Rich countries cap Russian oil price while Moscow blocks gas supply to Europe on day 192 of fierce fighting as both sides raise stakes over conflict-torn Ukraine.
A volunteer places a cross with a number to a grave of one of unidentified people allegedly killed by Russia, during a mass burial ceremony in Kiev's Bucha town.
(Reuters)
Saturday, September 3, 2022Russia scraps deadline to resume gas flows to Europe
Russia has scrapped a Saturday deadline to resume gas flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, one of the main supply routes to Europe, after saying it discovered a fault during maintenance, deepening Europe's difficulties in securing fuel for winter.
Nord Stream 1, which runs under the Baltic Sea to supply Germany and others, had been due to resume operating after a three-day halt for maintenance on Saturday at 0100 GMT.
But Gazprom, the state-controlled firm with a monopoly on Russian gas exports via pipeline, said it could no longer provide a timeframe for restarting deliveries after finding an oil leak that meant a pipeline turbine could not run safely.
For live updates from Friday (September 2), click here
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Greenhouse gas concentrations, global sea levels and ocean heat content reached record highs in 2021, according to the annual State of the Climate report.
Scientists say extreme weather across the world has become more frequent due to climate crisis, and will likely grow more intense as global temperatures rise.
(AA)
Earth's concentration of greenhouse gases and sea levels hit new highs in 2021, a US government report has said, showing that climate crisis keeps surging ahead despite renewed efforts to curb emissions.
"The data presented in this report are clear — we continue to see more compelling scientific evidence that climate change has global impacts and shows no sign of slowing," said Rick Spinrad, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"With many communities hit with 1,000-year floods, exceptional drought and historic heat this year, it shows that the climate crisis is not a future threat but something we must address today," he said in a statement on Wednesday.
The rise in greenhouse gas levels comes despite an easing of fossil fuel emissions the previous year as much of the global economy slowed sharply due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The US agency said that the concentration of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere stood at 414.7 parts per million in 2021, 2.3 parts higher than in 2020.
The level is "the highest in at least the last million years based on paleoclimatic records," the annual State of the Climate report found.
READ MORE:Why Pakistan suffers from climate change despite minimal carbon footprint?
The planet's sea levels rose for the 10th straight year, reaching a new record of 97 millimetres above the average in 1993 when satellite measurements began.
Last year was among the six warmest on record since the mid-19th century, with the last seven years all the seven hottest on record, it said.
The less headline-grabbing average temperatures were in part due to La Nina, an occasional phenomenon in the Pacific that cools waters, which took place early in the year and contributed to February being the coldest since 2014.
But water temperatures were also at records, with exceptionally high recordings documented in particular in lakes in Tibet, an environmentally crucial region as a water source for many of Asia's major rivers.
Rising disasters and fears
Tropical storms, which are expected to increase as the planet warms, were sharply up in 2021, the report said. They included Typhoon Rai, which killed nearly 400 people in the Philippines in December, and Ida, which swept the Caribbean before becoming the second strongest hurricane to hit Louisiana after Katrina.
Among other extraordinary events cited in the report, the celebrated cherry trees in Kyoto, Japan, bloomed at their earliest since 1409.
Wildfires, also expected to rise due to climate crisis, were comparatively low following recent years although devastating blazes were witnessed both in the American West and Siberia.
The 2021 report comes days after a study said Greenland's ice sheet is already set to melt at dangerous levels, even without any future warming, with major effects for low-lying areas around the globe that are home to hundreds of millions of people.
The planet remains far off track from an ambition set by the Paris climate accord in 2015 to aspire to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
In August, the United States under President Joe Biden pushed through the most expansive government package ever to address emissions from the world's largest economy.
The effort will invest heavily in clean energy and comes as California moves to require all cars to be zero-emission by 2035, a decision with far-reaching consequences for the automobile industry.
