US State Department tells embassies not to share Kyiv Embassy tweet calling nuclear plant attack a war crime
The US State Department sent an urgent message to all US embassies in Europe telling them not to retweet the
US Embassy Kyiv’s tweet calling the attack on the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant attack by Russia a war crime this morning, according to the message reviewed by CNN.
The message is an indication that the US government may not be endorsing the war crime allegation made by the embassy.
“All – do not/not retweet Embassy Kyiv’s tweet on shelling of the facility being a possible war crime,” the message said. “If you have retweeted it – un-retweet it ASAP.”
As Russian forces continue their onslaught on key Ukrainian cities, the country's biggest nuclear power plant,
Zaporizhzhia, came under attack Friday. A blaze there initially sparked fears of a potential accident, but the fire has since extinguished. The International Atomic Energy Agency also said the reactors at the plant are safe and no radioactive material was released.
Thus far, the administration of US President Joe Biden has not said that any of Russia’s aggressions in Ukraine amount to war crimes. President Biden said they are following Russia’s actions closely when asked about the matter on Wednesday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has given brief remarks multiple times today in Brussels, but he has not mentioned the attack on the Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
The US has no reason to doubt Russian claims that they are in control of the nuclear power plant, a senior defense official said on Friday. But the official also said that it is "deeply concerning" that US doesn't know what Russian control looks like, expertise of people there and their near-term intentions.
NBC was the first to report on the message.
archived 4 Mar 2022 17:14:10 UTC
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US labor secretary predicts some "short-term inflation" but says US needs to "stand with" Ukraine
US Labor Sec. Marty Walsh indicated Friday he didn’t think Russia’s war on Ukraine would impact job creation in the United States, but “certainly” had “potential to have impact on inflation in some cases.”
“At the end of the day, we stand united with the Ukrainian people, and not just the United States, but major ... countries in the world and all countries in the world. We’re rallying around the Ukrainian people. And I think for some short-term inflation, we need to continue to stand with the Ukrainian people. They don't deserve what they're experiencing right now. They don't deserve what they're getting. And we need to ... show the world that we’re united behind them,” Walsh said during an appearance on CNN.
He predicted more American companies will cut ties with Russia.
“I hope companies and people continue putting pressure on Russia, every, every pressure point we can, so they realize that the world does not support their action in the world stands firmly behind Ukraine,” he said.
US President Joe Biden
imposed new sanctions Thursday on eight members of the Russian elite, along with members of their families.
archived 4 Mar 2022 17:16:23 UTC
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IKEA Suspends Operations in Russia, Affecting 17 Stores
The parent company of
IKEA announced on March 3 that it will close all of its stores in Russia, stopping production in the country and halting all exports and imports to and from Russia and Belarus, as Western companies begin to curb business with Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.
Ingka operates seventeen stores and one distribution center in Russia.
The two companies said in a joint statement that the war in Ukraine has already had a huge human impact and is also resulting in serious disruptions to supply-chain and trading conditions.
“The devastating war in Ukraine is a human tragedy, and our deepest empathy and concerns are with the millions of people impacted,” they said.
“For all of these reasons, the company groups have decided to temporarily pause IKEA operations in Russia.”
Ingka, one of the world’s biggest shopping center owners, said its other 14 locations across Russia operating under its Mega brand will remain open to ensure that the many people in Russia have access to their daily needs and essentials such as food, groceries, and pharmacies.
The world’s biggest furniture brand, Inter IKEA Group and Ingka Holding BV, the largest owner of IKEA stores worldwide, will also likely raise its prices by an average of 12 percent this fiscal year, up from the 9 percent flagged in December, amid rising prices for raw material costs and supply chain disruptions.
Inter IKEA is in charge of supply and the manufacturing of products, while Ingka is the main global retailer, owning 392 of its stores around the world.
Inter IKEA Core Business Supply Manager Henrik Elm said in a joint interview with Ingka Group Retail Operations Manager Tolga Oncu, that the decision was made before the European Union approved new sanctions against Belarus on March 3 for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Inter IKEA has not yet decided whether to raise prices at its stores as a result of the Ukraine crisis, according to Elm.
IKEA is one of the first major Western firms to halt business with Belarus.
“We couldn’t offer safety and security of people working in our supply chain—passing the border et cetera was simply too risky. Then, on top of that, the consequences of different sanctions altogether made it simply not possible to operate any longer,” said Elm regarding Belarus.
