Author: Steven Sahiounie

Participants in the summit called on Russia to “stop its ongoing aggression” and “withdraw its troops and military equipment from the entire internationally recognized territory of Ukraine” The G7 pledged more measures, including long-term military, financial, humanitarian and diplomatic assistance to Ukraine, to defeat Russia in the conflict, the leaders said in a statement on Ukraine at the Hiroshima summit on Friday. “Today we are taking new steps to ensure that Russia’s illegal aggression against the sovereign state of Ukraine fails. <…> We are renewing our commitment to provide the financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support Ukraine requires for as…

The Afghan Minister of Industry and Trade, Nouruddin Azizi, said that his country is studying the issue of purchasing oil products from some Russian companies, and is willing to sign an agreement with the “Tat Neft” company. In an interview with “Novosti” correspondent on the sidelines of the International Economic Forum “Russia – the Islamic World: Kazan Forum”, the minister added: “Last year, we held meetings with Russian oil companies, including from Tatarstan. We need about 4 million tons of oil products.” “We provide some of them through Turkmenistan and Iran. However, we want to conclude good agreements with Russian…

Oil prices rose, in trading today, Friday, amid investor optimism about global demand for crude, and black gold prices are heading towards recording the best weekly performance in a month. By 13:30 Moscow time, US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 1.2% to $72.72 a barrel. While Brent crude futures rose 1.23% to $76.79 a barrel, according to Bloomberg agency data. This article was originally published by RT.

Russia’s exports of agricultural produce increased last year despite Western trade barriers, President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday. During a meeting with the country’s agriculture minister, Putin stated that Russia had enjoyed its largest-ever grain harvest in the previous crop year, of almost 158 million tons. In the current agricultural year, which ends on June 30, the country is expecting to export up to 60 million tons of grain, the president added. According to estimates by the Agriculture Ministry, Russia had already exported 40 million tons of grain as of March. In the last farming year, overall grain exports stood at just over…

Services and energy costs are driving consumer prices across the single currency area Inflation in the euro area increased for the first time in five months in April, surging to 7%, the European Union’s statistics office reported on Wednesday, confirming preliminary data. Eurostat said consumer prices had risen from 6.9% in March as higher services and energy costs offset a slowdown in food price growth. Services inflation, which is primarily driven by labor costs, accelerated to 5.2% in April from 5.1% in the previous month. Energy prices were up again after a slight decline in March. Food, alcohol and tobacco…

Consumer prices in Austria saw their highest annual increase last year since 1975 Austria’s consumer price inflation has continued to rise, accelerating to 9.7% in April on an annual basis, the national statistics office reported on Wednesday. According to Statistics Austria, the figure jumped from 9.2% in the previous month and was just below the 9.8% increase seen in a flash report published on May 2. Inflation harmonized to compare with other European Union countries also increased in April to 9.5%, up from 9.2% in March. The report indicated that utility bills saw a major spike of 14.7% year-on-year, followed…

The Group of Seven nations have agreed not to impose an almost complete embargo on exports to Russia, choosing instead to expand existing restrictions on key goods, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Leaders of the seven advanced economies had previously discussed the option of barring all exports to Moscow as part of Ukraine-related sanctions, with a few exemptions including medicines, agricultural goods and food. The latest draft of a statement that the G7 leaders are expected to adopt during their summit in Hiroshima, which started on Friday, reportedly does not include such a provision.…

Smaller Chinese refineries have hiked import volumes used for blending, the agency reports Supplies of fuel oil from Russia to China are expected to reach an all-time high of 350,000 barrels in May, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing Kpler ship-tracking data. According to the agency, smaller Chinese refineries have boosted purchases of fuel oil, which is commonly used for blending and is a less valuable part of the barrel than gasoline and diesel. Supplies of Russian fuel oil to China saw an upsurge after February, when a price cap on Russian petroleum products adopted by the EU and G7 came…

Following several preparatory meetings, the works of 32nd round of Council of the Arab League on the level of Summit kicks off on Friday in presence of 15 Leaders, Presidents, Kings and Princes of the Arab Countries, according to SANA correspondent in Jeddah. Before the start of the meeting, the Presidents and Leaders will meet at 02:00 o’clock to take the collective photo. The opening session of the summit meeting will be public. It will include a speech by Algeria, then the presidency of the session will be handed over to Saudi Arabia to deliver its speech and chair the…

A senior US administration official promises “a significant effort that will extensively restrict Russia’s access to goods that matter for its battlefield capabilities.” The United States eyes “significant” new sanctions targeting Russia on Friday, as President Joe Biden meets with fellow G7 leaders in Japan. G7 leaders are reportedly scheduled to convene in Japan on May 19 for three days to discuss updates on Russia and the war in Ukraine, environmental investments, economic security, and the Indo-Pacific region. A senior US administration official promised “a significant effort that will extensively restrict Russia’s access to goods that matter for its battlefield capabilities.” “It will…