@PeterS40752685 @NeilPHauer They already vote in Moldovan elections as Moldova considers Transnistria to be an integral part of its territory.
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Four Nine Six
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@NeilPHauer But then those 300k pro russians would vote in the Moldovan elections and Moldova would get a russian puppet government. That would be worse than having trannystria as a neighbour.
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An underappreciated side effect of the Russia-Ukraine war is that at some point Transnistria will cease to exist. It's economically, militarily and politically untenable. Ukraine and Moldova/Romania just haven't worked out how to deal with the aftermath yet.
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@laurnorman @vonderleyen Taking the Russian assets doesn't require unanimity...
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Clear indeed.
"Let us be clear about where we stand. The loan remains blocked because one leader is not honoring his word. But let me reiterate what I already said in Kyiv, we will deliver one way or the other." @vonderleyen on Hungary and the Ukraine loan.
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@jakluge Germany is currently replacing domestic coal with imported gas. It clearly has learnt nothing.
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Germany's nuclear phase-out would not have happened, had there been a crystal ball in the chancellory. But it's all water under the bridge now. It was wrong in hindsight - but it doesn't mean that going back to nuclear now would make any sense.
Oliver Groß@minenergybiz
Unreal numbers 👀⚡️ "JPMorgan estimates that, had Germany not phased out nuclear power, the country would have generated 50% less electricity from fossil fuels and 84% less electricity from natural gas in 2024. Electricity prices in Germany would have been around 25% lower, and the country would have imported half as much electricity.."
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Excellent and timely new piece in @ForeignAffairs by @RichardMNephew about where Iran’s nuclear program actually stands right now and what US policy should do about it in the wake of this weekend’s attack. foreignaffairs.com/iran/abiding-q…
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Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has received the most support in the consultative vote by the Assembly of Experts in Iran, and if nothing major happens and the Islamic Republic does not collapse by the end of the week, he is likely to secure enough backing in the final voting to become the next Supreme Leader of Iran.
Mehdi Yahyanejad@mehdiy_fa
Reports from Iran: The Assembly of Experts’ body known as the “Commission for Determining Instances of Leadership” has finalized a shortlist of candidates to replace Ali Khamenei. The list has been circulated among members of the Assembly. Once the bylaws are updated to allow remote voting, written ballots will be collected. There can still be an online meeting to discuss the candidates. A prior consultative (non-binding) vote (رأیگیری استمزاجی) was reportedly conducted by phone to gauge the mood of the Assembly. Based on that preliminary vote, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi emerged as the leading choice. Arafi is not widely known to the broader Iranian public. He maintains a low profile and largely avoids media exposure. He is considered conservative and has the backing of IRGC. His reputation is that of a cautious, risk-averse figure, making it uncertain whether he would take the bold decisions that may be required to save the regime at its worse crisis.
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@laurnorman Using the frozen Russian assets doesn't require unanimity...
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The fury is palpable. And the language is Article 7 legalise.
But there will be a fix.
Jorge Liboreiro@JorgeLiboreiro
Hungary’s last-minute veto of the €90 billion loan for Ukraine breaches the principle of sincere cooperation, Kaja Kallas and António Costa have said in separate rebukes. The fury is palpable. euronews.com/my-europe/2026…
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@iamgaurav_92 @shashj Germany is basically unsanctionable. Nobody can sanction it without seriously hurting oneself.
Germany would most likely get the Israeli treatment, where everyone accepts that nobody can do anything about it.
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@laurnorman Those are just words. Germany is planning to phase out homegrown coal and replace it with volatile gas. Clearly, energy security isn't a concern.
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Why interesting? The substance of the plans hasn’t changed. But gone is the years of constant language about clean and green energy. You can add new zero and energy transition to that list. Those words don’t feature. We’re in the new era of “homegrown” and “resilient.”
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I found the language @vonderleyen used yesterday at Davos on energy interesting. Especially for what was rhetorically missing. “Third priority: building an interconnected and affordable energy market. Energy is a chokepoint – for both companies and households. Just look at…”-1-
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@QueenUzila @alexwickham Why would Starmer pay to meet with losers like Putin?
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@alexwickham starmer too broke for 1b peace club? putin gets vip invite lol
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BREAKING: Keir Starmer declines to endorse Trump’s Board of Peace
Says he’s talking with allies about the terms but declines to say he’ll join or pay the $1 billion fee revealed by Bloomberg over the weekend
It comes as the Kremlin says today Trump has invited Putin to join
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@laurnorman Belgium is the third largest net beneficiary in the EU. It would suffer without contributions from other EU members.
