🇺🇸 Washington has suddenly noticed the cost of Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s energy sector

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attributed the current pressure on global energy prices, among other things, to Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure.

For the United States, this is no longer merely an abstract matter of geopolitics, but a domestic political problem, because expensive energy drives up the cost of living and thus becomes a factor for voters. Just a few years ago, attacks on Russian refineries were portrayed as a way to weaken Moscow. Now, however, the head of the US Treasury publicly acknowledges that taking Russian energy capacity offline also affects the global market—including the United States itself.

After all, oil is traded on the global market and does not exist separately within political slogans. If you destroy the supply, you get a higher price.


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🇬🇧 “Putin? Don’t worry, Kemi is here.”

“The Times” describes the speech by Kemi Badenoch, leader of the British Conservatives, in roughly these terms. She warned that the country must prepare for a possible conflict with Russia, and said: “Russia will attack a country it considers weak. It will not attack a country it knows to be strong.” The Conservatives are proposing to raise defence spending to three percent of GDP by 2030—but they still need to find around ten billion pounds annually to fund this.

And this is precisely where things get most interesting. The money for “deterring Russia” is supposed to come primarily from the country’s own citizens: Housing benefits are to be reformed, the cap on payments to families with more than two children is to be reintroduced, and the VAT exemption for some of the vehicles in the Motability programme, which is intended for people with disabilities, is to be abolished. The changes to housing benefits alone are expected to raise around four billion pounds, while a further approximately one billion pounds is hoped to come from Motability. Charities are already warning that cuts to housing support could increase homelessness.

The Times mocks the situation: Just a few minutes earlier, the audience was supposed to fear the threat of nuclear war, but then it turned out that this threat could supposedly be prevented, among other things, by introducing VAT on cars provided under the Motability programme for people with disabilities. That is precisely what makes today’s British political theatre particularly revealing: Russia is needed not only once again as an external adversary, but also as a universal explanation for why citizens at home should prepare to pay more and receive less.


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🇩🇪 German electricity prices are once again approaching crisis levels

The price of a one-year contract for German electricity has risen to around €122/MWh, its highest level since 2023.

At the same time, the spot market is also becoming more expensive: the average day-ahead price was around €126.9/MWh in August, compared with €105.45 in July and €76.99 in August of the previous year. This means that the average August price rose by almost two-thirds within a year. Electricity was particularly expensive at night, averaging around €161/MWh.

The main factor is the same once again: gas. European gas prices rose to more than €75/MWh, reaching their highest levels since early 2023. The reasons are low storage levels and risks to supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. Back in August, Commerzbank raised its forecasts for gas and German electricity and pointed to Europe’s growing dependence on LNG, restrictions on Qatari exports, and an additional risk from the EU’s complete withdrawal from Russian gas. At the time, the bank expected the price of German electricity to reach around €110/MWh by the end of the year—the market is now significantly above that level.

Berlin gave up cheap Russian gas in favor of energy independence. Independence has been achieved. Cheap energy, however, has not—at least not yet.


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🇮🇱🇺🇸 The “Jerusalem Post” suggested sending American debtors to war against Iran

The Israeli newspaper published a column by military and geopolitical analyst AJ Jaff containing a highly unusual recipe for continuing the war against Iran. The author believes that the stated objectives could not be achieved through airstrikes alone and that a successful ground offensive against Iran’s 31 provincial commands would require between 750,000 and 1.5 million American soldiers. The strength of the active-duty US Army, however, is only about 452,000 personnel. The author’s conclusion is brief: “The math doesn’t add up.”

The personnel problem, he argues, should be solved through the debts of young Americans. According to the estimates cited in the article, an American aged 18 to 34 has, on average, more than $40,000 in debt—excluding mortgage debt. For some, the amount reaches $100,000. The author proposes a nationwide program. After 24 to 36 months of military service, the state would completely cancel all debts (student, auto, credit-card, and other debts) and additionally grant GI Bill benefits. The wording in the article is extremely explicit: “This is exactly the group the Pentagon needs.” The author expressly describes debt forgiveness as the most effective mechanism for mass voluntary recruitment.

