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World

Russia’s war on Ukraine latest news: Fighting rages in east, G7 considers air defence

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Dec 13 (Reuters) – Global economic powers pledged to beef up Kyiv’s military capabilities with a focus on air defence, as Russian missiles, artillery and drones hammered targets in Ukraine with no end in sight to Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two.

DIPLOMATIC FLURRY

* Ukraine’s allies will meet in Paris on Tuesday to provide urgent aid to help the country get through winter.

* White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the United States would have engagement with Russia this week.

* Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will hold talks to discuss the events of 2022 in late December, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported.

* The Group of Seven (G7) economic powers said they would keep working together to bolster Ukraine’s military capabilities, with an immediate focus on air defence systems, according to a leaders’ statement released by Britain.

* European Union foreign ministers agreed to put another 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) into a fund that has been used to pay for military support for Ukraine. They will also try to agree further sanctions on Russia and Iran.

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed the G7, asking allies for natural gas for winter heating and long-range weapons. He also sought support for his idea of convening a special Global Peace Summit.

[1/6] An emergencies ministry member walks at a local market hit by shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, December 12, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

CONFLICT

* Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian artillery had hammered nearly 20 front-line settlements around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow seeks to capture but which is now largely in ruins due to incessant bombardment.

* At least two people were killed and five wounded in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson after what the regional governor said was “massive shelling” by Russian forces.

* Ukraine’s Emergency Measures service said three explosives experts had been killed and two seriously injured on Monday during demining operations in the town of Kostyantynivka – near the major town of Kramatorsk – in Donetsk region.

* Reuters could not independently verify the reports of the attacks or deaths.

* Russia is turning to decades-old ammunition with high failure rates, a senior U.S. military official said.

* A Russian-appointed deputy governor of Ukraine’s Kherson region, Vitaly Bulyuk, was injured when his car exploded, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.

* The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council said he expected another wave of refugees from Ukraine in Europe over the winter, because of “unliveable” conditions.

Compiled by Frank Jack Daniel and Stephen Coates; Editing by Bradley Perrett

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Twenty oil tankers halted near Istanbul in insurance dispute

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  • Backlog unsettling oil and tanker markets
  • Turkey says out of question to take insurance risk
  • Yellen says oil from Kazakhstan should not be targeted
  • Ankara says most of waiting ships are EU vessels

ISTANBUL, Dec 9 (Reuters) – The number of oil tankers waiting in the Black Sea to pass through Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait on the way to the Mediterranean rose to 20 on Friday, Tribeca shipping agency said, as Turkey held talks to resolve an insurance dispute behind the build-up.

Dismissing pressure from abroad over the lengthening queue, Turkey’s maritime authority said on Thursday it would continue to block oil tankers that lacked the appropriate insurance letters, and it needed time for checks.

The ship backlog is creating growing unease in oil and tanker markets and comes as the G7 and European Union introduce a price cap on Russian oil. Millions of barrels of oil per day move south from Russian ports through Turkey’s Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits into the Mediterranean.

The maritime authority said that in the event of an accident involving a vessel in breach of sanctions it was possible the damage would not be covered by an international oil-spill fund.

“(It) is out of the question for us to take the risk that the insurance company will not meet its indemnification responsibility,” it said, adding that Turkey was continuing talks with other countries and insurance companies.

It said the vast majority of vessels waiting near the straits were EU vessels, with a large part of the oil destined for EU ports – a factor frustrating Ankara’s Western allies.

The G7 group of nations, the EU and Australia have agreed to bar providers of shipping services, such as insurers, from helping to export Russian oil unless it is sold at an enforced low price, or cap, aimed at depriving Moscow of wartime revenue.

However, Turkey has had a separate measure in force since the start of the month requiring vessels to provide proof of insurance covering the duration of their transit through the Bosphorus strait, or when calling at Turkish ports.

KAZAKH OIL

Eight tankers were also waiting for passage through the Dardanelles strait into the Mediterranean, down from nine a day earlier, Tribeca said, making a total of 28 tankers waiting for southbound passage.

Most of the tankers waiting at the Bosphorus are carrying Kazakh oil and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday the U.S. administration saw no reason that such shipments should be subjected to new procedures.

Washington had no reason to believe Russia was involved in Turkey’s decision to block ship transits, she added.

