Tag Archives: TNPT

Druzhba pipeline leak reduces Russian oil flows to Germany

WARSAW, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Germany said on Wednesday it was receiving less oil but still had adequate supplies, after Poland found a leak in the Druzhba pipeline that delivers crude from Russia to Europe that Warsaw said was probably caused by an accident rather than sabotage.

The discovery of the leak in the main route carrying oil to Germany, which operator PERN said it found on Tuesday evening, comes as Europe is on high alert over its energy security as it faces a severe crisis in the aftermath of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine which has cut supplies of gas.

“Security of supply in Germany is currently guaranteed,” an economy ministry spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The refineries in Schwedt and Leuna continue to receive crude oil via the Druzhba pipeline.”

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

The Schwedt refinery, which supplies 90% of Berlin’s fuel, said in an emailed statement that deliveries were taking place at reduced capacity.

Germany said it was hoping for more information soon from Poland about the cause of the leak and how it can be repaired.

Europe has been on high alert over the security of its energy infrastructure since major leaks were found last month in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines running from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea. Both the West and Russia have blamed sabotage.

However, Poland’s top official in charge of energy infrastructure, Mateusz Berger, told Reuters by telephone that the leak in the Druzhba pipeline was most likely caused by “accidental damage”.

“We are living in turbulent times, different connotations are possible, but at this stage we have no grounds at all to believe that,” he said, when asked about the possibility of sabotage.

Berger said the leak was located 70 km (44 miles) west from Plock, where Poland’s biggest refinery owned by PKN Orlen is located. As a result, part of the shipping capacity towards Germany was not available, he said, adding that repairs would likely “not take long”.

PERN said supplies to Germany were reduced but continuing.

Reuters Graphics

GERMAN, POLAND REFINERY SUPPLIES

The Druzhba oil pipeline, whose name means “friendship” in Russian, is one of the world’s largest, supplying Russian oil to much of central Europe including Germany, Poland, Belarus, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Russia’s Transneft state-owned pipeline monopoly said that oil continues to be pumped towards Poland.

Poland’s PKN Orlen (PKN.WA) said that oil supplies to its Plock refinery were not interrupted while Czech pipeline operator MERO said it had not seen any change in flows to the Czech Republic.

“The main action (we are taking) is to pump out the liquid and locate the leak and stop it,” fire brigade spokesman Karol Kierzkowski told state broadcaster TVP Info.

“When the pressure decreases, the leak will stop and allow us to reach the leak,” he said, adding that it was too early to establish the cause and there was no danger to the public.

Firefighters in the mid-northern Kujawsko-Pomorskie region of Poland said they had pumped about 400 cubic metres of oil and water from the site of the leak which was in the middle of a corn field.

The second line of the pipeline, and other elements of PERN’s infrastructure, were working as normal, PERN said.

“At this point, all PERN services (technical, operational, in-house fire brigade and environmental protection) are taking action in accordance with the algorithms provided for this type of situation,” the operator said.

The total capacity of the western section of the pipeline that ships oil from central Poland to Germany is 27 million tonnes of crude oil per year.

Germany’s Schwedt refinery is particularly dependent on Druzhba.

The German government aims to eliminate imports of oil from Russia by the end of the year under European Union sanctions. But in the first seven months of the year, Russia was still its top supplier, accounting for just over 30% of oil imports.

As Germany looks for alternative supplies for Schwedt, Druzhba could be instrumental in supplying oil via the Polish port in Gdansk.

The German government has also been in talks to secure oil from Kazakhstan to supply Schwedt, but that oil would have to flow to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline too.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting by Reuters bureaus writing by Alan Charlish and Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Jan Harvey and Elaine Hardcastle

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

NATO, partners aim to boost Kyiv’s air defence after Russian strikes

  • 50-nation talks after Russian missile barrage in Ukraine
  • On sidelines of NATO meeting on response to Ukraine war
  • NATO to also discuss protecting critical infrastructure

BRUSSELS, Oct 12 (Reuters) – More than 50 countries gather on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss bolstering Ukraine’s air defence, two days after Russian missiles rained on Kyiv and other cities across the country.