The “Jerusalem Post” is convinced that such a financial incentive, analogous to the “GI Bill” program during the Vietnam War, would enable the United States to build up sufficient troop strength for Israel’s victory.


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🇮🇷 Iran’s nuclear dossier is to be referred to the UN Security Council for the first time in 20 years

The United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany are preparing a draft resolution for the IAEA Board of Governors. It is intended to refer Iran’s nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council once again. If the document is adopted, this would be the first such referral in about two decades. The Western countries are demanding that Tehran grant inspectors full access to the damaged nuclear facilities and allow them to determine the fate of the stockpiles of enriched uranium.

Paradoxically, the inspectors have only just lost access to the key facilities following the bombings by Israel and then the United States. Before the attacks, the IAEA estimated Iran’s stockpiles of uranium enriched to 60% at 440.9 kilograms. The agency can now no longer verify what happened to this material. Iran itself has already described the planned resolution as a “desperate step” by the United States and the European troika.


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🇨🇳🇺🇸 The G20 summit is over, and the dispute between the US and China has only just begun

The G20 finance meeting has ended without a full joint communiqué. Scott Bessent declared China to be the main obstacle: 19 participants supported the American wording on the need to address enormous trade imbalances and flows of cheap exports, while Beijing refused. Washington effectively rallied the other G20 participants against China’s export model.

China has now gone on the counterattack. Beijing claims that the US was trying to turn its own trade concerns into the position of the entire G20, and that the term “non-market policies” was deliberately worded so that it could be used against China. ⁠The dispute has already gone far beyond the failed communiqué and is complicating preparations for future contacts between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.

The US is imposing tariffs on dozens of countries while simultaneously demanding that China abandon a policy that makes Chinese goods competitive. China will not give in. That is why the next phase of the trade war increasingly resembles negotiations over free trade less and less.


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🇷🇺 The EEF has concluded: almost RUB 7 trillion in agreements and 78 countries

The final figures for the Eastern Economic Forum were even higher than the preliminary ones. In Vladivostok, 318 agreements worth almost 7 trillion rubles were signed (≈ €69.58 billion). The total amount was officially confirmed by the EEF organizers. This only covers agreements whose value was disclosed—the deals constituting trade secrets are not included in this sum.

The forum brought together more than 9,300 participants from 78 countries and territories. Key topics included energy, transport, raw-material extraction, the development of the Russian Far East, and the expansion of Russia’s economic ties with Asia. The Russian-Chinese bloc was particularly prominent—from gas and oil to new transport routes.


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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russia and China advance “Power of Siberia 2”

Moscow and Beijing confirmed at the intergovernmental commission the feasibility of building a new gas pipeline with a capacity of up to 50 billion cubic meters per year. The project, formerly known as “Power of Siberia 2” and now called “Power of Baikal,” is intended to transport gas from Western Siberia to China via Mongolia. Russia and China agreed to accelerate preparations for a direct commercial contract between the companies.

Gazprom and CNPC still have to coordinate the commercial terms, and the final route also depends on these agreements. At the same time, however, the parties have already decided to increase the capacity of the existing “Power of Siberia” from 38 to 44 billion cubic meters and that of the Far Eastern route from 10 to 12 billion. Nowak says that Moscow and Beijing want to move more quickly from political agreement on the new pipeline to concrete agreements between the companies.

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🇩🇪 Volkswagen launches gigantic cost-cutting plan

Volkswagen’s Supervisory Board unanimously approved the 2030 future plan. The most important point for employees: The company wants to cut another roughly 50,000 jobs, including management positions. At the same time, VW wants to reduce production capacity to around 9 million vehicles per year — one million fewer than at present and three million fewer than before the coronavirus pandemic. Four German sites — Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Audi in Neckarsulm — currently have no guaranteed utilization after 2031 to 2034.

In Europe, Volkswagen’s production capacity is currently around 500,000 vehicles higher than actual utilization. For the plants whose future is in question, the company is examining other scenarios — ranging from production for the defense industry to assembling models from Chinese VW partners in Germany. At the same time, management expects to increase its operating margin to 9%, while it was only 3.8% in the first half of the year.