Turkey has had to balance its good relations with both Russia and Ukraine since Moscow invaded its neighbour in February. It played a key role in a United Nations-backed deal reached in July to free up grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

Turkey’s maritime authority said that it was unacceptable to pressure Turkey over what it said were “routine” insurance checks and that it could remove tankers without proper documentation from its waters or require them to furnish new P&I ship insurance letters covering their journeys.

Reporting by Daren Butler, Can Sezer, and Jonathan Saul in London
Editing by Himani Sarkar, Clarence Fernandez, Jonathan Spicer and Frances Kerry

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World

Putin acknowledges Russia’s war in Ukraine could be a long one

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  • Nuclear weapons threat risen but ‘we haven’t gone mad’ – Putin
  • Russia fired over 1,000 times at Ukraine power grid – report
  • Russian shelling kills 10 in east Ukraine – Zelenskiy

LONDON/KYIV, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that his army could be fighting in Ukraine for a long time, but said for now there will be no second call-up of soldiers.

Putin has rarely spoken about the duration of a war that he began more than nine months ago but told loyalists in a televised meeting on Wednesday it could go on for some time yet.

“This can be a long process,” he said.

Russia has been forced into a series of significant retreats in the face of Ukrainian counter-offensives, waged with increasing stocks of Western weaponry, in the east and south since July.

Russia launched what it calls its “special military operation” in February, saying Ukraine’s deepening ties with the West posed a security threat. Ukraine and its allies say the invasion amounts to an imperialist land grab.

Putin, in his remarks, said the risk of a nuclear war was growing but Russia would not recklessly threaten to use such weapons.

“We haven’t gone mad, we realise what nuclear weapons are,” Putin said. “We have these means in more advanced and modern form than any other nuclear country … But we aren’t about to run around the world brandishing this weapon like a razor.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview published on Thursday that the risk of Putin using nuclear weapons had decreased in response to international pressure.

‘NO SENSE’

About 150,000 of the 300,000 reservists called up in September and October had been deployed in Ukraine, 77,000 in combat units, Putin said. The remaining 150,000 were still at training centres.

“Under these conditions, talk about any additional mobilisation measures simply makes no sense,” Putin said.

Russia’s economy has overcome the short-term slump caused by the partial mobilisation order, but the disinflationary impact it had in reducing consumer demand has practically disappeared, the central bank said on Wednesday.

Despite recent retreats on the battlefield, including the loss of Kherson, the one Ukrainian provincial capital Russia captured, Putin has said he has no regrets about launching a war that has become Europe’s most devastating since World War Two.

[1/3] Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via a video link in Moscow, Russia December 6, 2022. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS

He said Russia had achieved a “significant result” with the acquisition of “new territories” – a reference to the annexation of four partly occupied regions in September that Ukraine and most members of the United Nations condemned as illegal.

Russian shelling killed 10 people and wounded many in the town of Kurakhove in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

“These were peaceful people, ordinary people,” said Zelenskiy, who was on Wednesday named Time magazine’s 2022 “Person of the Year” for his leadership.

Fighting was fierce around the nearby town of Bakhmut.

“The enemy has become very active recently, it is on the offensive, their aviation is more active, there are continuous air intelligence missions,” said a Ukrainian unit commander using the nom de guerre Bandera.

“All day yesterday, our positions were being shelled, their unmanned aerial vehicles were in the air all day.”

‘APOCALYPSE’

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said Russia had resumed using Iranian-made drones, with Ukrainian forces downing 14 of them in 24 hours as they attacked settlements in west and central Ukraine.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations was examining “available information” about accusations Iran supplied Russia with drones as he faces Western pressure to send experts to Ukraine to inspect downed drones.

Iran denies supplying the drones to Russia, which has denied its forces use Iranian drones to attack Ukraine.

Russian forces have fired more than 1,000 rockets and missiles at Ukraine’s power grid, which is still working despite taking major damage, Interfax Ukraine news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the chief executive of the Ukrenergo grid operator.

Eight recent waves of Russian air strikes on critical infrastructure have seriously damaged the grid and led to emergency and planned outages across the country, including in the capital Kyiv, a city of three million.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned of an “apocalypse” scenario without power, running water or heat this winter if Russian air strikes on infrastructure continue. He said there was no need for residents to evacuate now, though they should be ready to do so.

Kyiv could be left without central heating at a time when temperatures can fall as low as -15 Celsius (5 Fahrenheit), Klitschko said in an interview with Reuters.