The gathering in Brussels is the first big NATO meeting since Russia annexed four occupied Ukrainian regions, began a partial mobilisation and issued veiled nuclear threats – moves the Western alliance has classified as a clear escalation of the war that started with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Two days after Russian air missile strikes killed 19 people in Ukraine and knocked out power supplies across the country, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged allies to send more air defence systems to Ukraine.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Stoltenberg said the “horrific, indiscriminate attacks” showed why this was so important.

“We need different types of air defence – short-range, long-range, air defence systems to take ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, different systems for different tasks,” he told reporters on arrival for the meeting.

Allies also needed to scale up the supply of air defence systems to help Ukraine defend even more cities, he said.

On Tuesday, Ukraine received the first of four IRIS-T SLM air defence systems that Germany had promised to supply, a German defence ministry source said.

A senior U.S. defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Germany’s IRIS-T was another sign of the commitment to provide air defences to Ukraine, predating Russia’s latest missile fusillade against the country.

“Again this is a horrible set of circumstances, what’s occurred,” the official said. “But the fact that Russia has this capability and is willing to use that capability, including against civilian infrastructure and civilian targets, is not a surprise.”

Stoltenberg called Russia’s missile attacks a sign of weakness, showing President Vladimir Putin was running out of alternatives as his forces were losing on the battlefield.

Moscow, which calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation” to eliminate dangerous nationalists and protect Russian-speakers, has accused the West of escalating the conflict by supporting Kyiv.

Ukraine accuses Russia of an unprovoked imperialist land grab, three decades after the Moscow-led Soviet Union broke up.

NATO VIGILANT ON RUSSIAN NUCLEAR STANCE

NATO defence ministers will first meet with partners of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a body established on the initiative of the United States to keep up arms supplies to Kyiv. Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov will also take part.

The NATO ministers then kick off their talks with a dinner before Thursday’s first session on nuclear planning.

Stoltenberg said the alliance had not seen any changes in Russia’s nuclear posture.

“But we will remain vigilant, we will continue to monitor closely because the nuclear threats, the nuclear rhetoric, and the veiled threats from Russia are dangerous and reckless.”

NATO will hold its annual nuclear preparedness exercise, dubbed “Steadfast Noon”, next week, with training flights for fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons based in Europe and support planes. No live weapons are used.

NATO ministers are also due to discuss protecting critical infrastructure, a need that has become more urgent after attacks on Nord Stream pipelines running under the Baltic Sea, although it remains unclear who was behind the explosions.

On Wednesday, Polish operator PERN said it had detected a leak in one pipeline in the Druzhba system that carries oil from Russia to Europe. It said this was probably due to an accident.

NATO warned Moscow on Tuesday that it would meet attacks on allies’ critical infrastructure with a “united and determined response”.

Stoltenberg pledged to boost the protection of critical infrastructure, saying NATO had already doubled its presence in the Baltic and North Seas to more than 30 ships supported by aircraft and undersea activities.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Philip Blenkinsop; Additional reporting by John Chalmers; editing by Mark Heinrich

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

‘Malicious and targeted’ sabotage halts rail traffic in northern Germany

BERLIN, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Cables vital for the rail network were intentionally cut in two places causing a near three-hour halt to all rail traffic in northern Germany on Saturday morning, in what authorities called an act of sabotage without identifying who might be responsible.

The federal police are investigating the incident, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said, adding the motive for it was unclear.

The disruption raised alarm bells after NATO and the European Union last month stressed the need to protect critical infrastructure after what they called acts of sabotage on the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

“It is clear that this was a targeted and malicious action,” Transport Minister Volker Wissing told a news conference.

A security source said there were a variety of possible causes, ranging from cable theft – which is frequent – to a targeted attack.

Omid Nouripour, leader of the Greens party, which is part of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s federal coalition, said anyone who attacked the country’s critical infrastructure would receive a “decisive response”.

