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Nord Stream gas leaks sees methane spewing into the atmosphere

Climate scientists described the shocking images of gas spewing to the surface of the Baltic Sea as a “reckless release” of greenhouse gas emissions that, if deliberate, “amounts to an environmental crime.”

Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Climate scientists described the shocking images of gas spewing to the surface of the Baltic Sea this week as a “reckless release” of greenhouse gas emissions that, if deliberate, “amounts to an environmental crime.”

Researchers acknowledge that it is difficult to accurately quantify the size of the emissions and say the leaks are a “wee bubble in the ocean” compared to the massive amounts of methane emitted around the world every day.

Nonetheless, environmental campaigners argue that the incident shows the risk of sabotage or an accident makes fossil infrastructure a “ticking time bomb.”

Here’s the story.

— Sam Meredith

Putin says Russia is not aiming for the return of the Soviet Union

Russia is not seeking the return of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Putin said during his speech to Russian lawmakers announcing the annexation of four of Ukraine’s territories.

“People born after the tragedy of the end of the Soviet Union, they wanted unity in 1991,” Putin said. “There was a decision by representatives of the leading party to dissolve the USSR. And this has destroyed the connections between different parts of our country.”

Putin has long held that the dissolution of the USSR was a mistake and the most catastrophic event in history.

“The Soviet Union is no longer there, and cannot return to the past,” he said.

“For Russia we don’t need this anymore, we are not aiming for that. But there is nothing stronger than the will of mission of people who decided they want to be part of Russia. For generations they lived in a single country and there is nothing stronger than the will of these people to return to their historic roots.”

— Natasha Turak

Putin declares four new regions of the Russian Federation

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on agriculture issues via video link in Sochi, Russia September 27, 2022. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Gavriil Grigorov | Sputnik | Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of four regions of Ukraine under its occupation during a speech in front of lawmakers in Moscow.

“People have made a definitive choice, today we are signing a decree on Luhansk People’s Republic, Donetsk People’s Republic, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson,” Putin said. “I am sure the Federal Assembly will support the laws of creating four new subjects of the Russian Federation because this is the will of millions of people.” 

“It is the self determination of people, the right that is based on the historical unity which was defended by generations of our people, people who for generations protected Russia,” he said.

The speech follows a widely-criticized sham referendum held by Russia in the occupied territories, which make up roughly 18% of Ukraine’s land, that resulted in what Moscow said were overwhelming votes to join the Russian Federation.

— Natasha Turak

Kremlin says attacks on any part of Ukraine that Russia is set to annex is an attack on Russia itself

Attacks on any part of Ukraine that Russia is about to annex will be considered an attack on Russia itself, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is slated to officially declare the annexations of four Ukrainian regions during a ceremony today, for which celebrations at Red Square are planned.

The classification raises the stakes for the conflict as Putin has threatened the use of nuclear weapons in the event of any attacks on Russian territory. And just as the annexations are to be announced, Ukrainian forces have surrounded thousands of Russian troops in the strategic town of Lyman in northern Donetsk, one of the territories set for annexation.

The situation raises the question of exactly what parts of these territories — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — Russia can actually annex and control. Altogether, they constitute roughly 18% of Ukraine’s land.

Peskov said that all of Donetsk would be under Ukrainian control, but did not specify whether all of Kherson of Zaporizhzhia would be.

“We will clarify everything today,” he said.

— Natasha Turak

Russian forces face potential imminent defeat in Ukraine’s Lyman

Ukrainian soldiers rest at their position near Lyman, eastern Ukraine, on April 28, 2022, amid Russian invasion of Ukraine. (

Yasuyoshi Chiba | AFP | Getty Images

Ukrainian forces have almost fully surrounded Russian troops occupying Lyman, a town in the north of Ukraine’s Donetsk province, raising the possibility of another Russian loss just as President Vladimir Putin is set to announce the province’s annexation.

“Ukrainian troops have likely nearly completed the encirclement of the Russian grouping in Lyman and cut critical ground lines of communication (GLOCS) that support Russian troops in the Drobysheve-Lyman area,” a tweet from the Institute for the Study of War read. Roughly 5,500 Russian troops are reported to be in the town, which has been occupied since May.

The town is home to a strategic railway junction. Ukrainian forces have made rapid advances in the area in recent days and are now positioned to fire on the only route out of Lyman.