Reporting by Reuters bureaux; writing by Grant McCool; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Robert Birsel

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Mark Trevelyan

Thomson Reuters

Chief writer on Russia and CIS. Worked as a journalist on 7 continents and reported from 40+ countries, with postings in London, Wellington, Brussels, Warsaw, Moscow and Berlin. Covered the break-up of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Security correspondent from 2003 to 2008. Speaks French, Russian and (rusty) German and Polish.

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World

Drone attacks oil tank at airfield inside Russia – governor

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  • Kyiv region facing among the most emergency blackouts
  • U.S. to enlist executives’ help on Ukraine energy assets
  • Moscow: Ukrainian drones attack air bases in Russia, 3 dead

KYIV, Dec 6 (Reuters) – A drone attack on an airfield in Russia’s Kursk region set fire to an oil storage tank, a governor said on Tuesday, a day after Russia accused Ukraine of audacious drone attacks on two military airfields deep inside Russian territory.

Roman Starovoyt, the governor of the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app there were no casualties from the attack and the fire was “localised”. Reuters was not able to immediately verify the reports.

Russia’s defence ministry said earlier that Ukrainian drones attacked two air bases at Ryazan and Saratov in south-central Russia on Monday, killing three servicemen and wounding four, and damaging two aircraft.

Ukraine did not directly claim responsibility for any of the attacks. If it was behind them, Monday’s strikes would be the deepest inside Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The New York Times, citing a senior Ukrainian official, said the drones involved in Monday’s attacks were launched from Ukrainian territory, and at least one of the strikes was made with the help of special forces close to the base.

Israeli satellite imaging company ImageSat International shared images it said showed burn marks and objects near a Tu-22M aircraft at the Dyagilevo airbase.

Russia’s defence ministry said Monday’s attacks were acts of terrorism intended to disable long-range aircraft, and the low-flying drones were shot down. The deaths were reported on the Ryazan base, 185 km (115 miles) southeast of Moscow.

Saratov is at least 600 km (370 miles) from the nearest Ukrainian territory. Russian commentators said on social media that if Ukraine could strike that far inside Russia, it might also be capable of hitting Moscow.

Ukrainian military analyst Serhiy Zgurets said the air force bases hit on Monday were the only facilities in Russia that could fully service bombers used to launch attacks on Ukraine.

“It is still too early to say what is at issue here, but the ability of the armed forces of Ukraine to reach military targets deep in the territory of the Russian Federation has a very symbolic and important meaning,” he wrote on the Espreso TV website.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv or Moscow on the latest report of a drone attack in Kursk.

NEW BARRAGE

Russia responded to Monday’s attacks with a “massive strike on the military control system” and other targets using high-precision air- and sea-based weapons in which all 17 objectives were hit, Russia’s defence ministry said.

Ukraine warned there would be emergency blackouts once again in several regions as it repaired damage from missile attacks it said destroyed homes and knocked out power.

The strikes, which plunged parts of Ukraine back into freezing darkness with temperatures below zero Celsius (32 Fahrenheit), were the latest in weeks of attacks hitting critical infrastructure.

At least four people were killed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, adding that most of some 70 missiles were shot down.

“In many regions, there will have to be emergency blackouts,” he said in a late Monday video address. “We will be doing everything to restore stability.”

Russia has been attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure regularly since early October in what it says is a bid to degrade its military. Ukraine says such attacks are aimed at civilians and constitute war crimes. Russia denies that.

The United States said it would convene a virtual meeting on Thursday with oil and gas executives to discuss how it can support Ukrainian energy infrastructure, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia would fail in its “current gambit of trying to, in effect, get the Ukrainian people to throw up their hands”.

“The point is this, unless and until Russia demonstrates that it’s interested in meaningful diplomacy, it can’t go anywhere. If and when it does, we’ll be the first to be ready to help out,” he said at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council in Washington.

Russia says it is waging a “special military operation” in Ukraine to rid it of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and its allies accuse Russia of an unprovoked war to grab territory.

FIGHTING IN DONETSK

Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday its forces had repelled Russian attacks in or around seven settlements in the Donetsk region, including the town of Bakhmut, over the past 24 hours.

Russian soldiers were attempting to cut roads to Bakhmut from the west and northwest, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on YouTube.

Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television late on Monday that there were only about 12,000 people left in Bakhmut, from 80,000 before the war, and there was no electricity or gas.

In Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, at least two people were killed and several houses destroyed by Russian missile strikes on Monday, an official in the presidential office said.