IKEA produces chipboards and wood-based products at three sites in Russia, with around 50 direct suppliers in the country that produce a wide range of goods, the bulk of which are sold in Russia.
Russian-produced products that are exported to other markets make up less than 0.5 percent of IKEA’s inventory.
Belarus is primarily a sourcing market for IKEA and most of the goods manufactured there, primarily of wood-based products, mattresses, and sofas, are sold in Russia.
Top brands from M&S to Apple, Jaguar Land Rover, Expedia, and Coca-Cola have already suspended operations in Russia, as a wave of international companies are leaving due to the war and the consequent sanctions against the country.
The decision to mothball operations will affect 15,000 workers in Russia, after a similar situation with 416 workers in Ukraine, where its one store and online operations have been suspended since the start of the invasion on Feb. 24.
Through last August last year, Russia was IKEA’s 10th-biggest market with retail sales of 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion), or 4 percent of total retail sales.
Oncu, in a joint interview with Elm, promised that all staff in Russia would get paid, in rubles, for at least three months.
“The company groups will secure employment and income stability and provide support to them and their families in the region,” said IKEA.
archived 4 Mar 2022 17:18:09 UTC
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Wolf Berates Pennsylvania Republicans for ‘Exploiting Ukraine Crises to Enrich Gas Industry’
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has written a terse response to a letter from House Republicans of the Energy Committee that urged him to loosen regulations on Pennsylvania’s gas reserves and ease market instability caused by the conflict in Ukraine.
The largest natural gas reserve in the United States is underground, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. Pennsylvania also has more than 100,000 active oil wells.
The
March 1 letter was written by Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, chairman of the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, and signed by 14 other representatives.
It asks Wolf to encourage surrounding states to drop bans on pipeline construction so liquefied natural gas (
LNG) can be transported to New England states, which currently import from foreign nations, including, the letter said, from
Russia. The letter also asks Wolf to end the natural gas development moratorium within the Delaware River Basin, but Wolf has supported the moratorium in the past. The letter also encourages Wolf to support Pennsylvania’s plentiful oil, gas, and coal industries that have the potential to fuel the world’s
energy needs.
“You must encourage the extraction and refinement of our resources for the betterment of the free world. End your crusade against fossil fuels and recognize the gift of energy and production that exists beneath our feet,” the committee wrote.
Wolf sent a response letter on March 3, saying the Republicans are exploiting the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting humanitarian crisis to increase the profits of the natural gas industry and stand in the way of action to address climate change.
“I find your politicization of this tragedy deplorable,” Wolf wrote. He failed to respond to some of the specifics in the letter, such as the Delaware River Basin issue. But he did list some data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Wolf said:
• The United States is a net exporter of natural gas and has increased exports of Liquified Natural Gas to Europe to record levels over the past several years.
• The United States is currently the largest source of European LNG imports, providing more than half of the LNG imported to the continent in January.
• Net natural gas exports from Pennsylvania have roughly doubled since 2015, when Wolf took office, due to increased pipeline construction.
“Despite your hand wringing about Russian LNG tankers entering American ports, you should be aware that the United States imports virtually no natural gas in any form from Russia. I encourage you to review actual data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration if you are confused about any of these points,” Wolf said.
The Energy Information Administration confirmed the United States does not directly import LNG from Russia.
“There were a couple of LNG cargoes imported to the United States from France and the United Kingdom in 2018-19 that may have originally come from Russia,” an administration spokesperson told The Epoch Times. “These were officially recorded as imports from France and the U.K. We don’t track the original source of LNG import volumes, so the source information on these imports is anecdotal.”
But Wolf never mentions oil in his letter. In 2021, the United States imported an average of 209,000 barrels of Russian oil per day, according to the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers website.
Oil imports continue today.
Wolf is correct that the United States is a net exporter of natural gas, and currently a large source of European LNG imports. In 2021, the United States, Qatar, and Russia combined, provided 70 percent of Europe’s total LNG imports.
But Wolf can’t take credit for that. Exports of LNG to Europe ramped up in 2017, the year Donald Trump took office. Before then, Europe was using little, if any U.S.-produced LNG. Trump worked to expand U.S. LNG exports abroad.
