Category: Russia-Ukraine conflict

AS European countries look to wean themselves off of Russian energy, Moscow is looking to fill at least part of the gap by increasing oil exports to Asia.

There is a market “in South East-Asia, in the East,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

The world market is more diverse than just the European market, he said.

“Although, of course, the European market is premium,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said.

Peskov was reacting to the announcement by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that his government will move “pretty fast” to eliminate Germany’s dependence on Russian energy imports.

Scholz said on Sunday that Germany could do this quickly in the case of coal and oil, although natural gas would take longer.

Economics Minister Robert Habeck said Germany can probably halve Russian oil imports by the summer.

So far, Russia has continued its gas deliveries to Europe unabated in spite of its war against Ukraine and the sanctions imposed by the West.

Peskov once again made it clear that Russia insists that natural gas deliveries to European countries be paid for in roubles, not euros.

Earlier, Putin had announced that gas deliveries to “unfriendly states” would only be invoiced in roubles.

The Kremlin’s move seemed designed to bolster a national currency pummelled by weeks of sanctions, although economists have questioned whether requiring rouble payments would actually make much of a difference.

NATO has activated its “chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence elements” amid fears Russia could launch a biological strike in Ukraine.

Following an emergency summit of the military alliance, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels the decision comes as the allies move to equip Ukraine with its own biological defences.

“Our top military commander … has activated NATO’s chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence elements,” he said.

“And allies are deploying additional chemical and biological and nuclear defences to reinforce our existing and new battlegroups, so we are taking measures both to support Ukraine and also to defend ourselves.”

This came as the United States yesterday  slammed sanctions on more Russian leaders, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said.

Blinken, in a statement, said more leaders have been sanctioned because President Vladimir Putin’s war was inflicting horror and widespread suffering on the people of Ukraine.

Those on the new list are the 328 members of the Russian State Duma. This is in addition to the 12 members designated on March 11.

The U.S. accused them of supporting the Kremlin’s violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, including through treaties recognising the self-proclaimed independence of Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR).

At the same time, Washington will increase its humanitarian assistance by welcoming 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and providing an additional $1 billion in food, medicine, water and other supplies.

Blinken said: “At the same time, in Russia, the State Duma continues to use its legislative power to target domestic dissenters and political opponents, disrupt the free flow of information, and restrict the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the citizens of Russia.

“The United States today is designating 328 members of the Russian State Duma, in addition to the 12 members designated on March 11.  These members supported the Kremlin’s violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, including through treaties recognizing the self-proclaimed independence of Russian-proxy controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR).”

“The United States is also designating the Russian State Duma in its entirety, as well as Herman Gref, the head of Sberbank and a close ally of Putin.  Today’s actions are taken pursuant to Executive Order 14024, which authorises sanctions against Russia for its harmful foreign activities.  These actions complement the ongoing efforts of our allies and partners to hold to account enablers of this unconscionable war of choice against Ukraine and its people.”

America is also targeting multiple Russian elites to include their properties and family members.  This includes 17 members of the board of PJSC Sovcombank, a designated entity.  They join the growing list of individuals associated with blocked Russian financial institutions.

“Additionally, OOO Volga Group is being re-designated for having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy.  As a result, Gennady Nikolayevich Timchenko, the owner of OOO Volga Group, will also be re-designated along with OOO Transoil, which Timchenko owns.  Timchenko’s wife, Elena Petrovna Timchenko, and daughter, Natalya Browning, will now also be designated along with Ksenia Gennadevna Frank, a board member of OOO Transoil and her spouse Gleb Sergeevich Frank,” he said.

The United States, the statement said, is taking action to impose additional severe costs on Russia’s defence establishment.

NATO leaders are willing to send more powerful weapons to Ukraine after a plea from the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for tanks, rockets and air-defence systems at the Brussels summit.

THE Ukrainian government will not back down to Russia as war between both countries marks one month today, Defence Attaché at the Ukraine Embassy in Nigeria, Colonel Andrii Vasyliev, has said.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to invade Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters in Abuja yesterday, Colonel Vasyliev called on world leading countries to tighten sanctions against Russia to stop the war.

Vasyliev, who noted that Russia must withdraw its troops from the territory of Ukraine said, as a result of the armed aggression, 115 children have been killed while more than 140 were injured.

He added that the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights has received complaints from Ukrainians about sexual crimes committed by the Russian military since the beginning of the invasion.

According to him, tens of thousands of people, including women and children, are leaving the Ukrainian territory.