READ MORE:Starved Greenland ice to raise global sea levels by 'unavoidable' 27cm
Source: AFP
Russian energy giant Gazprom on Wednesday cuts off its gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for maintenance work, further raising tensions on an already taut electricity market.
The three-day works at a compressor station are "necessary," Gazprom has said, adding that they had to be carried out after "every 1,000 hours of operation."
But Germany's Federal Network Agency chief Klaus Mueller has called it a "technically incomprehensible" decision, warning that it was likely just a pretext by Moscow to wield energy supplies as a threat.
Experience shows that Moscow "makes a political decision after every so-called maintenance," he said, adding that "we'll only know at the beginning of September if Russia does that again."
Europe has been on edge over soaring energy prices as Russia curbed its gas deliveries in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas, has accused Moscow of using energy as a "weapon."
'Much better position'
With winter round the corner, European consumers are staring down the barrel of huge power bills. Some countries like France have warned that rationing is a possibility.
Asked if gas supplies would resume after the three-day works are completed on Saturday, Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "there is a guarantee that, apart from technical problems caused by sanctions, nothing interferes with supplies."
Western capitals "have imposed sanctions against Russia, which do not allow for normal maintenance, repair work," he added, in what appeared to hint at a replay of an earlier round of start-stop rigmarole.
Gazprom had already carried out 10 days of long-scheduled maintenance works in July. While it restored gas flows following the works, it drastically dwindled supplies just days later, claiming a technical issue on a turbine.
The Russian company insists that a key turbine could not be sent to Russia because of sanctions on Moscow. But Germany, where the turbine was located, has said Moscow was itself in fact blocking the turbine's delivery to Russia.
An official at Gascade, which operates the distribution network within Germany, also viewed Gazprom's latest actions skeptically.
"In July, it was regular maintenance planned for a long time by Nord Stream 1, this time it was not planned and we don't know what is behind this operation," the official said on condition of anonymity.
A day ahead of the new shutdown, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany was now "in a much better position" in terms of energy security, having achieved its gas storage targets far sooner than expected.
Europe as a whole was also getting a march on filling its gas storage tanks. On Sunday, storage levels were already at 79.9% of capacity in the EU.
'Gas emergency'
At the same time, fears over throttled supplies have also driven companies to slash their energy usage.
Germany's industry consumed 21.3% less gas in July than the average for the month from 2018 to 2021, said the Federal Network Agency.
Mueller has said such pre-emptive action "could save Germany from a gas emergency this winter."
And Europe's biggest economy was already racing to turn its back on Russian gas.
At the German coastal city of Lubmin, where Nord Stream 1 comes onshore, plans are already well underway for the switch to liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The LNG, transported in by ships, will arrive at Lubmin's industrial port and be converted back into gas and pumped into Gascade's distribution network, which has so far been used to funnel Russian gas around the country.
"We expect to be able to inject gas into the distribution network on Dec. 1," said Stephan Knabe of Deutsche ReGas — the company managing the LNG project.
The company believes that up to 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas can be imported via the Lubmin LNG terminal alone, making up around 8% of Nord Stream 1's capacity.
Europe as a bloc meanwhile was preparing to take emergency action to reform the electricity market in order to bring galloping prices under control. Fear of shortages of natural gas has driven futures contracts for electricity in France and Germany to record levels.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges Russian troops to flee for their lives after his forces launch an offensive to retake southern areas, but Moscow says it has halted the attack, as fighting goes into its 189th day.
European governments fear Moscow could extend the outage in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on it after its attack on Ukraine.
(Reuters)
Wednesday, August 31, 2022Gazprom halts pipeline gas flow in new jitters for Europe
Russian energy giant Gazprom has cut off its gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for maintenance work, further raising tensions on an already taut electricity market.
The three-day works at a compressor station are "necessary", Gazprom has said, adding that they had to be carried out after "every 1,000 hours of operation".
But Germany's Federal Network Agency chief Klaus Mueller has called it a "technically incomprehensible" decision, warning that it was likely just a pretext by Moscow to wield energy supplies as a threat.