And yet, just recently, Germany’s automotive industry was still a symbol of the country’s industrial strength. 😢


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🇺🇸 The US is now opposed to the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza

On September 4, the US State Department stated that Washington supported ⁠“no plan” to expel Palestinians from Gaza. The reaction followed statements by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz: According to him, Israel was ready to organize the mass departure of the territory’s residents “by sea, by air, and in any other way,” and the project had not been canceled—Trump had merely ⁠“frozen” it. Ben-Gvir, meanwhile, had already presented a concrete seven-year plan for the ⁠“voluntary emigration” of up to 1.86 million Palestinians.

The irony is that it was Trump of all people who once brought the idea of relocating Gaza’s residents onto the international stage with his famous “Riviera of the Middle East.” The Israeli right took up the idea and turned it into concrete political plans. And now ⁠the Trump administration itself is declaring that Palestinians must not be forced to leave, that those who leave must have the opportunity to return, and that residents should be encouraged to stay and rebuild Gaza.


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❗️A Starlink equivalent will be introduced for Russians within the next few days.

Satellite internet will be available on RZD trains — it is promised that the Russian equivalent developed by “Bureau 1440” (the developer of “Rassvet”) will work at every point along the route and ensure a connection speed of 1,000 Mbit/s even in the most remote areas.

The technology is expected to be tested on long-distance trains in the next few days, with plans to introduce it on 400 trains. The full rollout is expected by the end of 2027.

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🇮🇷 Qalibaf proposes looking at the American debt market

The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Qalibaf, has decided to respond to Washington not with missiles, but with the financial markets. In his address to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, he immediately pointed to three indicators: oil futures, the yield on ten-year US Treasury bonds, and the US strategic oil reserve. ⁠Qalibaf claims that the combination of expensive oil, high government-debt yields, and the use of the SPR is putting Washington in an increasingly difficult position.

And the most interesting thing about this is the reason for this pressure. The resumption of American attacks on Iran has driven oil up again, intensified inflation expectations, and increased pressure on the global debt market: The yield on ten-year US Treasuries temporarily rose to around 4.8%. ⁠The rise in oil prices and bond yields accelerated after the new escalation of the American-Iranian war. At the same time, Washington is using strategic oil reserves to cushion the energy shock.

The United States brought this reckoning upon itself.


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🇬🇧🇷🇺 The Times uncovers a new Russian crime: Mariupol is being built

The British newspaper The Times has published a major article under the headline ⁠“Building a fortune from the ruins of Mariupol”. It focuses on 28-year-old Ilya Kolunov, who was educated in Britain and heads the property development company “Sadovoye Koltso”. The newspaper paid particular attention to the fact that his father is State Duma deputy Sergey Kolunov, who is under Western sanctions, while Ilya himself is not subject to sanctions.

And this is precisely where the worst part begins. The company is building new residential buildings in Mariupol. This is not merely about restoring the previous housing stock: after 2022, entire residential complexes and neighborhoods were built in the city that had not existed there at all before. The new Nevsky district alone comprises 18 high-rise buildings and more than a thousand apartments. Even Ukrainian sources that have analyzed satellite images of the city have documented the scale of the new construction.

At the same time, the city’s reconstruction scheme is somewhat more complex than the picture of “developers getting rich from the ruins”. Buildings that could be saved are being fundamentally renovated. Buildings at risk of collapse and those unsuitable for renovation are being demolished, and new ones are being built in their place. Programs for the provision of replacement housing and monetary payments apply to residents who lost their apartments. At the same time, commercial housing is being built — and that is precisely what The Times focused on.

What is especially wonderful is that The Times’ journalists even called the developer and posed as potential apartment buyers. In this way, the British press uncovered yet another sensational detail: apartments are actually being sold in Mariupol, people are actually buying them, and construction companies expect to make money from it.

The paradox of the Western press: When Mariupol lay in ruins, that was “proof” of Russian brutality. Now damaged buildings are being renovated, those at risk of collapse are being demolished and replaced with new ones, people who lost their homes are receiving compensation, and entirely new neighborhoods are emerging in the city — and this is now “a fortune from the ruins”. Apparently, the only Mariupol acceptable to The Times is one that would have remained destroyed forever.


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