This is part of the enormous swathe of eastern and southern Ukrainian territory, encompassing four regions, that Putin is set to annex after holding a sham referendum entirely controlled by Russia that concluded in majority votes to join the Russian Federation.

Putin has warned that any threats to the territory of Russia would justify its use of nuclear weapons.

— Natasha Turak

Russian strikes hit civilian convoy multiple times outside Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine says

Ukrainian servicemen walk by a crater left by a missile strike near Zaporizhzhia on September 30, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Genya Savilov | AFP | Getty Images

Russian strikes hit a civilian convoy multiple times outside the city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian officials said.

The strikes, which hit a convoy of people who were heading to Russian-occupied territory to pick up their relatives, killed at least 23 people and wounded at least 28, Zaporizhzhia Regional Governor Oleksandr Starukh said in a post on Telegram.

“There are dead and wounded. Rescuers, medics, and all relevant services are currently working at the site,” Starukh wrote.

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Ukrainian policemen check cars damaged by a missile strike on a road near Zaporizhzhia on September 30, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Genya Savilov | Afp | Getty Images

Ukraine’s Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai wrote on Telegram, “Near Zaporizhzhia, the Russians fired rockets at a convoy heading to the occupied territory. It should be noted that the departure of 34 vehicles with residents of Luhansk region was planned. More detailed information about the victims is being clarified.”

Members of the red cross checks bodies of people killed by a missile strike near Zaporizhzhia on September 30, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Genya Savilov | AFP | Getty Images

CNBC has not been able to independently verify the details. Images posted by Starukh and others on social media show disturbing scenes of burnt cars and bodies on the road.

A Russian-appointed leader of occupied Zaporizhzhia, Volodymyr Rogov, was quoted by Russian state news agency RIA as blaming Ukrainian forces for the attack, saying “Ukrainian militants hit a convoy with dozens of civilian cars queuing.”

A couple hug each other near cars damaged by a missile strike on a road near Zaporizhzhia on September 30, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Genya Savilov | Afp | Getty Images

Putin to officially announce Ukraine annexations during ceremony

A view shows banners and constructions ahead of an expected event, dedicated to the results of referendums on the joining of four Ukrainian self-proclaimed regions to Russia, near the Kremlin Wall and the State Historical Museum in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia September 28, 2022. Banners read: “Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson. Together forever!” 

Evgenia Novozhenina | Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to hold a ceremony today officially declaring the annexation of four regions of Ukraine, where sham referendums were held by Russian-appointed authorities over the last week.

The referendum’s results, which have been rejected by much of the international community, showed large majorities of each territory — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — voting to join the Russian Federation. The regions, making up the country’s eastern and southern flanks, form roughly 18% of Ukraine’s territory.

A municipal worker casts her ballot during a referendum on the secession of Zaporizhzhia region from Ukraine and its joining Russia, in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 26, 2022. 

Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters

Numerous reports have surfaced of votes being forced at gunpoint, and of votes being staged.

Government spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin will sign accession documents at the Kremlin and then deliver a speech. A music concert is also set to take place at Moscow’s Red Square.

Analysts and world leaders worry that Putin’s annexation will make him feel justified in using nuclear weapons to defend the territories from anyone attempting to take them back, as he hinted as much in his speech last week if the “territory of Russia” came under threat.

— Natasha Turak

‘The U.S. does not, and will never, recognize’ Russia’s sham referenda, Blinken says

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks after viewing the “Burma’s Path To Genocide” exhibit at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, March 21, 2022.

Kevin Lamarque | AFP | Getty Images

Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed Russia’s “attempt at a land grab in Ukraine” and said that the U.S. will never recognize the results of the Kremlin’s “sham referenda.”

“The results were orchestrated in Moscow and do not reflect the will of the people of Ukraine. The United States does not, and will never, recognize the legitimacy or outcome of these sham referenda or Russia’s purported annexation of Ukrainian territory,” Blinken wrote in a statement.

“This spectacle conducted by Russia’s proxies is illegitimate and violates international law,” he added.

Biden’s top diplomat said that the U.S. will continue to “support Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

The Kremlin has previously said that the results of the referendums held in four regions of Ukraine are legitimate.