Experience shows that Moscow "makes a political decision after every so-called maintenance", he said, adding that "we'll only know at the beginning of September if Russia does that again".
For live updates from Tuesday (August 30), click here
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Hungary said Saturday that Russia has started delivering additional gas to the EU member following a July visit to Moscow by its foreign minister.
Hungary's Foreign Ministry said trade negotiations with Moscow "led to an agreement", resulting in Russia's Gazprom starting to deliver "above the already contracted quantities" on Friday.
"It is the duty of the Hungarian government to ensure the country's safe supply of natural gas, and we are living up to it," ministry official Tamas Menczer said on his Facebook page.
In the first phase, an additional volume of 2.6 million cubic meters per day will arrive from the south through the TurkStream pipeline until the end of August, he said, adding negotiations were underway for September deliveries.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto made a previously unannounced visit to Moscow in July to discuss the purchase of an additional 700 million cubic meters of natural gas.
"In light of what is known about the current European market conditions, it is clear that the acquisition of such a large amount is impossible without Russian sources," Menczer said in the post on Saturday, mentioning Szijjarto's visit.
An EU plan to cut gas consumption across the bloc by 15 percent to cope with an energy price crisis spurred by Russia's war in Ukraine came into effect this week
Some EU countries, though, had carve-outs from strictly following the rule, which was in any case termed a "voluntary demand reduction".
Hungary, which relies on gas piped in directly from Russia, had demanded the exception.
Russian energy giant Gazprom said Wednesday that delivery of a turbine needed to keep gas flowing to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was "impossible" due to sanctions on Moscow.
"Sanctions regimes in Canada, in the European Union and in Britain, as well as the inconsistencies in the current situation concerning the contractual obligations of [turbine maker] Siemens make the delivery impossible," Gazprom said in a statement.
The statement risks further increasing concern in European countries who suspect Moscow is looking for an excuse to delay the turbine's return to Russia and further reduce its gas deliveries.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to "play games with us" but said there was "no chance" he could split the Western alliance.
Earlier on Wednesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz accused Russia of blocking the delivery of the key turbine to throttle gas supplies to Europe, as he raised the possibility of keeping nuclear plants going.
The continent's biggest economy has been scrambling for energy sources to fill a gap left by a reduction in gas supplies from Moscow.
Baerbock acknowledged it had been "a mistake to be so dependent on Russian cheap gas", prompting a drastic change in German energy policy to phase it out.
The delayed return of the turbine from Canada, where the unit was being serviced, was behind an initial reduction in gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline in June, according to Gazprom.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Wednesday admitted that returning the turbine to Russia was "a difficult decision," also condemning Putin's attempt to "sow division."
Supplies via the energy link were further reduced to around 20% of capacity in late July, after Gazprom halted the operation of one of the last two operating turbines due to the "technical condition of the engine."
Russia continues to target Ukraine’s southern Black Sea regions of Odessa and Mykolaiv with air strikes, hitting private buildings and port infrastructure with missiles, says Kiev as the conflict continues on 154th day.
The Russian foreign minister briefed resident diplomats on current developments related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict in an event at the Russian Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
(AP)
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Moscow lashes out at West
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has lashed out at the West for creating a grains supply chain crisis by slapping unjustified sanctions on Moscow.
Speaking at the Russian Embassy in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, Lavrov said that Western media was presenting the "situation in a totally distorted manner.”
“Of course, the situation in Ukraine has a negative impact on food markets, but not because of Russia’s special military operation,” he said, instead pointing to the coronavirus pandemic and the West's "reckless policy...on so-called green transition"
He added that China, which has developed the world's number one economy will be the next target because it “…defeated the West on their own turf.”
Russia will stick with space station until at least 2028
Russian space officials told their US counterparts that Moscow expects to remain on the International Space Station at least until their own outpost in orbit is built in 2028, NASA's space operations chief said.
