We have obtained a secret audio recording of a Moscow meeting between three Russian operatives and a close aide to Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini negotiating a plan to pump money from a Russian oil deal into Salvini’s far-right Lega party
The recording is of a meeting that took place at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow last October. The six men — three Russians, three Italians — are explicit that the purpose of the potential agreement is to fund Lega and its European election campaign
This tape provides the first hard evidence of Russia’s clandestine attempts to fund Europe’s nationalist movements, and the apparent complicity of some senior figures from the far right in those attempts
Salvini's aide, Gianluca Savoini, who attended the government dinner with Putin in Rome last week, mentions Salvini several times during the meeting. He describes him as "the first man that wants to change all of Europe". The Russians describe Salvini as the "European Trump"
When the existence of the Metropol meeting was reported by two Italian journalists earlier the year, Savoini and Salvini dismissed the story as a fantasy.
NEW: Russia failed in a years-long programme to cut its defence industry's reliance on foreign components, according to an internal report bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
A 2019-2025 plan that aimed to substitute 177,058 foreign components across hundreds of types of military equipment fell spectacularly short across all metrics.
In 2020, for example, Russia was aiming to develop from scratch 4,148 analogue electronic components: it managed none
Russia also failed to substitute foreign components in some of its most advanced & strategic weapons, including air defense system Nudol, TU-22 bombers, nuclear attack subs, Nebo radar systems, and numerous types of missiles, the audit shows.
The gas/rubles mess is a big test for the credibility of the EU and some member states. A short thread:
First, it's important to note that under existing contracts gas is paid for in euros (or dollars) and a buyer's legal obligation ends with that transfer ie payment is in euros
Putin's decree demands that buyers open 2 accounts with Gazprombank -- one in rubles -- and legal obligation is extinguished only after euros transferred into the first account are converted into rubles and Gazprom receives payment in rubles. ie payment is effectively in rubles
The EU's preliminary legal assessment concluded clearly that this payment mechanism breached contracts, sanctions and hands Russia total control of the process bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Russia violated human rights, international humanitarian law and committed war crimes in Ukraine, OSCE report finds bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Russia’s explanation for its attack on Mariupol’s maternity & children’s hospital was found to be without foundation — and deliberate.
“This attack therefore constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law and those responsible for it have committed a war crime.”
“Taken as a whole, the report documents the catalog of inhumanity perpetrated by Russia’s forces in Ukraine,” U.S. ambo to OSCE said, including evidence of direct targeting of civilians, attacks on medical facilities, rape, executions, looting and forced deportation of civilians.
NEW on @TheTerminal: Some EU member states want a new strong sanctions package to be implemented as soon as possible in light of reports that Russian troops committed apparent war crimes in Ukraine, including summary executions of unarmed civilians
The EU was already set to put forward measures as soon as this week to correct and tighten existing sanctions, as well as further listings of more goods, individuals and entities.
The debate is whether that action is now sufficient.
Several governments say the proposed measures do not go far enough and the trigger for a new package has been met.
Others, including Germany, have argued against targeting energy and ports, and wanted to wait before discussing a more stringent fifth package.
As we reported, several countries have sought carveouts (eg for some sectors and entities/banks) and exemptions (eg for energy related transactions) to cushion the impact on their own economies