UAE backs China on Taiwan, condemns 'provocative visits' after Pelosi trip

UAE backs China on Taiwan, condemns 'provocative visits' after Pelosi trip

    Monday, August 08, 2022   No comments

A day after Pelosi's trip, on Thursday, the influential GCC state, UAE,  reiterated its support for China's "sovereignty" over Taiwan and condemned "provocative visits" after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed on the island earlier this week.

"The UAE affirmed its support for China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the importance of respecting the 'One China' principle... the UAE indicated its concern over the impact of any provocative visits on stability and international peace," the Emirati foreign ministry said in a statement.

Pelosi landed in Taiwan as part of a wider Indo-Pacific tour on Tuesday - enraging China, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province.

The UAE is a key US ally in the Middle East, but also has burgeoning ties with China. It has previously expressed strong support for China's sovereignty over Taiwan.

A Sky News investigation found earlier this year that the UAE was providing China with "black sites" to detain and forcibly disappear Uighur activists.

Abu Dhabi and Washington have taken differing stances on some key global issues, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine - with the UAE failing to follow the US in condemning Moscow for its actions.

The US reportedly intervened last year in Beijing's construction of a Chinese military base in the UAE.

Türkiye, Russia to work against terror groups in Syria; Erdoğan confirms the payment of Russian natural gas in rubles

Türkiye, Russia to work against terror groups in Syria; Erdoğan confirms the payment of Russian natural gas in rubles

    Saturday, August 06, 2022   No comments

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Aug. 5 that he discussed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin the steps to be taken against terrorist organizations in Syria and agreed to take necessary steps to protect Syria’s territorial integrity.

Erdoğan has also confirmed that Türkiye will start paying for some of its Russian natural gas imports in rubles.

"As Türkiye, our door is open to everyone. One good thing about this Sochi visit is that we agreed on the ruble with Mr. Putin," Erdoğan said.

"Since we will conduct this trade in rubles, it will of course bring money to Türkiye and Russia."

Neither Erdoğan nor Russian officials have said what portion of the gas will be covered by ruble payments.

Putin and Erdoğan on Aug. 5 adopted a statement pledging to boost political and economic cooperation including in energy and trade.

At the start of the talks Putin also praised the TurkStream natural gas pipeline project, saying Europe should be grateful to Türkiye for uninterrupted supplies of Russian gas.

"I believe that (today’s meeting) will open a whole different page in Turkish-Russian relations," Erdoğan said.

Putin and Erdoğan last met for a three-way summit in Iran in July.

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Putin and Erdogan agreed to buy Turkey part of Russia's gas in rubles; Kadyrov to visit Turkey

Putin and Erdogan agreed to buy Turkey part of Russia's gas in rubles; Kadyrov to visit Turkey

    Friday, August 05, 2022   No comments

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have agreed to sell part of Russian gas to Turkey in rubles.

"Gas supplies to Turkey were discussed, which is supplied in fairly large quantities: 26 billion cubic meters annually. During the negotiations, the two presidents agreed that part of the gas supplies would be paid for in rubles," Novak said.

"We are talking about a gradual transition to national currencies, and in the first stage, part of the supplies will be paid in Russian rubles," he added.

Earlier in the day, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced the end of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the Russian city of Sochi, after they lasted for four hours. Putin and Erdogan discussed several files, most notably the files of Syria, Libya, Ukraine and energy.

It is worth mentioning here that the Russian President issued his instructions to transfer all payments for gas supplies to Europe into the national currency, stressing that "it makes no sense to supply Russian goods to the European Union or the United States of America and to receive payments in euros and dollars."

There were reports that the president of Chechnya, Ramazan Kadyrov attended the meetings in Sochi. Perhaps responding to such reports, Kadyrov released the following statement:

During the face-to-face talks between Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, I personally met Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and head of the Turkish national intelligence organization Hakan Fidan. We had an informal rich and productive conversation, during which we came to a common opinion on the need to establish close cooperation between Turkey and the Chechen Republic on various issues.

Historically, our peoples are connected by a lot, especially since a fairly large number of ethnic Chechens currently live in Turkey. Mevlut Cavusoglu expressed hope that this informal meeting would be the beginning of further development of relations and establishing contacts. I agreed with the Turkish Foreign Minister and also noted that both sides would benefit from joint undertakings.

At the end of the meeting, the distinguished guests invited me to visit Turkey, during which we could discuss a wide range of cooperation issues, including economic ones. Of course, I accepted the invitation.

Russia Is Making Even More Money on Energy under Sanctions Regime; Ukrainian Finance Minister: embargo would raise prices so high that Russia could still earn significant revenue from oil and gas sales elsewhere

Russia Is Making Even More Money on Energy under Sanctions Regime; Ukrainian Finance Minister: embargo would raise prices so high that Russia could still earn significant revenue from oil and gas sales elsewhere

    Saturday, April 23, 2022   No comments

Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko said a potential European embargo on Russian energy would significantly raise prices and thus increase Russia’s earnings, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Marchenko said that an embargo would raise prices so high that Russia could still earn significant revenue from oil and gas sales elsewhere.

This is not an unforseen outcome; any systems thinker should be able to see how shortage in a product or good can increase profit. For example, amid chip shortage and the pandemic slowdown, car makers were producing less cars but they were selling what they were making at much higher prices, not only offsetting the lower production, but increasing profits.

Similarly, Russian profit from oil export increased and will continue to increase until the market adjust.

 Russia expects to earn 798.4 billion rubles ($9.6 billion) in additional revenue from energy sales in April due to high oil prices, the finance ministry said, as Moscow needs cash to finance its obligations while being cut off from its reserves.

In related news, Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero talks about Western sanctions imposed on Russia, and says that his country does not consider them an effective way to solve the crisis in Ukraine.

Today, Saturday, Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero stressed that his country does not consider the sanctions imposed on Russia an effective way to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.

He said that his country proposes a return to dialogue and calm, pointing out that imposing sanctions and siege is not a fruitful way to achieve peace, dialogue and diplomatic negotiations.

"For Argentina, the interests of Latin America are a priority, and there are now problems in the region that deserve attention," Cafiero noted.

He added, "It is true that the war in Europe has, to a certain extent, captured the public's attention, but the humanitarian crisis in Haiti is no less urgent, and it does not surface because the media does not focus on it."

Regarding preparations for the Ninth Summit of the Americas, which will be held in June in Los Angeles, Cafiero stressed "the need to discuss food security in the region," adding that the United States "cannot stand aside."

He believed that judging countries and imposing sanctions and embargoes "are not Argentina's style, and they never were, and it seems to us that these measures in the region have only led to more inequality and social backwardness."

"Buenos Aires will not support Russia's exclusion from all international organizations, including the G20, so that we do not believe that this contributes to resolving the crisis," said Gabriela Cerruti, a press spokeswoman for the President of Argentina.