Vladimir Putin says UK and Russia must break ‘deadlock’ in sour relations December 20, 2018 Vladimir Putin has held his annual press conference in which he said Russia and Britain must get out of the "deadlock" in the sour relations. The Russian president said he was interested in restoring "full relations" with Britain, which has imposed sanctions on Russia over the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter [...]
The Ghost of Christmas Past could tell us where the negotiations all went wrong December 19, 2018 In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Scrooge finds being haunted by the Ghost of Christmas Past unbearable. He begs it to stop. The Ghost replies: “These are the shadows of things that have been. That they are what they are, do not blame me.” It might almost be the Prime Minister speaking about the whole [...]
Rigged and ready: After recent gains, are oil prices set to recover? December 4, 2018 The oil market has had a tough time this year, with prices sliding since October. And yet, there’s been a radical turn of events over recent days, with the picture looking drastically different as the markets opened for trading this week. In fact, one of yesterday’s biggest market movements was oil, with brent crude surging [...]
Trump cancels meeting with Putin over Ukraine crisis November 29, 2018 US President Donald Trump has cancelled a meeting with Russian leader Vladmir Putin after the Russian navy seized two Ukranian vessels. The leaders were due to meet at the G20 in Argentina over the weekend, and the meeting was confirmed earlier today by the Kremlin. However, this afternoon Trump cancelled the meeting, citing Russian aggression [...]
Russian and Ukrainian markets shaken as feuding escalates after naval clash November 26, 2018 Russian and Ukrainian assets have both tumbled after the Ukrainian Navy said the Russian military had opened fire on several of its ships, wounding six sailors and subsequently seizing the vessels. The Ukrainian hryvnia tumbled as much as 0.61 per cent against the dollar, and government bond yields jumped after a significant price fall. Russia’s [...]
Russian boss of spy agency blamed for Novichok attack on Sergei Skripal dies November 22, 2018 The Russian spy chief who allegedly oversaw the attacks on the Skripals in the UK has died. Colonel-General Igor Korobov, 62, who has run Russian spy agency the GRU since 2016, died on Wednesday, the Russian defence ministry said today. The UK government has accused the GRU of being behind the nerve agent attacks on [...]
Bill Browder calls for Russia to be barred from Interpol system after ‘serial abuse’ November 20, 2018 Hermitage Capital boss Bill Browder called today for Russia to be barred from the Interpol system ahead of the potential election of a Russian head of the international policing body. At a press conference in London today, Browder and exiled Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky described Russian abuse of the Interpol system to pursue them overseas. [...]
Russia wants to destabilise Interpol, warns Putin critic Bill Browder November 19, 2018 Bill Browder, the US-born investor and Putin critic, struck back today against new allegations made against him by Russia, accusing the country of attempting to use its international influence to destabilise Interpol. Prosecutors in Moscow claimed Browder's fund shareholders used illegal profits made in the country to fund donations to the Democratic Party, and claimed he may [...]
Impeaching Trump would be disastrous for the Democrats November 9, 2018 It took the President mere hours after holding his post-midterms press conference to drop the inevitable bombshell. After months of lambasting Jeff Sessions, the attorney general was being fired, replaced with the more amenable Matthew Whitaker. Why such ire towards Sessions, when he had been one of Donald Trump’s fiercest supporters on the campaign trail? [...]
China’s Xi issues warning to Trump as he prepares to meet with Putin at G20 November 8, 2018 Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned US President Donald Trump to respect its choices, ahead of the two world leaders meeting at the G20 summit in Argentina later this month. China and the US have been embroiled in a trade war for several months, placing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods on both [...]