“We will not be intimidated,” he wrote on Twitter.

CHAOS BEFORE ELECTION DAY

“Due to sabotage on cables that are indispensable for rail traffic, Deutsche Bahn had to stop rail traffic in the north this morning for nearly three hours,” the state rail operator said in a statement.

Deutsche Bahn (DB) had earlier blamed the network disruption on a technical problem with radio communications. Spiegel magazine said the communications system was down at around 6:40 a.m. (0440 GMT). At 11:06 a.m, DB tweeted that traffic had been restored, but warned of continued train cancellations and delays.

The disruption affected rail services through the states of Lower Saxony and Schlewsig-Holstein as well as the city states of Bremen and Hamburg, with a knock-on effect to international rail journeys to Denmark and the Netherlands.

They came the day before a state election in Lower Saxony where Scholz’s Social Democrats are on track to retain power and the Greens are seen doubling their share of the vote, according to polls.

Queues rapidly built up at mainline stations including Berlin and Hanover as departure boards showed many services being delayed or canceled.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke and Christian Ruettger; Editing by David Holmes and Mark Potter

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

U.S. issues new Russia sanctions for annexations in Ukraine; targets firms, lawmakers

WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) – The United States on Friday imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Russia over its declared annexation of parts of Ukraine, targeting hundreds of people and companies, including those in Russia’s military-industrial complex and lawmakers.

Washington acted after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday proclaimed the biggest annexation in Europe since World War Two, declaring Russian rule over 15% of Ukraine territory occupied by Russian forces.

“We will rally the international community to both denounce these moves and to hold Russia accountable. We will continue to provide Ukraine with the equipment it needs to defend itself, undeterred by Russia’s brazen effort to redraw the borders of its neighbor,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

The latest sanctions come on top of sweeping measures already imposed by the United States and allies this year that have already crippled Russia’s international trading and local economy. But they stop short of Russia’s energy industry, the country’s largest source of hard currency.

Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. In a speech on Friday, Putin criticized the West as neo-colonial and Satanist; Ukraine said it would fast-track it’s application to join NATO, the U.S.-led Western military alliance.

Guidance from the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments warned that anyone outside Russia, including companies, that provide political, economic or material support to Moscow faced a heightened risk of sanctions.

The Treasury sanctions generally freeze any U.S. assets of those designated and bar Americans from dealing with them.

Commerce added 57 entities in Russia and Crimea to bar exports.

Treasury said it imposed sanctions on 14 people in Russia’s military-industrial complex, two leaders of the central bank, family members of top officials and 278 members of the legislature “for enabling Russia’s sham referenda and attempt to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory.”

Russia moved to annex the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in eastern and southern Ukraine after holding what it called referendums – votes that were denounced by Kyiv and Western governments as illegal and coercive.

Among those designated for U.S. sanctions were Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak; 109 State Duma members; the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia and 169 of its members; and the governor of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina.

Among the targets related to Russia’s defense procurement was a Chinese supplier the Treasury accused of supporting Radioavtomatika, a U.S.-designated Russian defense procurement firm.

Washington said Sinno Electronics Co Ltd, previously placed on the Commerce Department’s entity list, maintained a relationship with the Russian firm even after the invasion of Ukraine in late February.

Sinno did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Taco LLC in Armenia, Russia’s Novastream Limited, a Belarusian state-owned supplier, and Russian technology and defense firms were among other companies designated over Russia’s defense procurement.

FAMILY MEMBERS

Treasury also designated family members of Russia’s National Security Council, such as Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s wife and two adult children, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s wife and adult children and National Guard head Viktor Zolotov’s wife and adult children.

In addition, the immediate family members of the deputy chairman of Russia’s Federation Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, and Saint Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov were hit with sanctions.

The U.S. State Department in a separate statement said it imposed visa restrictions on more than 900 people, including members of the Russian and Belarusian military and “Russia’s proxies for violating Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence,” barring them from traveling to the United States.

The United States singled out a Russian national, Ochur-Suge Mongush, for his involvement in what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called “a gross violation of human rights perpetrated against a Ukrainian prisoner of war,” and said Mongush and his immediate family members cannot enter the United States.

Canada also announced measures on Friday against dozens of oligarchs, financial elites and their family members, plus 35 Russian-backed senior officials in the regions where the referendums took place. Britain also put sanctions on the central bank governor and imposed new services and goods export bans.

Washington’s targets are largely proportionate to Russia’s annexation, said Brian O’Toole, a former Treasury official now with the Atlantic Council think tank.

The action against Sinno Electronics serves as a warning to other Chinese companies and those that might do business with Russia, he said.

“I’m impressed at how robust this is given that this was a relatively short turnaround,” O’Toole said.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday about their “shared concern” over the Russian annexations and the need to protect critical infrastructure after the apparent sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea, the United States said.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Steve Holland, Karen Freifeld, Doina Chiacu and Heather Timmons in Washington and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Writing by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Tim Ahmann, Howard Goller and Grant McCool

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

Russian spy chief: West was behind sabotage of Nord Stream

  • 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.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

“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.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

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

  • 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.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

“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.

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.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

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

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

Putin to host Kremlin ceremony annexing parts of Ukraine

  • Russian annexation of four regions condemned worldwide
  • Move is ‘dangerous escalation’ jeopardising peace -U.N. chief
  • Ukraine’s Zelenskiy says for war to end Putin must be stopped
  • Zelenksiy summons emergency meeting on security, defence

Sept 30 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to host a Kremlin ceremony on Friday annexing four regions of Ukraine, while his Ukrainian counterpart said Putin would have to be stopped for Russia to avoid the most damaging consequences of the war.

There was a warning too from United Nations chief Antonio Guterres who said the planned annexations were a “dangerous escalation” and jeopardise prospects for peace.

Putin has doubled down on the invasion he ordered in February despite suffering a major reversal on the battlefield this month and discontent in Russia over a widely criticised “partial mobilisation” of thousands more men to fight in Ukraine.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

“The cost of one person in Russia wanting to continue this war is that Russian society will be left without a normal economy, a worthwhile life, or any respect for humanitarian values,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Thursday evening address.

“It can still be stopped. But to stop it we have to stop that person in Russia who wants war more than life. Your lives, citizens of Russia,” said Zelenskiy, who earlier spoke of Ukraine delivering a “very harsh” reaction to Russian recognition of so-called referendum results.

Moscow plans annexation of eastern and southern provinces after what Ukraine and Western countries said were sham votes staged at gunpoint in Russian-occupied areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The territory Russia controls amounts to more than 90,000 square km, or about 15% of Ukraine’s total area – equal to the size of Hungary or Portugal.

Putin took the intermediary step of signing decrees on Thursday paving the way for occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to be formally annexed into Russia. The decrees were made public by the Kremlin.

Zelenskiy promised a strong response to the annexations and summoned his defence and security chiefs for an emergency meeting on Friday where “fundamental decisions” will be taken, an official said.

CEREMONY

On the eve of the planned ceremony in the Georgievsky Hall of the Great Kremlin Palace and a concert in Red Square, Putin said that “all mistakes” made in a call-up announced last week should be corrected, his first public acknowledgment that it had not gone smoothly.

Thousands of men have fled Russia to avoid a draft that was billed as enlisting those with military experience and required specialities but has often appeared oblivious to individuals’ service record, health, student status or even age.

Russia says the referendums, ostensibly asking people in the four regions whether they wanted to be part of Russia, were genuine and showed public support.

At Friday’s event, Putin will give a speech, meet leaders of the self-styled Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) as well as the Russian-installed leaders of the parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia that Russian forces occupy.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not say whether Putin would attend the Red Square concert, as he did a similar event in 2014 after Russia proclaimed it had annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region.

A stage has been set up on the Moscow square with giant video screens and billboards proclaiming the four areas part of Russia.

“Any decision to proceed with the annexation … would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned,” United Nations Secretary General Guterres told reporters.