Russia's assurance on Tuesday came after the newly appointed head of its space agency, Roscosmos, surprised NASA earlier in the day by announcing that Moscow intended to end more than two decades of partnership on the space station "after 2024."
"We're not getting any indication at any working level that anything's changed," Kathy Lueders, NASA's space operations chief, said on Wednesday, adding the National Aeronautics and Space Administration relations with Roscosmos remained "business as usual."
Police officer killed by Ukrainian 'resistance' in Kherson
A police officer in the Russian-controlled city of Kherson was killed by an explosive device planted by the Ukrainian "resistance movement" and another one was injured, Ukraine's defence ministry said.
The reported killing is the latest in a series of attacks on local officials in regions captured by Russia since it attacked Ukraine in February.
On Saturday, the directorate urged citizens in the Kherson region to reveal where Moscow's troops were living and which locals were collaborating with the occupying authorities.
EU Court upholds broadcast ban on Russia Today
The Court of Justice of the European Union upheld the EU ban on Russia Today (RT) broadcasts that the bloc imposed as part of its sanctions in response to Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.
The EU Court ruling found the sanctions “aimed at suspending the activity of a vehicle for propaganda in support of that military aggression” did not violate the general principle of freedom of expression.
It also stated that the limitations to RT’s right to be heard are “proportionate, inasmuch as they are appropriate and necessary, to the aims pursued” despite “the exceptional context and the extreme urgency in which the contested acts were adopted.”
Russia cuts gas through Nord Stream 1 to 20% of capacity
Russia’s Gazprom has halved the amount of natural gas flowing through a major pipeline from Russia to Europe to 20 percent of capacity.
It’s the latest reduction to Nord Stream 1 that Russia has blamed on technical problems, but European countries call a political move to sow uncertainty and push up prices amid the conflict in Ukraine.
The Russian state-controlled energy giant announced on Monday that it would carry out the reduction citing equipment repairs, further raising fears that Russia could cut off gas completely.
Russia cuts gas supplies to make winter harsh for Europe — Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was deliberately cutting supplies of natural gas to impose “price terror” against Europe, and he called for more sanctions on Moscow.
“Using Gazprom, Moscow is doing all it can to make this coming winter as harsh as possible for the European countries. Terror must be answered — impose sanctions,” he said in a video address.
US Yellen discusses price cap on Russian oil with UK's Zahawi
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has highlighted a proposed price cap on Russian oil on a phone call with British Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi, a move to reduce the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on global energy prices.
Both discussed the need to continue to accelerate budgetary support for Ukraine, and opportunities to build on sanctions imposed on Russia, the US Treasury Department said in a statement.
Bridge closed in Russia-held Kherson after HIMARS shelling
Authorities in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Kherson have closed the city's only bridge across the Dnieper river after it came under fire from US-supplied high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS).
The Antonovsky bridge has been closed for civilians but its structural integrity has not suffered from the shelling, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-appointed city administration, told Interfax.
Separately, TASS quoted the official saying that HIMARS had targeted the bridge.
Russia continues to target Ukraine’s southern Black Sea regions of Odessa and Mykolaiv with air strikes, hitting private buildings and port infrastructure with missiles, says Kiev as the conflict continues on 154th day
Russia continues to target Ukraine’s southern Black Sea regions of Odessa and Mykolaiv with air strikes, hitting private buildings and port infrastructure with missiles, says Kiev as the conflict continues on 154th day.
A 3D printed natural gas pipeline is placed in front of displayed Gazprom logo and Russian flag in this illustration taken February 8, 2022.
(Reuters)
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Russia cuts gas supplies to make winter harsh for Europe — Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia was deliberately cutting supplies of natural gas to impose “price terror” against Europe, and he called for more sanctions on Moscow.
“Using Gazprom, Moscow is doing all it can to make this coming winter as harsh as possible for the European countries. Terror must be answered — impose sanctions,” he said in a video address.