— Amanda Macias

‘It can still be stopped,’ Zelenskyy says of Russian attempts to annex parts of Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Lviv, Ukraine on August 18, 2022.

Emin Sansar | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy slammed Russia’s attempt to annex additional swaths of his country.

“Russia will not get new territory in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in Russian in a nightly address on the Telegram messaging app. “It can still be stopped,” he added.

“The price of one person in Russia wanting to continue this war will be that the entire Russian society will be left without a normal economy, without a decent life, and without respect for any human values,” Zelenskyy said, according to an NBC News translation.

“In order to stop this, you have to stop the one in Russia who wants war more than life. Your life, citizens of Russia,” Zelenskyy said without naming Russian President Vladimir Putin.

— Amanda Macias

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Live updates: Russia’s war in Ukraine

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Ukrainian troops said they have taken the village of Yampil in the eastern Donetsk region, a significant objective in their efforts to encircle Russian and pro-Russian forces in the town of Lyman.

“Yampil is ours,” a soldier said in a brief video posted by Ukrainian troops. He is standing in front of a building with a sign that says: “Yampil school complex.”

Pro-Russian Telegram channels have described a bleak situation for the approximately 2,000 remaining troops in the area.

One prominent channel with more than 800,000 subscribers commented on Friday that Russian Armed Forces “withdrew from Yampil to Lyman.”

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to break through the defensive orders of the RF (Russian Federation) Armed Forces and force the Russian troops to retreat to the city (Lyman),” the channel, which goes by the name of Rybar, wrote.

“The Lyman defensive line has narrowed to the administrative boundaries of the city itself. If emergency measures are not taken in the near future to release the Lyman and transfer a significant part of the reserves, then the city, together with its defenders, will fall, and nothing will stop Ukrainian formations from developing an offensive deep into Russian territories,” Rybar added.

The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic later conceded that Yampil and the nearby village of Drobysheve “are not fully under our control.”

Denis Pushilin called the news from Lyman “disturbing” in a Telegram post.

“Our guys are fighting, we are pulling up reserves, we must hold out, but the enemy has also deployed serious forces,” Pushilin added.

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Russian spy chief: West was behind sabotage of Nord Stream

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  • Spy chief: West was involved
  • Spy chief: West trying to cover up
  • Putin: this was an act of international terrorism

TBILISI/LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Russia’s top spy said on Friday that Moscow had intelligence indicating that the West was behind what he said was a “terrorist act” against the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea.

A sharp drop in pressure on both pipelines was registered on Sept. 26 and seismologists detected explosions, triggering a wave of speculation about who might have sabotaged one of Russia’s most important energy corridors.

The European Union said it suspected sabotage caused the damage to the Gazprom-led (GAZP.MM) Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in Swedish and Danish waters. The White House has dismissed Russian allegations it was behind the incidents.

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“We have materials that point to a Western trace in the organisation and implementation of these terrorist acts,” Sergei Naryshkin, the director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), was shown telling reporters on state television.

The spy chief’s remarks are the most direct public accusation against the West from a senior Russian official. He did not say what evidence Russia had, but said the West was trying to obscure who carried out the attack.

“The West is doing everything to hide the true perpetrators and organizers of this international terrorist act,” Naryshkin said. The SVR is the direct successor to the once mighty First Chief Directorate of the Soviet-era KGB.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said the “unprecedented sabotage” against the Nord Stream gas pipelines was “an act of international terrorism.” read more

The Kremlin declined to comment on Naryshkin’s remarks but said there needed to be a thorough international investigation into the incidents.

Sweden’s energy minister said on Friday it was “very likely” that the attack on the pipelines was done on purpose by a state actor.

Since the ruptures were first detected earlier this week, officials in Moscow have hinted that the West, led by the U.S., could be behind the attack. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Washington stood to gain from the pipelines being disrupted.

Neither Nord Stream 1 or 2 were in operation when the ruptures were discovered on Monday, but both contained gas. Nord Stream AG, the operator for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, said it expects the gas leak to stop by Monday, but that it has not been able to access the area to assess the damage.

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Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Giorgia Meloni Has a Mandate But Little Time

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Those disheartened by the election campaign run by Giorgia Meloni may think that the best thing about Italy’s incoming government will be its likely transience. Hers will be the country’s 70th government since World War II. But it would be wrong to conclude that Italian leaders don’t matter. To the contrary, Europe badly needs a stable Italy capable of tackling long-festering economic and social problems that threaten to spiral out of control.