“The U.S. no longer needs to import energy. With an abundance of American natural gas now available, our European allies no longer have to be vulnerable to unfriendly energy suppliers either,” Trump said in a January 2020 speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We urge our friends in Europe to use America’s vast supply and achieve true energy security. With U.S. companies and researchers leading the way we are on the threshold of virtually unlimited reserves of energy, including from traditional fuels, LNG, clean coal, next-generation nuclear power, and gas hydrate technologies.”
Wolf’s letter defends his record on the environment and hints that he is not budging on his energy policies.
“I have moved forward with measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and diversify and strengthen our grid. This newest effort to halt progress in addressing climate change by linking action on climate to events in Ukraine is simply a continuation of the conspiracy theories you are well known for,” Wolf said, directing his comments at Metcalfe. “We are in a moment of significant import for the world. This is no time for small-minded ideologues or armchair energy experts to attempt to capitalize on tragedy to benefit their benefactors.”
Metcalfe said he was surprised Wolf responded to the letter so quickly because often it takes a month or more for a letter from his committee to hear back from the governor.
“His administration has been working time and time again to bring in the heavy regulatory hand on our oil and gas companies to discourage investment, to discourage production, to discourage development. And he could step up and work with the General Assembly to encourage more production of our oil and gas, which the world needs right now. I mean there’s no excuse for any state in the nation to have to be using any Russian gas or oil,” Metcalfe told The Epoch Times.
“We have the resources here in the United States, as long as we can get Wolf, Biden, John Kerry and the ones that are fighting to advance their sci-fi perspective of what’s happening in the world. If they’d get with reality, look at the news, and see all these people dying in the Ukraine—if Russia didn’t have their war machine greased by their sales of energy, they wouldn’t have the ability to fund that operation.”
archived 4 Mar 2022 17:19:36 UTC
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Speedy Bankruptcy Offered By Russia As One of Three Choices For Foreign Firms
Russia is offering foreign companies, seeking to exit the country, fast-tracked bankruptcy options as businesses face increasing challenges from western sanctions imposed as a result of Moscow’s initiation of war against Ukraine.
The fast bankruptcy plan “will support the employment and social well-being of citizens so that bona fide entrepreneurs can ensure the effective functioning of business,”
said the government.
First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov
outlined three options for foreign firms with operations in Russia. One, “the company continues to work fully in Russia.” Two, “foreign shareholders transfer their share to be managed by Russian partners and can return to the market later.” Or three, “the company permanently terminates operations in Russia, closes production, and dismisses employees.”
All three choices come with risks. Foreign companies that do decide to continue operating in Russia might have to face severe backlash in the West as the general public increasingly rallies behind Ukraine.
If firms decide to transfer shares, they will be handing over business assets with little to no guarantee that these resources will be returned back intact in the future. Finally, companies that decide to quit might be forced to sell their business for cheap and suffer a loss.
Many foreign firms in Russia are still trying to assess the cost of their exposure in the country, a number that keeps changing as new sanctions are imposed or removed. It is estimated that global investors, companies, and banks have over $110 billion worth of exposure in Russia. Research firm Morningstar puts the exposure of international funds to Russia in the form of bonds and stocks at around $60 billion.
Several businesses have announced their decision to pause or exit from their Russian operations. Oil and gas giant
Shell plans to withdraw from its projects in Russia as well as end its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.
BP plans to get rid of its 19.75 percent stake in Russian integrated energy firm Rosneft. Norway’s Equinor ASA has announced withdrawal from Russian projects worth around $1.2 billion.
Japanese carmaker Toyota will suspend operations at its sole plant in Russia. French multinational integrated oil and gas company TotalEnergies has decided not to invest any more in the country. IKEA declared store closures across Russia.
Nokian Tyres from Finland plans to shift part of its production to other nations. The world’s largest chemicals group BASF is pausing new businesses in Russia and Belarus. Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group has halted exports to Russia due to the “overall difficult situation.”
Meanwhile, there have been speculations of the Russian government nationalizing the properties of foreign companies. However, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently dismissed such a possibility.
“I am not aware of this, and the Kremlin is not considering it,” he
said. “All issues related to sanctions, to minimization of the damage of those sanctions are considered and decisions are taken by the government’s crisis center headed by [Russian Prime Minister Mikhail] Mishustin.”
archived 4 Mar 2022 17:21:00 UTC
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