Reuters video showed two bodies next to a damaged car in the village of Novosofiivka, about 25 km (16 miles) east of Zaporizhzhia city.

“Both of my neighbours were killed,” Olha Troshyna 62, said. “They were standing by the car … seeing off their son and daughter-in-law.”

Ukraine’s air force said it downed over 60 of more than 70 missiles fired by Russia on Monday.

Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Stephen Coates; editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan

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Business

OPEC+ keeps steady policy amid weakening economy, Russian oil cap

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  • No discussions about Russian price cap – delegates
  • Oil prices have come under pressure from weak economy
  • Next meetings to take place Feb. 1 and June 3-4

LONDON/DUBAI, Dec 4 (Reuters) – OPEC+ agreed to stick to its oil output targets at a meeting on Sunday as the oil markets struggle to assess the impact of a slowing Chinese economy on demand and a G7 price cap on Russian oil on supply.

The decision comes two days after the Group of Seven (G7) nations agreed a price cap on Russian oil.

OPEC+, which comprises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, angered the United States and other Western nations in October when it agreed to cut output by 2 million barrels per day (bpd), about 2% of world demand, from November until the end of 2023.

Washington accused the group and one of its leaders, Saudi Arabia, of siding with Russia despite Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

OPEC+ argued it had cut output because of a weaker economic outlook. Oil prices have declined since October due to slower Chinese and global growth and higher interest rates, prompting market speculation the group could cut output again.

But on Sunday the group of oil producers decided to keep the policy unchanged. Its key ministers will next meet on Feb. 1 for a monitoring committee while a full meeting is scheduled for June 3-4.

On Friday, G7 nations and Australia agreed a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil in a move to deprive President Vladimir Putin of revenue while keeping Russian oil flowing to global markets.

Moscow said it would not sell its oil under the cap and was analysing how to respond.

Many analysts and OPEC ministers have said the price cap is confusing and probably inefficient as Moscow has been selling most of its oil to countries like China and India, which have refused to condemn the war in Ukraine.

Neither an OPEC meeting on Saturday nor the OPEC+ meeting on Sunday discussed the Russian price cap, sources said.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday Russia would rather cut production than supply oil under the price cap and said the cap may affect other producers.

Sources have told Reuters several OPEC+ members have expressed frustration at the cap saying the anti-market measure could ultimately be used by the West against any producer.

The United States said the measure was not aimed at OPEC.

JP Morgan said on Friday that OPEC+ could review production in the new year based on fresh data on Chinese demand trends and consumer compliance with price caps on Russia crude output and tanker flow.

Reporting by Maha el Dahan and Rowena Edwards, Editing by Kirsten Donovan

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World

EXCLUSIVE G7 coalition has agreed to set fixed price for Russian oil -sources

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WASHINGTON/LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) – The Group of Seven rich nations and Australia have agreed to set a fixed price when they finalize a price cap on Russian oil later this month, rather than adopting a floating rate, sources said on Thursday.

U.S. officials and G7 countries have been in intense negotiations in recent weeks over the unprecedented plan to put a price cap on sea-borne oil shipments, which is scheduled to take effect on Dec. 5 – to ensure EU and U.S. sanctions aimed at limiting Moscow’s ability to fund its invasion of Ukraine do not throttle the global oil market.

“The Coalition has agreed the price cap will be a fixed price that will be reviewed regularly rather than a discount to an index,” said a coalition source, who was not authorized to speak publicly. “This will increase market stability and simplify compliance to minimize the burden on market participants.”

The initial price itself has not been set, but should be in coming weeks, multiple sources said. Coalition partners agreed to regularly review the fixed price and revise it as needed, the source said, without disclosing further details.

Pegging the price as a discount to some index would have resulted in too much volatility and potential price swings, the source added.

The coalition worried that a floating price pegged below the Brent international benchmark might enable Russian President Vladimir Putin to game the mechanism by reducing supply, a second source with knowledge of the discussions said.

Putin could benefit from a floating price system because the price for his country’s oil would also rise if Brent spiked due to a cut in oil from Russia, one of the world’s largest petroleum producers. The downside of the agreed fixed price system is that it will require more meetings of the coalition and bureaucracy to review it regularly, the source said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other G7 officials argue the price cap, set to begin Dec. 5 on crude and Feb. 5 on oil products, will squeeze funding to Russia without cutting supply to consumers. Russia has said it will refuse to ship oil to countries that set price caps.