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The idea that Belgium is going to be treated like Hungary if it blocks a reparations loan is frankly for the birds. For so many reasons. Founder nation. Doesn't depend on Brussels funds which can be withheld. Single issue dispute that no-one denies is complex. Not credible. -1-
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@Colin00007 @alexwickham They actually do have the money that Witkoff and Dmitriev want.
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3 irrelevant unpopular “leaders” with no money or weapons commenting on a deal between Russia and America in which they are not involved
America has protected these people for 80 years and they are sniping from the sidelines
America has every reason to believe they are ungrateful for American security
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Keir Starmer says US-Ukraine / Russia talks are at a “critical stage”
PM insists no changes in European position as Trump pushes for deal
“The principles remain the same: we stand with Ukraine, and if there is to be a ceasefire, it needs to be a just and lasting ceasefire”
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@FredricMorenius @RufusMord @jakluge The EU can normalize relations with China. EU+China GDP is far higher than US+Russia GDP.
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@RufusMord @jakluge The US and Russia will normalize relations within a few years.
The EU will be left standing there, like the Cuba of the east.
Left in the past with a dated ideology, creating poverty and hate towards its own people.
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This is so funny - Dmitriev talking about free speech.
X is banned in Russia
Facebook is banned in Russia
Instagram is banned in Russia
LinkedIn is banned in Russia
Signal is banned in Russia
Discord is banned in Russia
Snapchat is banned in Russia
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@bundeskanzler What happened with the Taurus missiles that were supposed to be sent to Ukraine?
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Russia is waging a war of terror against Ukraine’s civilian population. The intensified Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure have nothing to do with military objectives anymore. That’s why we will do everything we can to support Ukraine’s air defense.
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Huge report from @iaeaorg on Iran's nuclear program. It was racing up to 60% enrichment from 17 May-13 June:
+32.3 kgs of 60%
-90.4 kgs of 20%
+515.6 kgs of 5%
+169.7 kgs of 2%
Considering the short time-span (27 days), that's consistent with the last report's (fast) speed.
Sahil V. Shah@SahilV_Shah
Stockpile (last in-field baseline: 13 June): IAEA estimates 9,874.9 kg total enriched U (↑ +627.3 kg vs prev.), incl. 440.9 kg at 60%, 184.1 kg at 20%, 6,024.4 kg at 5%, 2,391.1 kg ≤2%. Since mid-June, changes/whereabouts can’t be verified with normal confidence.
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@ArezaNaraghi @laurnorman The EU would become irrelevant if it didn't do the snapback. Now Iran has to talk with the EU to get the sanctions lifted.
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@laurnorman Meanwhile, the EU will end up removing itself from the process and further reinforcing its growing irrelevancy. Sad.
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Pure conjecture but if I were to guess what Iran will do today in response to snapback, it would be to effectively freeze talks with IAEA on further site access and let lawmakers announce a new law in Majles on NPT withdrawal, leaving options open. But pure guess.
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Russia published a new long-term energy strategy (until 2050). It plans to significantly increase coal and gas production, while the outlook for oil production is more pessimistic.
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On 22 August 2024, a Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out a massive OWA UAV strike on the Marinovka Air Base, Volgograd Oblast, Russia. This should be a reasonably short thread. x.com/IAPonomarenko/…
Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦@IAPonomarenko
10/10 Dostoevsky moment with a Russian guy witnessing the Marinovka air base following a Ukrainian drone assault. “There it is flying by, fuck. Fucking flying over again, fuck. It’s all fucking fucked up! Everything. It’s fucked as fuck. They’re fucking bombing it since 2.30 am, and they still are fucking it now. It’s a serious tragedy, folks. This is serious stuff. It’s all fucking on fire. And it’s fucking smoke. It’s all fucking exploding. That’s it. The Oktyabrsky airfield is fucking fucked as fuck. That’s really something else. And all the new hangars, it’s all blown up in the air, fuck.”
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🇨🇦🇺🇦 There are many examples of lacklustre support to Ukraine, but Canada's @RoshelDefence isn't one of them. They have delivered 1000 armoured vehicles to Ukraine, and counting.
This is a thread of highlights from my exclusive interview with Roshel's CEO, Roman Shimonov.
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