U.S. President Joe Biden said the United States would never recognise Russia’s claims on Ukraine’s territory, denouncing the referendums. “The results were manufactured in Moscow,” Biden said at a conference of Pacific Island leaders on Thursday.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan pressed Putin in a call to take steps to reduce tensions in Ukraine.

NUCLEAR UMBRELLA

Russian government officials have said that the four regions will fall under Moscow’s nuclear umbrella once they have been formally incorporated into Russia. Putin has said he could use nuclear weapons to defend Russian territory if necessary.

Washington and the European Union are set to impose additional sanctions on Russia over the annexation plan, and even some of Russia’s close traditional allies, such as Serbia and Kazakhstan, say they will not recognise the move.

What Russia is billing as a celebration comes after Moscow has faced its worst setbacks of the seven-month-old war, with its forces routed in recent weeks in Ukraine’s northeast.

Some military experts say Kyiv is poised to deliver another major defeat, gradually encircling the town of Lyman, Russia’s main remaining bastion in the northern part of Donetsk province.

Ukraine has so far held back from disclosing details of the situation in Lyman. Russia’s Defence Ministry said a day earlier that a Ukrainian offensive on Lyman had failed, with 70 Ukrainian soldiers killed.

Meanwhile, the cause of damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines under the Baltic Sea, built to carry Russian gas to Europe though already shut, has not yet been solved. Sweden’s coast guard said it found a fourth leak.

Western countries said the pipelines were sabotaged while stopping short of openly ascribing blame. Russia, which has denied involvement, said it looked like acts of state-sponsored terrorism and that the United States stood to gain. Washington has denied any involvement.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting by Reuters bureaux; writing by Grant McCool; Editing by Bill Berkrot

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

Fourth leak found on Nord Stream pipelines, Swedish coast guard says

OSLO, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Sweden’s coast guard discovered a fourth gas leak on the damaged Nord Stream pipelines earlier this week, a spokesperson told the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.

The European Union suspects sabotage was behind the gas leaks on the subsea Russian pipelines to Europe and has promised a “robust” response to any intentional disruption of its energy infrastructure.

“Two of these four are in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone,” coast guard spokesperson Jenny Larsson told the paper late on Wednesday. The other two breaches are in the Danish exclusive economic zone.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

The coast guard did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Thursday.

While neither pipeline was in use at the time of the suspected blasts, they were filled with gas that has been spewing out in the Baltic Sea since Monday’s ruptures.

The fourth leak was on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, in close proximity to a larger hole found on the nearby Nord Stream 1, the Swedish coast guard said.

This week, Danish authorities reported one hole in each of the two pipeline sections in their waters.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Stine Jacobsen and Clarence Fernandez

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

Russia set to annex Ukraine territory; West warns of new sanctions

  • Russia says overwhelming support for annexation
  • Russian parliament may consider annexation on Tuesday
  • Ukraine rejects referendums as illegal
  • West prepares new sanctions over referendums

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Russia was poised to annex a swath of Ukraine within days, releasing what it called vote tallies showing overwhelming support in four provinces to join it, after what Ukraine and the West denounced as illegal sham referendums held at gunpoint.

On Moscow’s Red Square, a stage with giant video screens has been set up, with billboards proclaiming “Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson – Russia!”

The head of the upper house of the Russian parliament said it could consider the incorporation of the four partially occupied regions on Oct. 4, three days before President Vladimir Putin’s 70th birthday.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

The Russian-installed administrations of the four provinces have formally asked Putin to incorporate them into Russia, which Russian officials have suggested is a formality.

“This should happen within a week,” Rodion Miroshnik, the Russia-installed ambassador to Moscow of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, told the RIA state news agency

“The main thing has already happened – the referendum has taken place. Therefore, let’s say: the locomotive has already started and it’s unlikely to be stopped.”

To annex the territories, which represent about 15% of Ukraine, some sort of treaty will need to be struck and ratified by the Russian parliament, which is controlled by Putin allies. The areas will then be seen as part of Russia and its nuclear umbrella will extend to them.

