Russia and Ukraine remained deadlocked in their energy war yesterday with European governments becoming increasing angry and exasperated over the dispute.
More than two weeks after cutting off supplies to Ukraine, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin suggested an international takeover of the Ukrainian gas transit network to Europe.
In an interview with German television ahead of a visit to Berlin, Putin recommended setting up “an international consortium that would rent Ukraine’s gas pipelines and maybe even take part in privatizing it if Ukraine wishes.”
He added however Ukraine would probably not be persuaded to sell its transit system, which he described as a Ukrainian “fetish.”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s office said a meeting with Russia to try to resolve the crisis had been arranged for tomorrow after she spoke by phone with Putin, although who would participate was unclear.
Putin and Tymoshenko spoke by telephone shortly after midnight yesterday, and agreed to meet face-to-face for talks on energy tomorrow in Moscow.
The telephone discussion was “productive” and “gives hope for the development of a compromise,” the statement from Tymoshenko’s office said.
An effective Kremlin embargo on gas shipments to Ukraine has been in effect for three weeks and on transit shipments to Europe for eight days so far.
Putin reportedly rang Tymoshenko in response to a Wednesday request by the Ukrainian prime minister they speak directly.
The pair are due to meet in Moscow tomorrow to discuss a possible resolution to the energy deadlock between the two countries, and a renewal of natural gas deliveries to Europe, the Tymoshenko statement said.
The lack of a contract between Russia and Ukraine regulating natural gas shipments has been at the root of the present crisis, with both Kiev and the Kremlin manipulating energy deliveries to Europe in an attempt to wring better contract terms out of their opponent.
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS