASEAN Regional Forum next week, the United Nations General Assembly in September or a trio of leaders’ summits in Asia to be held in November.
Russia continues to maintain close ties with China, India and numerous developing countries throughout Asia and Africa. Many depend on Russia for energy and other exports, though they also rely on Ukraine for grain.
India hasn’t shunned Russia despite its membership in the so-called Quad with the U.S., Australia and Japan. With a longstanding close relationship with Russia, India has boosted energy imports from Russia despite pressure from the U.S. and Europe, which is moving away from Russian gas and oil.
India, for example, has used nearly 60 million barrels of Russian oil in 2022 so far, compared with only 12 million barrels in all of 2021, according to commodity data firm Kpler.
On the other side of the coin, the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, this week scrapped a deal to purchase 16 Russian military transport helicopters due to fears of possible U.S. sanctions.
The Russian foreign ministry has gleefully countered the assertions of Russia’s isolation by tweeting photographs of Lavrov in various world capitals.
Among the photos: Lavrov at the the G-20 meeting in Bali with the Chinese, Indian and Indonesian foreign ministers; in Uganda with President Yoweri Museveni, a longtime U.S. partner; and in Egypt with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, also a U.S. partner, whose country every year receives billions in dollars in American aid.
Russian Foreign Minister called for return to “silent diplomacy” on the issue of prisoner exchange, without speculation and stuffing, reports Asian Lite News
The United States has no plans for a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their visit to Cambodia for meetings with ASEAN, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters.
“We have no plans to meet with Foreign Minister Lavrov when they are in Cambodia,” Price said during a press briefing on Friday.
Meanwhile during a phone conversation with Blinken, Foreign Minister Lavrov called for return to “silent diplomacy” on the issue of prisoner exchange, without speculation and stuffing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said following the conversation.
“Regarding the possible exchange of imprisoned Russian citizens, the United States has been urged by the Russian side to return to a professional dialogue in the ‘silent diplomacy’ mode, without speculative media stuffing,” the ministry said.
Negotiations on the exchange of prisoners between Russia and the United States are being conducted, but there is no concrete result yet, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier, commenting on a US statement about a possible exchange of Russian Viktor Bout for Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. (ANI/Sputnik)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the situation in Ukraine during a phone conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Lavrov outlined Russia’s principled approaches in light of the ongoing special military operation, stressing that its goals and objectives will be achieved, the statement added on Friday.
It said that they also discussed global food security and problems of bilateral relations, Xinhua news agency reported.
Sheikh Abdullah and Çavuşoğlu also discussed ways of boosting cooperation between the two friendly countries in order to serve their mutual interests…reports Asian Lite News
UAE government on Wednesday lauded Turkey’s efforts to help reach an agreement recently signed in Istanbul by Ukraine, Russia and Turkey with UN participation to allow grain exports via the Black Sea to world markets.
During a phone call with Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan described the agreement as a ”key step” that affirms the importance of cooperation to addressing international challenges and finding effective solutions for preventing a global food crisis.
The UAE, under the leadership of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will always support peace and stability in the region and the entire world, he added, stressing the importance of resolving conflicts through diplomacy and dialogue.
He then highlighted the UAE’s support for all initiatives aimed at maintaining regional and international security and stability, in a way that contributes to meeting peoples’ aspirations for development and prosperity.
Sheikh Abdullah and Çavuşoğlu also discussed ways of boosting cooperation between the two friendly countries in order to serve their mutual interests.
Meanwhile, operations have resumed in three Ukrainian Black Sea ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny in line with a grain exports deal signed between Kiev and Moscow last week in Istanbul, the Ukrainian Naval Forces said in a statement.
Currently, work is underway to prepare the ports for safe navigation, with military and civilian experts searching for underwater objects and installing special navigation equipment, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.
The ships navigating in the Ukrainian ports will form a caravan, which will be escorted by a lead ship for greater security, it said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the deal will enable Ukraine to export 20 million tonnes of 2021’s grain harvest and part of this year’s harvest.
Moscow cuts its energy supplies to the European Union, prompting panic on both sides of the Atlantic over potentially severe gas shortages heading into winter, US officials said…reports Asian Lite News
Officials on Tuesday said that their “biggest fear” has come true as Russia cuts gas supplies to Europe and the Biden administration is working furiously behind the scenes to keep European allies united.
Moscow cuts its energy supplies to the European Union, prompting panic on both sides of the Atlantic over potentially severe gas shortages heading into winter, US officials said, reported CNN.
On Monday, Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom said it would cut flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany in half, to just 20 per cent of its capacity.
A US official said the move was retaliation for western sanctions, and that it put the West in “unchartered territory” when it comes to whether Europe will have enough gas to get through the winter, reported CNN.
In response to the turmoil, the White House dispatched presidential coordinator for global energy Amos Hochstein to Europe on Tuesday, officials said.
He will be travelling to Paris and Brussels to discuss contingency planning with the US-EU energy task force created in March, one month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“This was our biggest fear,” said the US official. The impact on Europe could boomerang back onto the US, spiking natural gas and electricity prices, the official said.
It will also be a major test of European resilience and unity against Russia, as the Kremlin shows no signs of retreating from Ukraine.
The US and Brussels have been pleading with EU members to save gas and store it for winter, and on Tuesday, energy ministers agreed in principle to cut gas use by 15 per cent from August to March, reported CNN.
There will also be discussions in the coming days about increasing nuclear power production across Europe to offset gas shortages, officials said.
Germany was planning to completely phase out its use of nuclear power by the end of 2022, but US officials are hoping to convince Berlin to extend the life of its three remaining nuclear power plants amid the energy crisis, an official said.
