Ukraine angry at Austrian comments

"Kiev is “disappointed” by the “short-sighted” statements of Austrian Foreign Minister
Alexander Schallenberg who suggested that full EU membership might not be the best option for Ukraine.

On Saturday, Schallenberg, while admitting that deepening ties with Ukraine is necessary as the EU is exporting the “Western way of life,” said that models other than full EU membership should be considered for Ukraine. He mentioned joining the European Economic Area or an association agreement as among the options." RT

Sanctions Backfire as Russian Ships Clog Up French Ports, Cost Local Authorities Thousands to Move

 "Russian-owned commercial vessels trapped in French ports containing vehicles, chemicals

and other cargoes have become a major nuisance for local authorities, cluttering up dockyards and costing thousands of euros to move, France 2 TV has reported.

The TV channel cites the example of the Vladimir Latyshev, a Russian-flagged general cargo ship trapped in Saint-Malo, north-western France. The 141-metre-long ship is so large it barely fits into the Brittany region port’s pier, forcing workers to constantly move it around to make room for other ships. Nearly 50,000 euros have reportedly been spent moving around Russian ships to date, with Brittany forced to pick up the tab and requesting aid from Paris." Sputnik

Two Russian Oligarchs Die in Mysterious Circumstances 24 Hours Apart

"Russian oligarchs, both linked to gas giants, apparently murdered their wives and daughters before killing themselves—within two days of each other.

In both cases, the alarm was raised by the slain families’ surviving child.

Former Kremlin official and Gazprombank vice-president Vladislav Avayev, 51, was found dead in his luxury Moscow apartment alongside the bodies of his wife and 13-year-old daughter on Monday. It appeared he had shot them before turning the gun on himself. The bodies were found by distraught 26-year-old daughter Anastasia after she was unable to get hold of her family.

The following day former Novatek deputy chairman Sergey Protosenya, 55, his wife Natalya, 53, and 18-year-old daughter, Maria, were found dead at their Spanish mansion. The scene suggested the women had been stabbed, before Protosenya hanged himself in the garden. The alarm was raised by the couple’s teenage son, who was staying in France, after he was unable to reach his parents at their home in the coastal town of Lloret de Mar.

Spanish investigators are now reportedly trying to work out whether the Protosenya deaths were the result of a domestic murder-suicide or an organized hit.

According to Spanish website El Punt Avui, Protosenya’s estimated fortune was $440 million. Alongside Western pressure on oligarchs, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to target the billionaires too, during a rant about Westernized Russians last month.

He warned: "I do not judge those with villas in Miami or the French Riviera. Or [those] who can't get by without oysters or foie gras or so-called 'gender freedoms'…The problem is they mentally exist there, and not here, with our people, with Russia."

He went on to call for a "self-purification" of the nation and there were reports of an "exodus" of private jets, apparently fleeing Russia in the wake of his comments."

Newsweek

Switzerland Bans Berlin From Re-Exporting Ammunition for Combat Vehicles to Ukraine

"Switzerland has vetoed requests by German authorities to re-export to Ukraine ammunition
used in German Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), a representative of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) told Swiss media." Sputnik

Pope Says Meeting With Russian Orthodox Patriarch Scrapped

"Pope Francis has announced that a meeting set for June with Russian Orthodox Patriarch
Kirill, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, has been canceled so as not to sow "confusion." MT

FBI Warns of Targeted Cyber Attacks On Food Plants After Mysterious Rash Of Fires

"The FBI's warning comes as "nearly two dozen food processing facilities across Canada and the US" have experienced a "string of fires, plane crashes and explosions,"....The FBI's Cyber Division published a notice this past week warning about increased cyber-attack threats on agricultural cooperatives, which comes at a time when a curious string of fires and explosions damage major food processing plants across the country. 

"Ransomware actors may be more likely to attack agricultural cooperatives during critical planting and harvest seasons, disrupting operations, causing financial loss, and negatively impacting the food supply chain," the notice read, adding 2021 and early 2022 ransomware attacks on farming co-ops could affect the current planting season "by disrupting the supply of seeds and fertilizer."