If Meloni wants to achieve anything while in office, she’ll first need to tone down the retrograde rhetoric that characterized her campaign. Her Brothers of Italy party is squarely rooted in postwar neo-fascism, a legacy Meloni has at times embroidered with her own brand of euro-skepticism. Her campaign featured attacks on immigrants and what she called the “LGBT lobby.” She has sometimes echoed the xenophobic language of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. It’s no wonder that the outside world has some doubts about her aptitude. She’ll need to decide if she wants to provoke or to govern.

The new government won’t take office until late October, but with an economy expected to grow by only 0.4% this year, Meloni has little time to lose. Italy’s public debt is now more than 150% of gross domestic product. Per-capita GDP hasn’t grown since 2000, and nearly a quarter of the country’s youth are out of work and not in school. Rising interest rates have sent yields on 10-year bonds to 4.3%, compared to less than 1% last year.

Reassuring investors that Italy can still manage its immense liabilities should be Meloni’s top priority. Selecting a competent economic minister would be a prudent first step. Next, her government should set a small number of clear goals when drafting its first budget. Simplifying the country’s convoluted tax system, something Meloni advocated on the campaign trail, would go a long way toward improving compliance and investment. Bolstering the flagging state education system — which is plagued by excessive bureaucracy, rigidities in hiring and centralization — would help lay the groundwork for growth.

Meloni will also need to ditch the corporatist and protectionist policies she aired on the campaign trail, which would only compound Italy’s chronic lack of productivity. To some extent, she won’t have a choice: Some $200 billion in loans and grants from the EU’s pandemic-recovery funds, which Italy desperately needs, were conditioned on a fiscal framework and set of reforms agreed to by Meloni’s predecessor, Mario Draghi. Any sign that Italy is reneging on its commitments would also make it ineligible for the new bond-buying instrument approved by the European Central Bank in July. It should help Meloni that Matteo Salvini’s League, a coalition partner, had a disastrous election, polling less than 9%. That should make it easier for her to resist his unaffordable campaign promises.

Beyond shoring up public finances, Meloni will face no shortage of challenges. Most prominently, Italy needs to continue working with its European and NATO allies to counter Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, even as sanctions-related energy costs soar this winter. Meloni has wisely resisted calls for more deficit spending to shield Italians from these costs. But she’ll have to find a better way to fund the support already announced; a windfall tax that Draghi imposed on energy companies has produced much less revenue than expected and faces legal challenges. Longer-term, Italy needs to further reduce its heavy dependence on Russian gas and stick to its energy-transition targets.

Meloni’s rise has been dizzying. But she should remember that what gets Italian politicians into power rarely keeps them there for long. The sooner the new government moves beyond the incendiary rhetoric and focuses on delivering stable government and growth, the better her chances of staying relevant — and in office.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

• Italy’s Right-Wingers Spook Markets Less Than UK: Lionel Laurent

• Meloni Could Have More Sway in EU Than at Home: Rachel Sanderson

• Feminist or Not, Giorgia Meloni Has a Duty to Women: Maria Tadeo

The Editors are members of the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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Germany will borrow $200 billion to cap consumers’ energy bills

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London
CNN Business
 — 

The German government announced plans to borrow €200 billion ($195 billion) to cap natural gas prices for households and businesses. That’s a bigger price tag than the £150 billion ($165 billion) the UK government is expected to borrow to finance its own price cap.

Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, is trying to cope with surging gas and electricity costs caused largely by a collapse in Russian gas supplies to Europe. Moscow has blamed these supply issues on the Western sanctions that followed its invasion of Ukraine in February.

“Prices have to come down, so the government will do everything it can. To this end, we are setting up a large defensive shield,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday.

Under the plans, which are set to run until spring 2024, the government will introduce an emergency price brake on gas, the details of which will be announced next month. It is also scrapping a planned gas levy meant to help firms struggling with high spot market prices.

A temporary electricity price brake will subsidize basic consumption for consumers and small and medium-sized companies.

Sales tax on gas will fall sharply to 7% from 19%.