Putin has warned he would use nuclear weapons to protect Russian territory from attack. read more

‘NOBODY VOTED’

Residents who escaped to Ukrainian-held areas in recent days have told of people being forced to mark ballots in the street by roving officials at gunpoint. Footage filmed during the exercise showed Russian-installed officials taking ballot boxes from house to house with armed men in tow.

“They can announce anything they want. Nobody voted in the referendum except a few people who switched sides. They went from house to house but nobody came out,” said Lyubomir Boyko, 43, from Golo Pristan, a village in Russian-occupied Kherson province.

Russia says voting was voluntary, in line with international law, and that turnout was high. The referendums and notion of annexations has been rejected globally, as was Russia’s 2014 takeover of Crimea from Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sought to rally international support against annexation in a series of calls with foreign leaders, including those of Britain, Canada, Germany and Turkey.

“Thank you all for your clear and unequivocal support. Thank you all for understanding our position,” Zelenskiy said in a late-night video address.

The United States has unveiled a $1.1 billion weapons package for Ukraine that includes 18 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers, accompanying munitions, various types of counter drone systems and radar systems. The announcement brings the U.S. security aid to $16.2 billion.

The United States has also said it would also impose new sanctions on Russia for the referendums and the European Union’s executive proposed more sanctions, but the bloc’s 27 member countries will need to overcome their own differences to implement them.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would need to keep fighting until it had taken control of all of Donetsk. About 40% is still under Ukrainian control.

Russia has announced it will mobilise some 300,000 reservists to bolster its forces in Ukraine. The conscription drive has sent thousands of Russian men fleeing to other countries.

On the ground, Ukraine and Russian forces are engaged in heavy fighting, especially in the Donetsk region, where the governor said six civilians were killed in Russian attacks on Wednesday.

Over the past 24 hours, Russia launched three missile and eight air strikes, carried out more than 82 attacks from rocket salvo systems on military and civilian sites, Ukraine’s military said early on Thursday.

Ukraine’s air force carried out 16 strikes on Wednesday, damaging or destroying a number of Russian positions, while ground forces destroyed two command posts, it said.

Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said three people were killed in Russian shelling of Dnipro, the region’s capital, including a 12-year-old girl, and more than 60 buildings were damaged.

“The rescuers carried her out of the damaged house where was just sleeping when a Russian missile hit,” he said on his Telegram channel.

Reuters was not able to verify battlefield reports.

EUROPEAN ENERGY

Leaking gas bubbled up in the Baltic Sea for a third day after suspected explosions tore through undersea pipelines built by Russia and European partners to send natural gas to Europe.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, once the main route for Russian gas to Germany, was already shut but cannot now be easily reopened.

NATO and the European Union warned of the need to protect critical infrastructure from what they called “sabotage”, though officials stopped short of assigning blame.

Russia’s FSB security service is investigating the damage to the pipelines as “international terrorism”, the Interfax news agency cited the general prosecutor’s office as saying.

The Nord Stream pipelines have been flashpoints in an expanding energy war between Russia and European countries that has damaged Western economies and sent gas prices soaring.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Michael Perry; Editing by Robert Birsel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

Gas leaks in Russian pipelines to Europe trigger sabotage probe

  • Polish PM blames sabotage, without citing evidence
  • Russia say leaks threaten Europe’s energy security
  • Footage shows gas bubbles churning sea surface
  • Operator says damage to Nord Stream 1 ‘unprecedented’
  • Crisis over Russian gas has sent prices soaring

STOCKHOLM/COPENHAGEN, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Europe was investigating major leaks in two Russian pipelines that spewed gas into the Baltic Sea on Tuesday as Sweden launched a preliminary probe into possible sabotage to infrastructure at the centre of an energy standoff.

But it remained far from clear who might be behind any foul play, if proven, on the Nord Stream pipelines that Russia and European partners spent billions of dollars building.