Shipping services are eager to see more details about the G7 plan which is due to take effect in a month.

A steady price cap could enable insurers to more confidently roll over contracts and initiate new ones without fear that the price could be adjusted by the countries buying Russian oil, which could have potentially exposed insurers to sanctions.

No immediate comment was available from Treasury or the embassies of coalition members, which include the G7 rich nations, the European Union and Australia.

Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the United States and its allies had agreed on further details on which sales of Russian oil will face the price cap.

Each load of seaborne Russian oil will only be subject to the price cap when first sold to a buyer on land, the countries determined. Reuters could not immediately verify the report which cited people familiar with the matter.

Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Timothy Gardner in Washington and Noah Browning in London; editing by Heather Timmons and Matthew Lewis

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World

Russian court orders halt to Caspian oil pipeline but exports still flow

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An exterior view shows a new pumping station of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) near the city of Atyrau, Kazakhstan October 12, 2017. REUTERS/Mariya Gordeyeva

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  • This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine.
  • CPC exports around 1.2 million barrels per day
  • Pipeline’s operations have been interrupted by storms
  • Kazakhstan considers measures to tackle CPC restrictions
  • CPC asks court to suspend the ruling enforcement

MOSCOW, July 6 (Reuters) – Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which takes oil from Kazakhstan to the Black Sea via one of the world’s largest pipelines, has been told by a Russian court to suspend activity for 30 days, although exports were still flowing.

Tengizchevroil, the operator of Kazakhstan’s largest oilfield Tengiz, said oil supplies via the CPC pipeline have not been interrupted.

Tengizchevroil, in which Chevron holds a 50% stake, said that it has sought clarification from the CPC on details and next steps after the ruling.

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Three industry sources also said oil supplies from the fields in Kazakhstan to the CPC pipeline were uninterrupted as of Wednesday morning.

CPC, which handles about 1% of global oil, said the ruling to suspend operations related to paperwork on oil spills and said the consortium, which includes Chevron and Exxon (XOM.N), had to abide by Tuesday’s court ruling.

Any major disruption to the CPC would put further strain on the global oil market which is facing one of its the worst supply crunches since the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s.

CPC said it had submitted an appeal to the court in the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk requesting that the enforcement of ruling be suspended to avoid a stoppage that could lead to irrevocable consequences for the pipeline equipment.

CPC did not offer further comment when contacted by Reuters.

The CPC pipeline has been in the spotlight since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, in what it calls a “special military operation”. Western sanctions imposed as a result have driven down Russian exports and pushed up oil prices.

Oil prices were up more than 1% on Wednesday at around $104 a barrel, supported by supply concerns.

Russia has already reduced gas flows via the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which supplies Russian gas to Germany and other European states. That pipeline has been operating at 40% capacity because of a dispute over equipment repairs.

SANCTIONS

The United States has imposed sanctions on Russian oil but has said flows from Kazakhstan through Russia should run uninterrupted. The European Union, meanwhile, has said it wants to wean itself off reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2027.

A terminal situation report seen by Reuters showed oil loadings from CPC terminal were continuing as of midday on July 5 but it was not clear if operations were continuing on July 6.

CPC said on Wednesday that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko ordered regulators, including industrial safety regulator Rostekhnadzor, to inspect the facilities of the Russian part of the consortium.

It said the inspection has found some “documentary” irregularities on plans on how to tackle oil spills. An oil spill occurred at the terminal last year.

Kazakhstan said the government was discussing measures to tackle the impact of restrictions on oil exports via the CPC.

The pipeline exported up to 54 million tonnes, or some 1.2 million barrels per day, of Kazakhstan’s main crude grade, light sour CPC Blend , last year from the Black Sea.

The pipeline’s operations have already been interrupted by storm damage to the Black Sea’s terminal equipment this year.

Separately, Kazakhstan police said there was an explosion at the giant Tengiz oilfield, the main source of oil for the CPC, killing two workers, Interfax news agency reported.

The operator said that production at the field was continuing after the accident.

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Reporting by Reuters bureaux, additional reporting by Ron Bousso in London; Editing by Edmund Blair, Guy Faulconbridge and Jane Merriman

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World

EU may offer Hungary, Slovakia exemptions from Russian oil embargo

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The European Union flags flutter ahead of the gas talks between the EU, Russia and Ukraine at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium September 19, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

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BRUSSELS, May 2 (Reuters) – The European Commission may spare Hungary and Slovakia from an embargo on buying Russian oil, now under preparation, wary of the two countries’ dependence on Russian crude, two EU officials said on Monday.

