Kazakhstan has no access to the world’s oceans, so it has to export its oil via Russia. But a Russian court has surprisingly shut down an important terminal.
- Russia stops oil export out Kazakhstan: A Russian court surprisingly closed a terminal for transit to Europe
- This News ticker on the negotiations and sanctions on the Ukraine war is regularly updated. One chronology of the Ukraine conflict can be found here.
Update from July 6, 12:39 p.m.: Ex-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned of a nuclear war in connection with the investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into possible war crimes in Ukraine. “The idea of punishing a country that possesses the largest nuclear arsenal is absurd in and of itself,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram on Wednesday (July 6). This may create “a threat to the existence of mankind”. He accused the US of wanting to bring Russia before international courts, even though Washington had never been punished for its own wars.
Medvedev is currently Deputy Chairman of the National Security Council in Russia. From 2008 to 2012 he was President of Russia, after which he took over the post of Prime Minister until 2020. Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, Medvedev has regularly attacked the West with sharp words. In early June he published an angry message against alleged enemies of Russia, whom he described as “depraved people”.
Russia has systematically denied any abuses alleged by its forces in Ukraine, including attacks on civilians, mass executions and rapes. Instead, Moscow accuses the Ukrainian army of committing war crimes.
Ukraine-News: Lavrov plans bilateral talks at G20 meetings
Update from July 6, 11:52 a.m.: Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov wants to sit down with several other foreign ministers for bilateral talks on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the G20 countries in Bali. “As for the (bilateral) meetings, there have been certain requests. There will be a series of meetings,” Lavrov said, according to the state news agency TASS. He did not say which states are involved.
The ministerial meeting of the G20 round of important industrialized and emerging countries begins this Thursday. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock comes from Germany. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has already dismissed a meeting with Lavrov as untimely. Numerous politicians in the West have criticized Lavrov’s participation in the G20 meeting because of the Ukraine war.
Lavrov said he didn’t know if there had been any attempts to prevent his participation. “If these attempts were made, then the Indonesian leadership didn’t react to them.” Lavrov’s stay is seen as a test for Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s possible participation in the G20 summit in the fall, which is also taking place in Bali. Several G7 countries have questioned their presence should Putin appear in person. It is also possible that the Russian President will be connected via video.
Ukraine News: Von der Leyen warns of a complete gas stop from Russia – and announces a European emergency plan
Update from July 6, 11:20 a.m.: Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, warns that the EU must prepare itself in the event that Vladimir Putin cuts off all gas from Russia in Europe. “We must prepare for further disruptions to gas supplies from Russia, even complete termination,” she said in the European Parliament. It is clear that Putin uses energy as a weapon. Twelve member states are already directly affected by a partial or complete failure of the gas supply from Russia.
In response, the EU Commission will present a European emergency plan in mid-July. If Russia shuts off the pipeline gas completely to Europe, the remaining gas flows would have to flow to where they are most urgently needed. “We have to ensure European solidarity. And we have to protect the internal market and the supply chains of the industry,” said von der Leyen.
Efforts to find new gas suppliers are bearing fruit: LNG exports to Europe that do not come from Russia have increased by 75 percent compared to 2021. Exports of liquefied natural gas from the US to Europe have almost tripled. At the same time, the average monthly import of Russian gas fell by 33 percent. “So we’re making progress,” von der Leyen said.
After Kazakhstan’s EU offer: Russia suddenly cuts oil connections – for nature conservation reasons
First report from July 6th: Novorossiysk- In the ex-Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan there are huge underground oil deposits – but the country is dependent on its large neighbor Russia for exports to Europe. 80 percent of the oil exported from Kazakhstan flows through the terminal in the southern Russian port city of Novorossiysk: 67 million tons of oil per year. A Russian court is now closing the terminal – allegedly because environmental regulations were not met.
Most recently, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev offered the EU to deliver more oil and gas to Europe to ensure the continent’s energy security despite the Ukraine war and sanctions against Russia. Kazakhstan is actually a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Because of the war against Ukraine But there are disagreements between Russia and the ex-Soviet republic. Among other things, Kazakhstan has not recognized the independence of the Moscow-protected separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine-News: Russia closes terminal for oil exports from Kazakhstan
The Black Sea terminal intended for the export of Kazakh oil has to be closed for 30 days by the court order. The stop was justified with possible environmental damage, as the Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday night (July 6th). The documentation of the emergency plan for the elimination of possible oil spills is incomplete, it is officially said.
The operating company Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) is “forced to implement the court decision” but will appeal against it, according to a statement from the company. Originally, the authorities had given CPC until November 30 to eliminate the violations. But in a court hearing on Tuesday, the regional transport authority surprisingly called for the terminal to be closed – and was right. (dpa)
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