“We have established a report and the crime classification is gross sabotage,” a Swedish national police spokesperson said.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Poland’s prime minister blamed sabotage for the leaks, without citing evidence. The Danish premier said it could not be ruled out.

Russia, which slashed gas deliveries to Europe after the West imposed sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, also said sabotage was a possibility and that the leaks undermined the continent’s energy security.

A senior Ukrainian official, meanwhile, called the incident a Russian attack to destabilise Europe, without giving proof.

“We see clearly that it’s an act of sabotage, related to the next step of escalation of the situation in Ukraine,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at the opening of a new pipeline between Norway and Poland.

Seismologists in Denmark and Sweden registered powerful blasts in the vicinity of the leaks on Monday, Sweden’s National Seismology Centre told public broadcaster SVT. German geological research centre GFZ also said a seismograph on the Danish island of Bornholm had twice recorded spikes on Monday.

The Nord Stream pipelines have been flashpoints in an escalating energy war between capitals in Europe and Moscow that has damaged major Western economies, sent gas prices soaring and sparked a hunt for alternative supplies.

Denmark’s armed forces on Tuesday released a video showing bubbles boiling up to the surface of the sea. The largest gas leak had caused a surface disturbance of well over 1 km (0.6 mile) in diameter, the armed forces said. read more

Sweden’s Maritime Authority issued a warning about two leaks in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline the day after a leak on the nearby Nord Stream 2 pipeline was discovered that prompted Denmark to restrict shipping and impose a small no fly zone.

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

‘RISK OF EXPLOSIONS’

The leaks were very large and it could take perhaps a week for gas to stop draining out of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the head of Denmark’s Energy Agency Kristoffer Bottzauw said.

Ships could lose buoyancy if they entered the area.

“The sea surface is full of methane, which means there is an increased risk of explosions in the area,” Bottzauw said.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said sabotage could not be ruled out. “We are talking about three leaks with some distance between them, and that’s why it is hard to imagine that it is a coincidence,” she said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called it “very concerning news. Indeed, we are talking about some damage of an unclear nature to the pipeline in Denmark’s economic zone.” He said it affected the continent’s energy security.

Neither pipeline was pumping gas to Europe at the time the leaks were found amid the dispute over the war in Ukraine, but the incidents will scupper any remaining expectations that Europe could receive gas via Nord Stream 1 before winter.

Operator Nord Stream said the damage was “unprecedented”.

Both pipelines contained gas although they were not in operation.

Gazprom (GAZP.MM), the Kremlin-controlled company with a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, declined comment.

“There are some indications that it is deliberate damage,” said a European security source, while adding it was still too early to draw conclusions. “You have to ask: Who would profit?”

CUTTING SUPPLIES

Russia reduced gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream 1 before suspending flows altogether in August, blaming Western sanctions for causing technical difficulties. European politicians say that was a pretext to stop supplying gas.

The new Nord Stream 2 pipeline had yet to enter commercial operations. The plan to use it to supply gas was scrapped by Germany days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine, in what Moscow calls a “special military operation”, in February.

“The multiple undersea leaks mean neither pipeline will likely deliver any gas to the EU over the coming winter, irrespective of political developments in the Ukraine war,” Eurasia Group wrote in a note.

European gas prices rose on the news, with the benchmark October Dutch price climbing almost 10% on Tuesday. Prices are still below this year’s peaks but remain more than 200% higher than in early September 2021.

Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) had urged oil companies on Monday to be vigilant about unidentified drones seen flying near Norwegian offshore oil and gas platforms, warning of possible attacks.

The Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) said two leaks on Nord Stream 1, one in the Swedish economic zone and another in the Danish zone, were northeast of Denmark’s Bornholm.

“We are keeping extra watch to make sure no ship comes too close to the site,” an SMA spokesperson said.

The Danish authorities asked that the level of preparedness in Denmark’s power and gas sector be raised after the leaks, a step that would require heightened safety procedures for power installations and facilities.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Matthias Williams, Jan Harvey and Alexander Smith; Editing by Edmund Blair and Emelia Sithole-Matarise

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here