The package will be financed with new borrowing this year, as Berlin makes use of the suspension of a constitutionally enshrined limit on new debt of 0.35% of gross domestic product.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner has said he wants to comply with the limit again next year.

Lindner, of the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) who share power with Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Greens, said on Thursday the country’s public finances were stable.

“We can put it no other way: We find ourselves in an energy war,” said Lindner. “We want to clearly separate crisis expenditure from our regular budget management. We want to send a very clear signal to the capital markets.”

Lindner also said the steps would act as a brake on inflation, which has hit its highest level in more than a quarter century.

Consumer prices rose 10.9% in the year through September, provisional data from the country’s statistics office showed on Thursday.

Germany has historically relied on Russian natural gas exports to fuel its homes and heavy industry. But a sharp drop in Moscow’s gas shipments since the start of the war has pushed some of Germany’s manufacturers to the brink.

“The Russian attack on Ukraine and the resulting crisis on the energy markets are leading to a noticeable slump in the German economy,” Torsten Schmidt, head of economic research at RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, said in a Thursday report coauthored with three other top German economic institutes.

While German GDP is expected to rise by 1.4% this year, it is likely to fall by 0.4% in 2023, the report predicts.

The report said that, while tight gas supplies should ease over the medium-term, prices are likely to remain “well above pre-crisis levels.”

“This will mean a permanent loss of prosperity for Germany,” it said.

Industry groups welcomed the government’s plans.

“This is important relief,” said Wolfgang Grosse Entrup, head of the chemicals industry trade group VCI. “Now we need details quickly, as firms increasingly have their backs to the wall.”

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September 29, 2022 Hurricane Ian updates

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Homes damaged by Hurricane Ian are seen in Fort Myers Beach on September 29. (Greg Lovett/USA Today Network)

The city of Fort Myers Beach on Florida’s southwest coast was leveled by Hurricane Ian, a local politician said late Thursday.

“I made it about two-thirds down the island and I’d say 90% of the island is pretty much gone,” Fort Myers Beach Town Councilman Dan Allers tells CNN’s Don Lemon. “Unless you have a high-rise condo or a newer concrete home that is built to the same standards today, your house is pretty much gone.”

The city, with a population of around 5,600 people, is on Estero Island in the Gulf of Mexico.

Many people struggled to get to higher ground amid the storm surge, Allers said. 

“I’ve heard stories of people getting in freezers and floating the freezers to another home … and being rescued by higher homes,” Allers said.

Instead of where homes stood, there’s only rubble, the council member said. 

“Every home pretty much on the beach is gone,” Allers said. “Some of the homes on the side streets are completely gone, and there’s nothing but a hole with water,” he said.

Allers, who evacuated to higher ground during the storm, later discovered that his own home was lost.

“Everything obviously inside was gone,” he said, although the structure survived. “We might be able to rebuild,” he added.

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Iran protests over young woman’s death continue, 83 said killed

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DUBAI, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Protests continued in several cities across Iran on Thursday against the death of young woman in police custody, state and social media reported, as a human rights group said at least 83 people had been killed in nearly two weeks of demonstrations.

Mahsa Amini, 22, from the Iranian Kurdish town of Saqez, was arrested this month in Tehran for “unsuitable attire” by the morality police that enforces the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.

Her death has sparked the first big show of opposition on Iran’s streets since authorities crushed protests against a rise in gasoline prices in 2019.

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“At least 83 people including children, are confirmed to have been killed in (the) #IranProtests,” Iran Human Rights, a Norway-based group, said on Twitter.

Despite the growing death toll and a fierce crackdown by authorities, videos posted on Twitter showed demonstrators calling for the fall of the clerical establishment in Tehran, Qom, Rasht, Sanandaj, Masjed-i-Suleiman and other cities.

State television said police had arrested a large number of “rioters”, without giving figures.

Rights groups said dozens of activists, students and artists have been detained and the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Twitter that it had learned that security forces had arrested at least 28 journalists as of Sept. 29.

Meanwhile, Germany’s foreign minister said on Thursday she wanted the European Union to impose sanctions on Iran following Amini’s death. read more

In Norway, several people attempted to enter the Iranian embassy in Oslo during an angry demonstration in which two people sustained light injuries, Norwegian police said. Police detained 95 people, public broadcaster NRK reported. read more

President Ebrahim Raisi said the unrest was the latest move by hostile Western powers against Iran since its Islamic revolution in 1979.

