🚨ALERT🚨 At press conference just now, #Finnish investigators release first subsea images of the #Balticconnector pipeline damage site, along with images of the “extremely heavy object” they found near the pipeline and subsequently recovered, appearing to be an anchor.



Additional updates from Finnish presser:

▪️Object recovered is anchor.

▪️Marks on seabed suggest anchor was dragged for at least *several kilometers* before hitting Balticconnector.

▪️Seabed mark continued at least *several kilometers* after pipeline damage site.

[1]🚨BREAKING🚨Calls for Manuela Schwesig to resign reemerged today, after revelations that she promoted a deal to sell helicopter & drone parts to Russia in 2018, despite the fact that the CEO of the receiving firm, Russian Helicopters, was already under EU sanctions

👇Thread👇 [2] Revelation about Schwesig comes after years of scandal around her leadership of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, after she facilitated the creation of a fake “climate foundation” funded aimed at circumventing sanctions on Putin’s #NordStream2 & a ship it owned…

🧵 [1] JUST OUT: A statement from the @FSIStanford @McFaul-led International Working Group on Russia Sanctions calling on Canada to reverse #NordStream1 turbine sanctions waiver decision & for German & US governments to politically endorse the reversal👇

drive.google.com/file/d/13IfWfw… [2] Working Group co-signers of this statement calling for a reversal of the Siemens turbine sanctions waiver include: @McFaul, @JohnEdHerbst, @Nataliia_Shapo, @edwardfishman, @FukuyamaFrancis, @kath_stoner, @steven_pifer, @ben_moll, @MSnegovaya, Richard Morningstar & many more!

[1] “Once one dismisses the rest of all possible worlds, one finds that this is the best of all possible worlds”

This @washingtonpost retelling of the #NordStream2 sanctions saga borders on the Panglossian by missing key elements:

👇THREAD👇

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/… [2] First, the article suggests that the metric by which the July 2021 “deal” to drop mandatory, bipartisan Congressional sanctions to stop the Kremlin-backed #NordStream2 pipeline was an agreement focused such that if Putin invaded Ukraine, Berlin would stop the project:

🧵[1] The Kremlin & other defenders of #Russia’s state-owned oil & gas firms have long claimed variations on the theme that #Moscow’s energy projects are “just commercial” & “Russia has always been a reliable energy supplier”

Really⁉️

👇Roll highlights👇
cepa.org/natos-eastern-… [2] 👀 “Russia has always been a reliable energy supplier”

(13 May 2022)

rferl.org/a/31848687.html

🧵 [1] JUST OUT: The 2nd report I’ve coauthored with the recently-formed International Working Group on Russia Sanctions, coordinated by @FSIStanford @McFaul outlining urgent comprehensive energy embargoes & sanctions on Putin’s regime.

👇Highlights👇

fsi.stanford.edu/working-group-… [2] 🇺🇸🇪🇺🇺🇦Working Group is comprised of a stellar lineup of Transatlantic security experts that coauthored this report, including: @Nataliia_Shapo, @AmbDanFried, @maria_shagina, @edwardfishman, @RichardMNephew, @FukuyamaFrancis, @kath_stoner, @steven_pifer, @OlgaBielkova & more!

🧵 [1] ALERT: Kremlin-controlled #Gazprom informed #Polish & #Bulgarian officials that it suspended natural gas deliveries to both countries, once again demonstrating how #Moscow continues to weaponize energy against Europe.

👇Details below & in thread👇

apnews.com/article/russia… [2] 👀 First, the latest flow rates reported by the EU @ENTSOG natural gas network flow transparency portal. According to ENTSOG, Gazprom physical flows at the Kondratki entry point to the Yamal transmission pipeline at the Poland-Belarus border is near zero:

🧵
🇺🇸🇪🇺🇺🇦
[1]JUST OUT: Report that I’ve coauthored with the recently-formed International Working Group on Russia Sanctions, coordinated by @FSIStanford @McFaul outlining an urgent comprehensive sanctions package on the Putin regime.

👇Highlights below👇

fsi.stanford.edu/working-group-… [2] 🇺🇸🇪🇺🇺🇦The Working Group is comprised of a stellar lineup of experts that coauthored this report, including: @AmbDanFried, @maria_shagina, @edwardfishman, @FukuyamaFrancis, @kath_stoner, @steven_pifer, @fromTGA & many more!

🧵 [1] 🛰 Proud to announce the launch of @DukeU’s SPACE DIPLOMACY LAB - a new program I’ve co-founded at @DUCIGS from my perch @Harvard @CenterForAstro

Our 1st Focus: How will 🇷🇺’s invasion of 🇺🇦 impact space cooperation & how can SpaceTech help 🇺🇦 now.

today.duke.edu/2022/03/new-la… [2] Recently my @DUCIGS Space Diplomacy Lab Co-Director Prof Giovanni Zanalda & I hosted a roundtable focused on space issues posed by 🇷🇺‘s war on 🇺🇦 & long-term space security challenges w/ space media leaders @LorenGrush, @RaminSkibba & @Jeff_Foust:
👇👇

[1] 🚨THREAD🚨 According to @NesteGlobal, Russian Urals crude oil continues to crater in price compared to the Brent crude benchmark. Trading at -$5.65 per barrel on 5 day average.

What does this mean? And how can corporate responsibility urgently support Ukraine? Please read👇 [2] Energy traders still assess sanctions & reputational risk of importing Russian oil, & are avoiding oil tanker calls at Baltic & Black Sea Russian ports due to security & sanctions risk.

Turkish owned ship was struck by a shell in Black Sea today.

maritime-executive.com/article/turkis…

👇👇👇 THREAD:

[1] 🇺🇸🇩🇪🇪🇺🇺🇦 Germany’s announcement it has suspended certification of Kremlin’s #NordStream2 pipeline was an urgently needed step given Russia’s overt invasion of Ukraine’s Donbas region. Welcome & long overdue. [2] Suspending the certification process for #NordStream2 should be seen as a first step by Berlin in deterring further Russian military action against Ukraine, followed by further action to block the pipeline for good.

🇺🇸🇪🇺 [1] With Washington once again focusing on policy options to stop the Kremlin-backed NordStream2 pipeline this week, my attempt at a (hopefully thoughtful) thread to help provide context: [2] The framing of NordStream2 sanctions has suddenly (and unfortunately) become partisan, but in fact, opposition to NS2 has been bipartisan since 2015, and support for sanctions has been led by Democrats and Republicans since 2017.