US officials, who have been in close touch in particular with German and French officials on this topic, are extremely concerned that Europe might face a serious gas shortage going into winter. That is because EU countries will struggle to fill their reserves over the next few months with Nord Stream 1 providing only a fraction of its capacity, reported CNN.
Germany scrapped plans for another Russia-Europe gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2 after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
The US was opposed to that pipeline, warning that it would only increase European dependency on Russian gas. But Germany argued that the pipeline was a purely commercial project and that it could serve as an energy bridge as it phased out nuclear and coal.
The US ultimately issued waivers allowing the pipeline project to move forward without crippling sanctions.
Tugs pull the Russian pipe-laying vessel Fortuna out of the harbor onto the Baltic Sea. The special ship is being used for construction work on the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea. Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
Now, officials said a 15 per cent cut in Europe’s gas consumption, along with a surge of global liquefied natural gas exports to Europe, including from the US, is unlikely to be enough to offset the shortages, reported CNN.
“This is an open gas war that Russia is waging against a united Europe,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday.
The US official said it was clear the Russians are “lashing out” and trying to “destabilize Europe” because they are not achieving their goals in Ukraine.
A National Security Council spokesperson called Russia’s moves just it’s latest attempts “to use natural gas as a political and economic weapon.”
“Russia’s energy coercion has put pressure on energy markets, raised prices for consumers, and threatened global energy security. These actions only underscore the importance of the work the United States and the European Commission are doing to end our reliance on Russian energy,” the spokesperson said.
“We will continue working with our European partners to reduce dependence on Russian energy and support their efforts to prepare for further Russian destabilization of energy markets.”
Meanwhile, German gas supplies got back to normal as the country’s storage facilities are filled to almost two-thirds of capacity.
After 10-day maintenance of the crucial Nord Stream 1 pipeline, gas deliveries from Russia resumed on July 21 (Thursday). Gas flow is now at the reduced pre-maintenance level of 40 per cent.
During the temporary halt to Russian gas supplies through Nord Stream 1, gas flow to Germany was significantly reduced, putting further pressure on prices. The German government aims to fill storage to 95 per cent of capacity by November, Xinhua news agency reported.
In June, prices for energy products continued to rise sharply and were up 38 per cent year-on-year, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). In particular, heating oil prices more than doubled and natural gas was around 61 per cent more expensive.
Last Friday, the German government stepped in to save Uniper SE, the largest German importer of Russian gas, with a “comprehensive support package,” according to a statement by the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
Until now space exploration was one of the few areas where cooperation between Russia and the United States and its allies had not been wrecked by tensions over Ukraine and elsewhere…reports Asian Lite News
Russia has decided to quit the International Space Station “after 2024”, the newly-appointed chief of Moscow’s space agency told President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
The announcement comes as tensions rage between the Kremlin and the West over Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine and several rounds of unprecedented sanctions against Russia.
Russia and the United States have worked side by side on the ISS, which has been in orbit since 1998.
“Of course, we will fulfil all our obligations to our partners, but the decision to leave this station after 2024 has been made,” Yury Borisov, who was appointed Roscosmos chief in mid-July, told Putin.
“I think that by this time we will start putting together a Russian orbital station,” Borisov added, calling it the space programme’s main “priority”.
“Good,” Putin replied in comments released by the Kremlin.
Until now space exploration was one of the few areas where cooperation between Russia and the United States and its allies had not been wrecked by tensions over Ukraine and elsewhere.
He said he would seek “to raise the bar, and first of all, to provide the Russian economy with the necessary space services”, pointing to navigation, communication, and data transmission, among other things.
Sending the first man into space in 1961 and launching the first satellite four years earlier are among key accomplishments of the Soviet space programme and remain a major source of national pride in Russia.
But experts say the Russian space agency remains a shadow of its former self and has in recent years suffered a series of setbacks including corruption scandals and the loss of a number of satellites and other spacecraft.
Borisov, a former deputy prime minister with a military background, has replaced Dmitry Rogozin, a firebrand nationalist politician known for his bombastic statements and eccentric behaviour.
The President defended the country’s decision to maintain trade ties with Russia to ensure food production…reports Asian Lite News
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro reiterated his opposition to economic sanctions against Russia, in order to retain the supply of Russian fertiliser imports to Brazilian agribusiness.
“We are not going to adhere to sanctions (against Russia). We maintain a balanced position because without Brazil’s balance on this issue today, we would not have fertilisers for our agribusiness,” Bolsonaro said on Monday during the Global Agribusiness Forum 2022 in the city of Sao Paulo.
The President defended the country’s decision to maintain trade ties with Russia to ensure food production, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Without fertilisers, our guarantee of food security and that of 1 billion people in the world would be threatened,” he added.
Bolsonaro also said that in December 2021 his government decided to expand the national fertiliser programme in search of alternatives to imports.
Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, is the world’s leading soybean producer and the world’s leading exporter of animal protein.
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro has officially announced his intent to seek re-election and named Walter Souza Braga Netto, the former Minister of Defense, as his running mate for Vice President.
In his announcement on Sunday, Bolsonaro highlighted his role in improving the agricultural sector and the growth of infrastructure, with the building of highways and railways, reports Xinhua news agency.
According to the latest data released by Datafolha poll in June, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva takes the lead with 47 per cent of the vote, followed by Bolsonaro with 28 per cent.
The left-wing Workers’ Party (PT) officially nominated Lula on July 21, while left-of-centre candidate Ciro Gomes, running in a distant third, was nominated by the Democratic Labor Party (PDT) the previous day.
As of August 16, candidates can officially start campaigning online and in public spaces until the day before the october 2 election.
In case no candidate wins 50 per cent of the valid votes, a run-off is scheduled for October 30.