“The enemies have committed computational errors in the face of Islamic Iran for 43 years, imagining that Iran is a weak country that can be dominated,” Raisi said on state television.

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Reporting by Dubai newsroom; editing by Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Russia says Nord Stream likely hit by state-backed ‘terrorism’

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  • Kremlin says damage to pipelines looks like ‘terrorism’
  • EU official says leaks change nature of Ukraine conflict
  • European officials say Russian ships seen nearby -CNN

MOSCOW/BRUSSELS, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Russia said on Thursday that leaks spewing gas into the Baltic Sea from pipelines to Germany appeared to be the result of state-sponsored “terrorism”, as an EU official said the incident had fundamentally changed the nature of the conflict in Ukraine.

The European Union is investigating the cause of the leaks in the Gazprom-led (GAZP.MM) Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines and has said it suspects sabotage was behind the damage off the coasts of Denmark and Sweden.

Four days after the leaks were first spotted, it remains unclear who might be behind any attack on the pipelines that Russia and European partners spent billions of dollars building.

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“This looks like an act of terrorism, possibly on a state level,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding: “It is very difficult to imagine that such an act of a terrorism could have happened without the involvement of a state of some kind”.

Russia also said the United States stood to benefit, in a war of words with the West over who was responsible. Moscow has previously said the leaks occurred in territory that is “fully under the control” of U.S. intelligence agencies.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing Washington would be able to boost its liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales if the pipelines were put out of use.

But U.S. news channel CNN, citing three sources, reported that European security officials had observed Russian navy support ships and submarines not far from the leaks.

Asked to comment on the CNN report, Peskov said there had been a much larger NATO presence in the area.

Zakharova called for an EU investigation to be “objective”, and said Washington would have to “explain itself” – a reference to President Joe Biden’s comment in February that, if Russia invaded Ukraine, “there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2”.

The White House has dismissed Russian allegations that it was responsible for the damage to Nord Stream and Biden’s comments were referring to efforts at the time to secure certification to bring Nord Stream 2 into commercial use.

Leaks from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline are likely to be stopped on Monday, the pipeline’s operator told Reuters.

But the spokesperson for Nord Stream AG said it was not possible to give any forecasts for the pipeline’s future operation until the damage had been assessed.

A gas leak from Nord stream 1 is seen in the Swedish economic zone in the Baltic Sea in this picture taken from the Swedish Coast Guard aircraft on September 28, 2022. Swedish Coast Guard/Handout via TT News Agency/via REUTERS

Russia had halted deliveries via Nord Stream 1, saying Western sanctions had hampered operations.

While neither pipeline was supplying gas to Europe when the leaks were first detected, both had gas in them.

European leaders and Moscow say they can not rule out sabotage. Map of Nord Stream pipelines and locations of reported leaks

‘ROBUST RESPONSE’

EU leaders will discuss the ramifications of the damage next week at a summit in Prague, an EU official said.

“The strategic infrastructure in the entire EU has to be protected,” the EU official in Brussels said.

“This changes fundamentally the nature of the conflict as we have seen it so far, just like the mobilisation … and the possible annexation,” the EU official said, referring to Russia’s mobilising of more troops for the war and expectations President Vladimir Putin will annex Ukrainian regions.

Russia’s war with Ukraine and the resulting energy standoff between Moscow and Europe, which has left the EU scrambling to find alternative gas supplies, are set to dominate the EU summit on Oct. 7.

The European Union on Wednesday warned of a “robust and united response” should there be more attacks and stressed the need to protect its energy infrastructure, but EU officials have avoided pointing a figure directly at possible perpetrators.

Next week, EU leaders will discuss an eighth sanctions package on Russia which European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has proposed, including tighter trade restrictions, more blacklistings and an oil price cap for third countries.

The EU official said he expected the 27-nation bloc to agree parts of the sanctions package before the summit, such as the blacklisting of additional individuals and some of the trade restrictions with regard to steel and technology.

Other topics such as the oil price cap or the sanctioning of banks may not be solved before the summit, he added.

EU states need unanimity to impose sanctions and Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban has been a vocal critic, saying sanctions have “backfired”, driving up energy prices and dealing a blow to European economies.