As a result of the war, he added that tens of thousands of men are returning to Ukraine every day, ready to defend their country.

Vasyliev said about 355,000 Ukrainians have returned to the country since the beginning of the open armed aggression.

He said: “As you know, this war began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and certain regions of eastern Ukraine, and the second wave of this war began on February 24.

“March 24 will be exactly the month of the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to the Russian invasion.

“Russian military planes drop 500kg of bombs on civilian homes, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, maternity hospitals and churches. Some Ukrainian cities were completely destroyed by Russian aircraft. This is beyond brutality. This is proof that the genocide of Ukrainians is taking place.

“The main purpose of this tactic is to create an artificial humanitarian catastrophe throughout Ukraine and use it in the negotiation process.”

However, he said the leadership of Ukraine will continue its active foreign policy in counteracting military aggression.

He noted that President Volodymyr Zelensky holds daily talks with world and European leaders.

“Ukraine is grateful to the world community for its support, financial and military assistance in the war against Russia. We are also grateful to the Government of Nigeria for supporting on March 2, 2022, the resolution on “Aggression against Ukraine”, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly by a majority of its members,” Vasyliev added.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is worried that the war between Russia and Ukraine may cause shortage of imported wheat and soya beans in the continent,if the war does not end soon.

Its Director, African Region, Mr. Shaukat Abdulrazak, spoke at the IAEA annual regional meeting of National Liaison Officers (NLOs) and national coordinators of the African Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology (AFRA) in Abuja.

According to him, African must learn to develop its own agenda that can culminate in growing its own crops.

He urged African countries to leapfrog to catch up with their peers in other continents that have advanced in nuclear sciences technology.

The director noted that the world is on the move in terms of nuclear science and it has no intention of slowing down because of Africa.

His words: “We are being faced by the challenge of the war, which is unfortunate. And I hope it ends pretty soon in Russia and in Ukraine. You can see that it affects us.

“Quite a number of people are importing wheat, including my own. Quite a number of African countries are importing soya beans, and when the situation gets worse in that direction, we will be affected badly in our continent.

“Shouldn’t we learn a lesson to be able to do the ownership and be able to drive the agenda ourselves? I always advocate for an agenda in Africa, by Africa and for Africa.

“We must leapfrog to catch up because the world is not about to slow down because we are behind in the areas of nuclear science technology. We must leapfrog to catch up.”

Shaukat advised that the nuclear technology must be used in a safe and secure manner.

In his remarks, the Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission (NEAC), Prof. Yusuf Ahmed revealed that Nigeria has commenced discussions with Morocco on how to consolidate their nuclear sciences applications.

He urged countries to take advantage of the week event to discuss with one another and also cooperate on the nuclear sciences applications.

THE Ukrainian Lviv University of Business and Law Club of Doctors in Nigeria has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The body condemned the continuous “murder of innocent people, including the elderly, women and children by the Russian troops”.

It said it was making adequate plans to open a temporary centre in Abuja where the evacuated Nigerian students will be offered advisory and support services, especially those who have been traumatised by the invasion.

It said this in a statement by its representative and President of the Club of Doctors of Lviv University of Business and Law, Nigeria Chapter, Dr. Cliff Ogbede yesterday in Abuja.

“We condemn the killing of civilians and destruction of schools, hospitals, buildings and public infrastructures in Ukraine,” the statement said.

The club hailed the Federal Government for the timely evacuation of Nigerian students and residents in Ukraine at the beginning of the crisis and equally applauded the government and people of Nigeria for condemning in strong terms the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian forces.

“The sympathy so far expressed by the Federal Government for the government and people of Ukraine at this period of Russian invasion is quite commendable and therefore; the club aligns with the government of Nigeria in their call to prioritise diplomacy and dialogue in resolving the crisis in Ukraine.

“For the Nigerian students, who were displaced by the Russian aggression, the Lviv University Club of Doctors understands their pain as we are in touch with some of the Ukrainian universities, who have assured us of plans that will enable the students to continue their studies in the already adapted online mode, which will be temporary as the universities look forward to a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Ukraine,” the statement said.

Dr. Ogbede stated that the Club of Doctors of Lviv University of Business & Law, which comprises the V.N karazin Kharkiv National University, Ivano-Frankivsk University of Oil & Gas and Kharkiv Aviation Institute, “join the rest of the world to condemn Russia for this aggression and promised to continue to stand by the government and people of Ukraine in their determination and resolution to defend their fatherland”.