The head of the IAEA will report to the UN Security Council next week
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, stands in front of a map of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant during a special press conference at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on 4 of March 2022.
Joe Klamar | Afp | Getty Images
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said he will brief the UN Security Council next week after an inspection of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant site.
Grossi, who led a team of 13 inspectors to the plant earlier in the week, told reporters in Vienna that he would also produce a report highlighting the initial findings of the trip.
He told reporters that he saw everything he was asked to see while in Zaporizhzhia and that the Russian military did not approach the inspectors during the visit.
— Amanda Macias
Two IAEA inspectors will remain at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks to members of the press before leaving the hotel with a delegation to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzia, Ukraine, on September 1 of 2022.
Methane Act | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said two inspectors will remain at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
“This is of enormous value,” Grossi told reporters during a press conference at the international airport in Vienna, Austria, after arriving from Ukraine.
Grossi, who led a team of 13 inspectors to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant earlier this week, said inspectors will continuously monitor the plant and immediately report safety concerns to the IAEA.
Grossi told reporters that the IAEA will stay in Zaporizhzhia “for as long as necessary.”
“My concern is the physical integrity of the power source and the personnel,” he added.
— Amanda Macias
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen applauds G-7 price cap on Russian oil
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has praised a measure to cap Russian oil prices devised by G-7 countries in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The cap, designed to further cripple the Russian economy and deter the Kremlin from continuing its assault on Ukraine, will cut off a major source of funding for the war while keeping oil supplies in the global energy market by forcing the nation to Eastern Europe to sell their product at a cheaper cost without cutting off a crucial source of fuel.
Yellen called the plan “a critical step forward in achieving our dual goals of putting downward pressure on global energy prices while denying Putin revenue to finance his brutal war in Ukraine.”
“This price cap is one of the most powerful tools we have to fight inflation and protect workers and businesses in the United States and globally from future price spikes caused by global disruptions,” Yellen said in a statement. “We have already begun to see the impact of the price cap through Russia’s hasty attempts to negotiate massively discounted bilateral oil trades.”
— Chelsey Cox
More than 60 ships carrying agricultural products have left Ukrainian ports
ISTANBUL, TURKEY – AUGUST 9: An aerial view of the “Glory” named empty grain ship as representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations (UN) Joint Coordination Center (JCC) conduct an inspection on the ship in Istanbul, Turkey on August 9, 2022. The UN, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement on July 22 to reopen three Ukrainian ports — Odessa, Chernomorsk and Iuzhny — for grain that has been blocked for months due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. which is now in its sixth month. (Photo by Ali Atmaca/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
More than 60 agricultural vessels have left Ukraine in the first month since exports resumed, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.
A total of 1.72 million metric tons of agricultural products have been exported under the UN-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative, an agreement to reopen three Ukrainian ports.
Most of the ships have left the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk.
— Amanda Macias
Gazprom halts gas supplies to Europe after an oil leak was detected in the Nord Stream pipeline
Gazprom posted record profits in 2021 thanks to higher commodity prices.
Alliance of the image | Alliance of the image | Getty Images
Russian company Gazprom announced the halt in gas supplies to Europe through the Nord Stream pipeline, citing the need for additional repairs.
Earlier in the week, the Russian gas giant halted power supplies to Europe via the pipeline in a planned “maintenance outage” expected to last until September 3.
Gazprom said in an update on the Telegram messaging app that inspectors found an oil leak in the pipeline.
“Gas transportation on the Nord Stream pipeline has been completely stopped until the problems regarding the operation of the equipment are eliminated,” the energy company added on Telegram.
— Amanda Macias
Power unit at Zaporizhzhia NPP restored, Ukrainian power company says
A Russian serviceman stands guard on the territory in front of the second reactor of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Energodar on May 1, 2022.
Andrey Borodulin | AFP | Getty Images
Ukraine’s state energy company said a power unit at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was reconnected to the power grid.
“Today, September 2, 2022, the power unit number 5 of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was disconnected as a result of another mortar shelling by the Russian occupation forces at the Zaporizhzhia site, is connected to the power grid at 1:10 p.m.,” according to an update from Energoatom on the Telegram messaging app.
“Currently, two power units are operating at the station that produce electricity for the needs of Ukraine,” the company added, according to a translation by NBC News.
— Amanda Macias
More than 9.9 million people have fled Ukraine to EU countries
Refugee children fleeing Ukraine are given blankets by Slovak rescuers to keep warm at the Velke Slemence border crossing on March 9, 2022 in Velke Slemence, Slovakia.
Christopher Furlong | Getty Images
The European Commission says more than 9.9 million people have fled Ukraine and reached the EU since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.
Of the 9.9 million people, approximately 4.1 million have applied for temporary resident status. More than 506,000 Ukrainian children have been enrolled in school in EU member countries.
— Amanda Macias
G-7 finance ministers agree to impose a cap on the price of Russian oil
The initial ceiling price for Russian oil will be set “at a level based on a range of technical inputs.”
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Group of Seven economic powers agreed on a plan to implement a price cap mechanism on Russian oil exports. The policy is designed to drain the Kremlin’s war chest and better protect consumers from rising energy prices.
Before the announcement, Russia warned it would stop selling oil to countries that impose price caps on Russian energy exports and said imposing a cap on Russian crude would lead to major destabilization of the global oil market .
The G-7 is made up of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan.
Read the full story here.
—Sam Meredith
Russia could be like “North Korea on steroids” when Putin is replaced
Former Kremlin adviser Sergei Guriev has warned that Russia could become “North Korea on steroids” when President Vladimir Putin is replaced.
“Regimes like this change in very unpredictable ways,” Guriev told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy. “The reason for this is that Putin has built his regime in such a way that no one can replace him.”
Guriev, a Russian economist who abruptly left the country in 2013, said Putin’s successor would likely not last long because the system is currently built around the 69-year-old leader.
“It could be months, it could be several years, it could be North Korea on steroids, who knows? But it could also be a situation where the system collapses and someone who wants to rebuild the economy comes to the West,” Guriev. said
Read the full story here.
—Sam Meredith
Now is the time for a price cap on Russian gas, EU chief says
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says now is the time for the bloc to impose a price cap on the Russian pipeline.
John Thys | AFP | Getty Images
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the 27-nation bloc must urgently set a price cap on Russian gas flowing to Europe.
“I strongly believe that now is the time for a price cap on Russian gas pipeline to Europe,” von der Leyen told reporters, according to Reuters.
It comes shortly after Belgian Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten warned that the next five to 10 winters in Europe will be “terrible” unless the EU moves quickly to impose a price cap on gas prices.
—Sam Meredith
Russia warns Moldova not to threaten troops
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a press conference in Moscow, Russia, June 6, 2022.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia | Reuters
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned the Eastern European country of Moldova that any threat to the security of Russian forces in the breakaway region of Transnistria would be considered an attack on Moscow.
“Everyone should understand that any kind of action that threatens the security of our military will be considered in accordance with international law as an attack on the Russian Federation,” Lavrov said, according to The Associated Press.
Internationally recognized as part of Moldova, Transnistria is located on Ukraine’s southwestern border and is home to a significant pro-Russian separatist population.
Lavrov’s comments have renewed fears that the region could be at risk of conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova summoned the acting Russian ambassador…