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Writing by Alexander Smith; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Edmund Blair

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Putin’s Nuclear Threats Meant to ‘Manipulate’ Uncertainty

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  • Putin’s recent nuclear threats have prompted a range of responses from key players in the war.
  • One expert told Insider that Putin likely hoped to cause confusion and uncertainty with his warning.
  • Still, analysts say the risk of nuclear warfare remains low, despite Putin’s escalation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s thinly-veiled nuclear threat last week has set the world on edge — accomplishing exactly what he hoped it would, according to experts. 

Despite the brazen escalation, experts and analysts alike have said in recent days that the threat of nuclear war remains minimal.

“There are a bunch more steps he would take to convince the world of his seriousness and put pressure on Ukraine and the West before using nuclear weapons,” said Paul D’Anieri, a political science professor at the University of California, Riverside and the author of “Ukraine and Russia: From Civilized Divorce to Uncivil War.”

But that doesn’t mean Putin won’t invoke his nuclear arsenal to sow fear in the meantime. 

Putin likely has little desire to risk World War III seven months into Russia’s war in Ukraine. But his televised threat last week certainly calls to mind the country’s trove of more than 5,000 nuclear warheads and its cache of rockets, missiles, and artillery shells.

Putin intensified his nuclear threats in a speech last week during which he announced a partial mobilization order, conscripting hundreds of thousands of reservists in a move he hopes will give his depleted army a triumphant boost on the battlefield. But experts say the call-up in conjunction with the nuclear threat has also narrowed the range of acceptable outcomes that Russia could reasonably consider a victory.  

“The conscription has turned this war into a war that Putin can’t really afford to lose,” D’Anieri told Insider. “That fact increases the likelihood that he would do something really drastic like use nuclear weapons.”

Putin’s threat raises the stakes for several key players in the conflict.

Ukraine has always had the most to lose in this war, and the renewed threat of nuclear warfare only further reinforces what’s at stake for the country.

Despite experts’ assessment that the likelihood of an impending Russian nuclear display is slim, Ukraine offered an alarmist appraisal of the danger this week.

In an interview with The Guardian, Vadum Skibitsky, a deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, put the probability of Russia hitting Ukraine with a tactical nuclear weapon at “very high.”

“They will likely target places along the frontlines with lots of [army] personal and equipment (sic),” he told the outlet. “In order to stop them we need not just more anti-aircraft systems, but anti-rocket systems.

The military official offered no evidence for his claims and officials in his organization have repeatedly spread baseless theories. But Ukraine may have good cause to be alarmist, as many analysts believe Putin’s nuclear invocation is also an attempt to manipulate the US into limiting its support for Ukraine.

“Putin is now upping the ante and he’s counting on the fact that we won’t go to nuclear war for Ukraine which will get the West to tell Ukraine to negotiate a solution that is basically a Russian victory,” D’Anieri said.

A blatant nuclear reminder, Putin hopes, might scare the West into ramping down or discontinuing its aid to Ukraine, experts posited — aid that has helped Ukraine stage a series of recent victories.

“The beauty for him I think, is he believes he could nuke Ukraine and nobody in the West would want to nuke Russia in retaliation,” D’Anieri said. 

Ukraine, meanwhile, has a motivation to play up the danger of nuclear war in an effort to curry even more support from the country’s Western allies who have nuclear weapons of their own. 

Russian Yars ballistic nuclear missiles on mobile launchers roll through Red Square during the Victory Day military parade rehearsals on May 6, 2018 in Moscow, Russia.

Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images



The world is closely watching. 

Putin has repeatedly hinted at Russia’s massive arsenal of nuclear power since the war began, but his most recent threat has prompted a more reactive response on the international stage.

President Joe Biden and other White House officials have publicly condemned the Russian president’s comments and privately warned the Kremlin of dire consequences should the country break the global non-use standard of nuclear weapons that has been in place since 1945.

In addition to issuing its own warnings to Russia, the US is also aiming to bring the global community into the fold of nuclear worry. Politico reported this week that there are increasing calls within and outside of the Biden administration to urge China and India — two Moscow allies with their own access to nuclear weapons — to reign in Putin’s threats.

Meanwhile, US officials are reportedly following signs that Russia has changed the location of its nukes or their alert status, with no signs of such activity as of Thursday. 