For live updates from Tuesday (July 26), click here
The European Union agreed to reduce gas consumption to break its dependence on Russia on Tuesday, as missile strikes on Ukraine's Black Sea coast cast doubt on a grain export deal.
The effort to help Germany wean itself off Russian gas for the winter came as Turkey announced a meeting in Russia next week between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Erdogan wants Turkey — on good terms with both Moscow and Kyiv — at the center of diplomatic efforts to halt the five-month war, just as the EU took another big step to cut ties to Moscow.
The EU gas use cut, approved by energy ministers in Brussels, was hailed as an effective response to Russia's manipulation of its energy wealth as an economic weapon.
The plan nominally commits EU countries to reduce their gas use by 15% during the winter, although exceptions were carved out for some countries and Hungary rejected the deal as "useless."
"We have made a huge step towards securing gas supplies for our citizens and economies for the upcoming winter," said Czech industry minister Jozef Sikela, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
"I know the decision was not easy, but I think at the end, everybody understands that this sacrifice is necessary," he added.
Hungary was the only country to oppose the plan, which passed on a majority vote, further isolating Budapest as the only member state reluctant to go further against Russia.
"This is an unjustifiable, useless, unenforceable and harmful proposal that completely ignores national interests," said Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.
The deal "serves purely communication purposes, and aims to save the credibility of some Western European politicians," he added.
German 'mistake'
Germany, the EU's economic powerhouse, is hugely dependent on Russian gas. Berlin takes a major share of the 40% of EU gas imports that came from Russia last year.
"It is true that Germany, with its dependence on Russian gas, has made a strategic mistake but our government is working... to correct this," German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said.
The plan asks member states to voluntarily reduce gas use by 15% —based on a five-year average for the months in question — starting next month and over the subsequent winter through March.
The target will be adapted to the situation of each country, taking into account their level of stocks and whether or not they have pipelines to share gas.
Exceptions were given for island states like Ireland, Cyprus and Malta and to Spain or Portugal, which have limited links to the interconnected gas supply grid.
Baltic countries will be exempted if their electricity connections with Russia's grid were to be cut.
In the final proposal, EU member countries also rewrote an earlier European Commission plan to give Brussels — rather than the member states — the power to impose gas use cuts in an emergency.
The regulation now foresees the possibility to trigger a "Union alert" that would make the target mandatory, but the decision would lie with member states, a statement said.
The EU deal landed a day after Gazprom said it is cutting daily gas deliveries intended for Europe to about 20% of capacity from Wednesday.
Gazprom claimed technical reasons for choking off supply, but EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson dismissed this claim.
"This is a politically motivated step and we have to be ready for that and exactly for that reason the pre-emptive reduction of our gas demand is a wise strategy," she said.
The extent of Russia's split with the West over Ukraine was also underlined by Moscow's announcement that it would quit the International Space Station after 2024.
Until now space exploration was one of the few areas where cooperation between Russia, the United States and its allies had not been wrecked by tensions over Ukraine and elsewhere.
The decision to leave the ISS program "has been made", Roscosmos chief Yury Borisov told Putin.
'Difficult' winter
Meanwhile, fighting continued in Ukraine. Kyiv said Russian forces launched multiple missile strikes at targets on the Black Sea coast near the southern port city of Odesa and in Mykolaiv.
The attacks come days after Russian strikes hit Odesa called into question a breakthrough deal to resume exports of grain from Ukraine, that have been disrupted by Moscow's invasion.
Rescuers were working on the ground near Odesa where "residential buildings" near the coast were hit in the strikes, Ukraine's southern military command said on Facebook.
In the east, Kramatorsk's mayor Oleksandr Goncharenko said he was worried about how tens of thousands of mostly elderly residents would cope in the coming months without any gas to keep them warm.
"This winter will be very difficult," he said.
He said that Ukrainian forces would have to push the Russians back at least 20 kilometers (12 miles) to be able to make repairs to broken gas pipes.
He called for more long-range weapons from Western allies to help repel the enemy.
Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom says it will have to further reduce gas flow through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Wednesday as it halts another turbine for repairs.
This comes days after Gazprom resumed gas shipments through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, a vital artery linking Russia's vast gas reserves to Europe via Germany. The pipeline had been shut 10 days for scheduled maintenance, and many had feared Russia would not resume deliveries once the work was done.
“Due to the expiration of prescribed time before overhaul (in line with the Rostekhnadzor notification and taking into account the technical condition of the relevant machine), Gazprom is shutting down one more gas turbine produced by Siemens at the Portovaya [compressor station],” the company said in a statement on Monday.
“The daily throughput of the Portovaya CS from 7:00 am (Moscow time) July 27 will be up to 33 million cubic meters,” the statement added.
The head of Germany’s gas regulator, Klaus Muller, confirmed the move in a tweet on Monday.
“According to our information, there is no technical reason for a reduction in gas deliveries via Nord Stream 1,“ the German Ministry of Economy insisted in a tweet on Monday.
“If Russian gas deliveries via Nord Stream 1 continue at this low level, a storage level of 95% by November is hardly achievable without additional measures,“ Germany's regulatory office for gas and electricity said in a statement Monday.
The country’s Economics Minister Robert Habeck had previously called on Germans to reduce gas consumption in order to get the gas storage facilities as full as possible for the winter.
Germany’s current total gas inventories are at 65.9%, according to the daily figures provided by the government.
The reduction in the gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will also affect the transfer of gas to other European countries such as France, Austria and the Czech Republic.
Wholesale prices have risen noticeably as a result of the reduction in gas supplies and have recently settled at a higher level, Germany’s regulatory office said, warning that “businesses and private consumers must prepare for significantly high gas prices.”
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline delivers 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year, or nearly 40% of the bloc's total pipeline imports from Russia.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Pesko said on Monday that a repaired gas turbine for Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline will be installed after all the technical procedures are fulfilled, after which the gas flow to Europe will resume “to the extent that is technologically possible.”
Peskov insisted that the issues with gas supply have nothing to do with politics.
“There is no politics here. These are the consequences of the restrictions that the Europeans themselves have introduced, and the Europeans themselves suffer from these restrictions,” he said, adding that Russia does not want Europe to give up Russian gas.
Moscow will continue to be a “reliable gas supplier," he said.
Ukrainian military reports widespread Russian artillery barrages in the east and says Moscow's troops are preparing for a new assault on Bakhmut, a city in the industrial Donbass region, as fighting rolls into its 153rd day.
Russia says it is engaged in a "special military operation" to "denazify" Ukraine. Kiev says the "war" is an unprovoked act of aggression.
(AFP)
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Zelenskyy: Russia wages 'open gas war' against united Europe
Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, has said it is cutting daily deliveries of gas to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline to 33 million cubic metres a day –– about 20 percent of the pipeline's capacity –– from Wednesday, leading Ukraine to call the West to action over the "gas war".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the cuts showed that Europe should bolster sanctions against Russia. "This is an open gas war that Russia is waging against a united Europe," Zelensky said.
"They don't care what will happen to the people, how they will suffer –– from hunger due to blocked ports, from winter cold and poverty... or the occupation. These are just different forms of terror," he said in his daily video message.
"That is why you have to hit back. Do not think about how to bring back the turbine, but strengthen the sanctions," he said.
US: Russian strike on Odesa port casts doubt on grain deal
Russia's attack on the Ukrainian port of Odessa casts doubt on a grain deal, the White House has said, adding that the United States would continue to explore options with the international community to increase Ukraine exports through overland routes.
The announcement comes after the Kremlin said it did not expect the Saturday missile strike targeting military infrastructure in Ukraine would affect a plan to restart exports from the country.
"We are going to be watching this closely to see if Russia meets their commitments under this arrangement since this attack casts serious doubt on Russia’s credibility," a National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement.
For live updates from Monnday (July 25), click here