The agency warned, "A significant disruption of grain production could impact the entire food chain, since grain is not only consumed by humans but also used for animal feed ... In addition, a significant disruption of grain and corn production could impact commodities trading and stocks. " ZeroHedge

 

Germany's Scholz Resists Sending "Quickly Available" Tanks To Ukraine: 'Could Lead To Nuclear War'

"German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under continued pressure to "do more" for the Ukrainians, particularly in the area of sending heavier weaponry to Kiev, with Bloomberg reporting at the close of this week that a "German arms manufacturer has asked the government to approve the export of 100 Marder tanks to Ukraine, Welt am Sonntag reports, without saying where it got the information."

The arms maker is saying the tanks are "quickly available" and that the first wave delivery could be transferred to Ukraine "within a few weeks" - pending approval of the Scholz government. However, unlike the British and US governments, who haven't been shy about sending and pledging unprecedented military aid to the Ukrainians, Scholz has loathe to do anything seen as escalatory by Moscow. He's expected to reject the appeal by the arms maker.

"NATO must avoid a direct military confrontation with Russia that could lead to a third world war," Chancellor Scholz was cited as saying in a new interview Der Spiegel when asked why Germany hasn't sent heavy weapons." ZH

France and Germany ‘sold £230,000,000 of weapons to Russia before invasion’

"France and German arms manufacturers reportedly sent weapons to Russia in the build-up to

the invasion of Ukraine.

The European Commission has been forced to close a loophole to prevent European firms doing business with Moscow, according to The Telelgraph. 

It said it had been passed analysis by an MEP which showed companies from ‘at least 10 members of states’ had got around an embargo imposed after the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Almost four fifths of the £230 million worth of lethal equipment was sent by France and Germany." METRO

Human Rights Activists Call For Indictment of Russian Patriarch Kirill

"Willy Fautré and Patricia Duval are European human rights advocates .... they are accusing
Patriarch Kirill, the spiritual leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, of inciting aggression and crimes against humanity by his outspoken support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and urging his indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC)." MT

US bans all Russian ships

"Biden announces Russian flagged, owned or operated vessels not welcome in US ports." RT

Austria halts Russian oil imports

"Austria’s energy giant OMV says it has suspended all imports of Russian oil ahead of the possible EU embargo on them.

“The purchase of oil from Russia was always very low ... we replaced it with other oil from the market,” an OMV spokesman said, as quoted by newspaper Kronen Zeitung." RT

'We might have to leave quickly': Finns living near border keep a watchful eye on Russia

"In the Finnish town of Imatra, on the country's eastern border with Russia, residents are
keeping a watchful eye on their neighbors to the east as tensions mount over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine." France24

US Treasury Secretary Led Walkout Of G20 Meeting As Russian Official Started Talking

"Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell walked out of
a Group of 20 meeting on Wednesday when the Russian representative began talking. A source told the Insider that multiple finance ministers and central bank governors walked out of the meeting with Yellen and Powell." ZH

5 Dead in Fire at Russian Aerospace Defense Research Institute

"At least five people have died and dozens more were injured in a fire at a Russian Defense
Ministry research institute near Moscow on Thursday. The 1,500-square-meter fire started on the second floor and ripped through the building’s upper three floors, forcing people inside to escape by jumping from windows." NYP

War in Ukraine threatens geopolitical balance in the Arctic

"Russia’s senior diplomat at the Arctic Council intergovernmental forum, Nikolai Korchunov,
spoke out on April 17 about NATO’s increased presence in the Arctic since the war in Ukraine began. He said long-planned military drills between NATO, Finland and Sweden in the region in March were “a cause for concern” for Russia.

All the members of the Arctic Council aside from Russia announced in March they would boycott talks in Russia, currently chairing the Atlantic Council until 2023, due to its “flagrant violation” of Ukraine’s sovereignty. As such, the group’s work has been put on hold.“It’s very unusual,” Garson says. The Arctic Council has survived periods of tension, but what we're seeing in the Ukraine is a huge turning point in history.

Russia has been increasing its military presence in the far north. The most obvious example of this is its Arctic navy, the Northern Fleet, established in 2014 and based on the Kola Peninsula near the border with Finland and Norway.Its arsenal includes submarines armed with nuclear-powered missiles, anti-submarine aircraft, aircraft carriers and ships armed with missiles, among others.

 The current war in Ukraine has raised the stakes once again. If Sweden and Finland join NATO ­– as both are seriously considering doing ­– all the Arctic states except Russia will be part of the military alliance." France24