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Ukraine war: Selenskyj calls oil price cap ineffective

2022-12-04T10:27:25.016Z


The sanctions against oil from Russia are not working, says the Ukrainian president in a video message. US researchers use satellite images to show how much grain Russia plundered in occupied territories. The overview.


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Ukrainian President Zelenskyy

Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Off / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO

Selenskyj criticizes price caps for oil

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticized the price cap for Russian oil decided by Western countries as too high.

With the agreed upper limit of 60 US dollars per barrel (per 159 liters), too much money continues to flow into Russia's budget and thus into the war against his country, Zelenskyj said in his daily video address on Saturday evening.

Zelensky said it was only a matter of time before the world would have to resort to even tougher sanctions against Moscow.

"It's a shame that this time is now being lost." The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, had previously called for a price cap of $30 per barrel.

After lengthy negotiations, the EU countries recently agreed on a price cap for Russian oil, and the G7 and Australia followed suit.

The states want to force Russia to sell oil below the market price to buyers in other states in the future.

The aim is to dry up the Kremlin's war chest.

The agreement reached on Friday provides for an initial price cap of USD 60 per barrel.

According to media reports, Russia is buying up old oil tankers in order to sell its raw materials worldwide, despite Western sanctions.

As the "Financial Times" reports, citing data from the ship broker Braemar and the energy consultancy Rystad, Moscow has built up a "shadow fleet" with more than a hundred used tankers over the course of this year: with the obvious aim of selling its oil more frequently than in the past to ship to other regions of the world.

Negotiations with Russia?

Zelenskyj party names conditions

After the French head of state Emmanuel Macron speculated about bringing Russia to the negotiating table with security guarantees, Kyiv also submitted its proposal for these guarantees.

Ukraine is ready to start talks with Russia on four conditions, said David Arakhamiya, leader of the Zelenskyi party "Servant of the People".

These are:

  • full withdrawal from Ukraine

  • reparations payments

  • Punishment of all war criminals

  • the "voluntary surrender of all nuclear weapons"

"After that we are ready to sit down at the negotiating table and talk about security guarantees," Arachamija wrote on Telegram on Saturday evening.

Macron had previously said in a television interview that Europe must prepare a new security architecture.

"One of the key issues we need to address, as President Putin has always said, is the fear of NATO closing in on Russia's doors and the deployment of weapons that could threaten Russia," Macron said.

“This issue will be part of the issues for peace.

That is why we need to work out what we are prepared to do, how to protect our partners and member states, and how to give guarantees to Russia once it returns to the negotiating table.”

Fighting in Ukraine will slow in coming months

According to a report by Reuters, the US secret service assumes that the slowdown in fighting in Ukraine will continue.

"We are already seeing a kind of reduced pace of conflict and we expect that to continue in the coming months," Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, said at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in California.

Both countries would attempt to stock up on night supplies in preparation for a post-winter counteroffensive.

Despite Russian attacks on the Ukrainian power grid and other civilian facilities, there are no signs of a reduced Ukrainian will to resist.

According to NASA, Russia has harvested billions of dollars worth of Ukrainian wheat

According to the US space agency Nasa, Russia harvested wheat worth around a billion dollars (around 950 million euros) from Ukrainian fields this year.

Around 5.8 million tons of wheat have been harvested from fields in Ukraine that are not under the country's control, said Nasa Harvest, the US space agency's food security and agriculture program.

For the survey, Nasa Harvest uses satellite data and modeling together with several partner institutions.

The scientists involved in the research project estimate that a total of around 26.6 million tons were harvested on Ukrainian territory this year.

Although that is less than the record harvest of 33 million tons in the previous year, it is close to the average.

However, because of the war, Ukraine had no access to 22 percent of the wheat in the eastern part of the country.

A total of around 88 percent of the seed was harvested, which apparently was not the case in many fields on the front lines.

Russia's Defense Minister Shoigu visits ally Belarus

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Minister Shoigu visited neighboring Belarus.

At a meeting with long-time authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, Shoigu thanked him for supporting the Russian soldiers stationed in Belarus.

"They really feel at home here," the state-run Belarusian news agency Belta quoted him as saying.

Together with his counterpart Viktor Chrenin, Shoigu also signed a document on changes to a security agreement between the two countries.

Content details were not initially known.

Lukashenko also reiterated that preparations were underway for the formation of a joint regional military unit of the Russian and Belarusian armed forces.

The 68-year-old, who is often criticized as "Europe's last dictator", had already informed about corresponding plans in October.

Belarus supports Russia's war against Ukraine - for example by allowing Russian missiles to be launched from its territory.

Record arms deal: Estonia buys multiple rocket launchers in USA

Against the background of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Estonia is arming itself: in the largest arms deal in its history to date, the Baltic NATO member is acquiring six US Himar-type multiple rocket launchers.

The purchase contract worth more than 200 million US dollars (about 190 million euros) was signed on Friday, according to the Estonian Defense Investment Center in Tallinn.

Delivery of the first missile systems is scheduled for 2024.

The war in Ukraine is seen as a direct threat to national security in Estonia, which borders Russia.

ok/dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-12-04

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