The Commission is expected to finalise on Tuesday work on the next, and sixth package of EU sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine, which would include a ban on buying Russian oil. Exports of oil are a major source of Moscow’s revenue.

Hungary, heavily dependent on Russian oil, has repeatedly said it would not sign up to sanctions involving energy. Slovakia is also among the EU countries most reliant on Russian fossil fuels.

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To keep the 27-nation bloc united, the Commission might offer Slovakia and Hungary “an exemption or a long transition period”, one of the officials said.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, thanked Slovakia for its support of Kyiv, in what seems a sign of understanding of Slovakia’s position.

“Ukraine will always remember what our Slovak friends did for us. Warm welcome for Ukrainians fleeing the war, humanitarian aid, arms supplies, support for granting Ukraine EU candidate status and allowing tariff-free exports to the EU,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter. “We are lucky to have Slovakia as a neighbor.”

The oil embargo is likely to be phased in anyway, most likely taking full effect from the start of next year, officials said.

Europe is the destination for nearly half of Russia’s crude and petroleum product exports – providing Moscow with a huge source of revenue that countries including Latvia and Poland say must be cut, to stop funding its military action in Ukraine.

EU countries have paid Russia nearly 20 billion euros since Feb. 24, when it invaded Ukraine in what Moscow calls a “special military operation”, according to research organisation the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

Overall, the EU is dependent on Russia for 26% of its oil imports.

Slovakia and Hungary, both on the southern route of the Druzhba pipeline bringing Russian oil to Europe, are especially dependent, receiving respectively 96% and 58% of their crude oil and oil products imports from Russia last year, according to the International Energy Agency.

Germany, the top buyer of Russian oil in the EU, has in recent days said it could manage an oil embargo, having initially resisted for fear of the economic cost.

At 555,000 barrels per day, Germany imported 35% of its crude oil from Russia in 2021, but has in recent weeks reduced that to 12%, the German economy ministry said in an update on energy security on Sunday.

“An oil embargo with a sufficient transitional period would now be manageable in Germany, subject to rising prices,” it said.

The EU sanctions package is to be presented to ambassadors of EU governments on Wednesday.

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Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Kate Abnett; Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan and Leslie Adler

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World

Greece impounds Russian tanker as part of EU sanctions against Moscow

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ATHENS, April 19 (Reuters) – Greece has impounded a Russian oil tanker off the island of Evia, the Greek coastguard said on Tuesday, as part of European Union sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this month, the EU banned Russian-flagged vessels from the 27-nation bloc’s ports, with some exemptions, as it adopted new sweeping sanctions against Russia for what the Kremlin describes as a “special military operation”.

The 115,500-deadweight tonnage Russian-flagged Pegas, with 19 Russian crew members on board, was seized near Karystos on the southern coast of Evia, which lies just off the Greek mainland near Athens.

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The Russian embassy in Athens, the Greek capital, said on Twitter that it was looking into the case and was in contact with Greek authorities on the issue.

“It has been seized as part of EU sanctions,” a Greek shipping ministry official said.

A coastguard official said the ship’s oil cargo had not been confiscated. It was not clear who the charterer of the cargo was, but the vessel was managed by Russia-based Transmorflot.

Transmorflot was not immediately available for comment.

The Pegas, which was renamed Lana in March, had earlier reported an engine problem. It was headed to the southern Peloponnese peninsula to offload its cargo onto another tanker but rough seas forced it to moor just off Karystos where it was seized, Athens News Agency reported.

On Tuesday afternoon the ship was still moored at Karystos bay, Reuters witnesses said.

U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which monitors Iran-related tanker traffic through ship and satellite tracking, said the Pegas loaded around 700,000 barrels of crude oil from Iran’s Sirri Island on Aug. 19, 2021.

It subsequently tried to unload the cargo at a Turkish port before heading to Greece, UANI said its analysis showed.

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Reporting by Renee Maltezou, Jonathan Saul and Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Alexander Smith

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Business

EXCLUSIVE China state refiners shun new Russian oil trades, teapots fly under radar -sources

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  • Sinopec, CNOOC, PetroChina, Sinochem refrain from new purchases
  • Worries about sanctions keep state firms at bay
  • Some independent refiners continue ESPO crude imports

SINGAPORE, April 6 (Reuters) – China’s state refiners are honouring existing Russian oil contracts but avoiding new ones despite steep discounts, heeding Beijing’s call for caution as western sanctions mount against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, six people told Reuters.