Putin’s threats have undoubtedly done exactly what he hoped they would, D’Anieri said, which is stoke fear and confusion.

“I think what Putin in a way is trying to do, and probably succeeding in doing, is manipulating uncertainty so people in the West are now more worried about what might happen than he is,” he said.

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You’ll never solve climate change with degrowth

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Climate change is being fueled by the release of greenhouse gas emissions and those emissions are coming from every sector of the global economy: Electricity, manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, industrial processes. Collectively, greenhouse gas emissions have generally been climbing for decades. Activists often advocate using less and consuming less as one potential solution to climate change — degrowth, it’s often called.

This idea is quixotic, according to Bill Gates, who founded Breakthrough Energy, an investment fund for climate technology and innovation, in 2015 and published “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster” in 2021.

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“I don’t think it’s realistic to say that people are utterly going to change their lifestyle because of concerns about climate,” Gates said to Akshat Rathi in an episode of the Bloomberg podcast, “Zero,” which published on Thursday. The interview was recorded in August before the Inflation Reduction Act was passed.

“You can have a cultural revolution where you’re trying to throw everything up, you can create a North Korean-type situation where the state’s in control. Other than immense central authority to have people just obey, I think the collective action problem is just completely not solvable,” Gates said.

Most individuals are not going to change their individual behavior in ways that make them less comfortable for the benefit of a global problem, the billionaire technologist said.

“Anyone who says that we will tell people to stop eating meat, or stop wanting to have a nice house, and we’ll just basically change human desires, I think that that’s too difficult,” Gates said. “You can make a case for it. But I don’t think it’s realistic for that to play an absolutely central role.”

Even if those countries and individuals who have enough abundance in their life and are able to cut back, that won’t be enough reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to sufficiently rein in climate change, Gates said. Gates himself pays $9 million a year to compensate for his own greenhouse gas emissions, he said.

“But just having a few rich countries, a few rich companies and a few rich individuals buy their way out so they can say they’re not part of the problem, that has nothing to do with solving the problem,” Gates said.

Also, there are a slew of other issues competing for attention and dollars, including the global pandemic, rising health care costs, aiding poor countries for issues besides climate change, and the war in Ukraine, too.

“People who are in the climate space may not realize how many things are competing for the modest amount of increased resources that society has,” Gates said. “And that not that many people are prepared to be worse off because of climate requirements.”

The solution, according to Gates, is creating better technological alternatives where it is the same price or cheaper to accomplish the same goal in a climate-conscious way. Gates has long talked about the space between the cost of how something is conventionally done and the way it should be do in a decarbonized way the “green premium.” To make meaningful change on climate change, that green premium has to slowly reduced and then eliminated in all sectors of the economy, according to Gates.

In an effort to close that green premium, Gates’ investment fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, puts money into early-stage startups that are working to to create new pathways for producing things or new ways of doing things.

In the course of the interview, Gates hinted that Breakthrough Energy Ventures would be raising a third fund by next year to continue to invest in and accelerate the development of these climate startups. He also indicated that Breakthrough Energy will likely raise money to invest in later stage companies, too. “Even as the ebullience in investing in tech and climate companies is down a bit, I still think we’ll be able to raise the money,” he told Rathi.

Also important, the path to decarbonization is not always a straight path of progress away from fossil fuels. The war in Ukraine and Europe’s efforts to reduce its dependence on energy from Russia has shown that there might be temporary setbacks in larger decarbonization goals for the sake of taking care of people.

“When people say to me, ‘Hey, we love your climate stuff, because we can tell Putin we don’t need him.’ I say, ‘Yeah, 10 years from now. Call him up and tell him you don’t need him,'” Gates said.

Between now and then, the European Union may need to fall back on fossil fuels. “Should you reopen coal plants? Probably. These pragmatics are pretty important. Should that Netherlands’ gas field be reopened? Maybe so. It’s a very tough set of tradeoffs. Very unexpected,” Gates said. “In the short range, you just have to find any solution, even if that means emissions are going to go up. The sooner that war ends, the better. But there’s a lot of considerations that go into how to bring it to an end.”

In the long run, however, finding new ways of supporting people is the only feasible solution, according to Gates. “I’m looking at what the world has to do to get to zero, not using climate as a moral crusade,” he said.

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