State-run Sinopec (600028.SS), Asia’s largest refiner, CNOOC, PetroChina (601857.SS) and Sinochem have stayed on the sidelines in trading fresh Russian cargoes for May loadings, said the people, who all have knowledge of the matter but spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the subject.

Chinese state-owned firms do not wish to be seen as openly supporting Moscow by buying extra volumes of oil, said two of the people, after Washington banned Russian oil last month and the European Union slapped sanctions on top Russian exporter Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM). read more

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“SOEs are cautious as their actions could be seen as representing the Chinese government and none of them wants to be singled out as a buyer of Russian oil,” said one of the people.

Sinopec and Petrochina declined comment. CNOOC and Sinochem did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China and Russia have developed increasingly close ties in recent years, and as recently as February announced a “no limits” partnership, and China has refused to condemn Russia’s action in Ukraine or call it an invasion. read more

China has repeatedly criticised western sanctions against Russia, although a senior diplomat said on Saturday that Beijing is not deliberately circumventing sanctions on Russia.

China, the world’s largest oil importer, is the top buyer of Russian crude at 1.6 million barrels per day, half of which is supplied via pipelines under government-to-government contracts.

Sources expect China’s state firms to honour its long-term and existing contracts for Russian oil but steer clear of new spot deals.

A drop in China’s imports of Russian oil could prompt its giant state refiners to turn to alternative sources, adding to global supply concerns that had driven benchmark Brent oil prices to 14-year highs near $140 per barrel in early March after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. read more

Brent futures have since eased, to below $110, after the United States and allies announced plans to release stocks from strategic reserves. read more

‘RISK CONTROL AND COMPLIANCE FIRST’

Before the Ukraine crisis, Russia supplied 15% of China’s oil imports – half of that via the East Siberian and Atasu-Alashankou pipelines and the rest by tankers from its Black Sea, Baltic Sea and Far East ports.

Unipec, the trading arm of Sinopec and a leading Russian oil buyer, has warned its global teams at regular internal meetings in recent weeks against the risks of dealing with Russian oil.

“The message and tone are clear – risk control and compliance comes before profits,” said one of the sources who was briefed on the meetings.

“Although Russian oil is hugely discounted, there are many issues like securing shipping insurance and payment snags.”

Another of the sources, with a refinery that regularly processes Russian crude, said his plant was told by Unipec to find replacement to maintain normal operations.

“Beyond shipments that have arrived in March and due to arrive in April, there will be no more Russian oil going forward,” said this source.

Unipec loaded 500,000 tonnes of Urals from Russia’s Baltic ports in March, the highest volume in months, supplied by Surgutneftegaz on spot and under a Rosneft export tender that Unipec won for loadings between September 2021 and March 2022, according to traders and shipping data.

Its latest Urals deals will be two April-loading shipments totalling 200,000 tonnes from Russian producer Surgutneftegaz (SNGS.MM), said two traders with knowledge of the deals.

In contrast, India has so far booked at least 14 million barrels, or about 2 million tonnes, of Russian oil since Feb. 24, versus nearly 16 million barrels in all of 2021, according to Reuters calculations. read more

Other state buyers – PetroChina, CNOOC and Sinochem – have shunned Russia’s ESPO blend for May loading, sources said.

Sinopec is facing payment problems even for deals agreed earlier as risk-averse state banks look to scale down financing Russian oil-related deals, the second source said.

TEAPOTS KEEP DEALS ‘UNDER WRAPS’

Sanction worries have driven some independent refiners known as teapots, once a dynamic group of customers consuming about a third of China’s Russian oil imports, to fly under the radar.

“ESPO trading was really slow and secretive. Some deals are being done, but details are kept under wraps. No one wants to be seen buying Russian oil in public,” a regular ESPO dealer said.

To keep oil flowing, these nimble refiners are deploying alternative payment mechanisms such as cash transfer, paying after cargo is delivered and using Chinese currency.

Russian suppliers – Rosneft, Surgutneftegaz and Gazprom Neft, and independent producers represented by Swiss trader Paramount Energy – are expected to ship a record 3.3 million tonnes of ESPO from Kozmino port in May. read more

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Reporting by Reuters, Chen Aizhu and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Himani Sarkar

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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