Green Peace

How the Fight Against Climate Change Can Overcome Geopolitical Discord

The clean energy transition has reached adolescence. Its future direction is not yet set, and in the meantime, its internal paradoxes make for a volatile mix. Political leaders fret that ambitious steps to address climate change will aggravate geopolitical problems in a world already troubled by wars and humanitarian crises. Governments worried about energy security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have advocated for strategies that embrace both fossil fuels and clean alternatives, lest dependence on imported oil give way to reliance on imported lithium. Rising inflation and economic slowdowns, too, are exacerbating concerns that the energy transition will lead to job losses and price hikes. The warnings are coming in quick succession. In March, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink championed “energy pragmatism” in his most recent annual letter, and a few weeks later, a JPMorgan Chase report called for a “reality check” about the transition away from fossil fuels. In April, Haitham al-Ghais, the secretary-general of OPEC, wrote that the energy transition would require “realistic policies” that acknowledge rising demand for oil and gas.

Bomber, Arsonist, Soldier, Spy: A Documentary Unmasks Russia’s ‘Useful Idiots’ in CEE

Polish filmmaker Konrad Szolajski’s new documentary looks at nearly a decade of Russian sabotage, espionage and disinformation across Central and Eastern Europe, with an eery actuality.
“Putting the whole project together took a lot of time – it was very difficult,” Konrad Szolajski explains as we meet a few hours before the international premiere of his new documentary, Putin’s Playground, in Prague on June 10.

What Role Did Foreign Spy Agencies Play In Sunday’s Terrorist Attacks In Dagestan?

Foreign spy agencies were likely involved to an uncertain extent, but they still relied on radicalized locals to do their dirty work, not their own compatriots.

The southern Russian region of Dagestan was hit by several terrorist attacks in Sunday after armed militants targeted a churches, synagogues, and a traffic police post in two separate cities. Abdulkhakim Gadzhiyev, who’s one of that region’s representatives in the Duma, promptly blamed Ukraine and NATO. Former Roscosmos chief and incumbent Senator from Zaporozhye region Dmitry Rogozin, however, politely rebuked him shortly thereafter in a Telegram post that reads as follows:

Turkey’s Fidan holds talks in Russia ahead of BRICS summit

Fidan’s attendance at the BRICS+ summit comes at a time when Turkey’s dismay with the European Union is growing over pending resumption of the modernization of the Customs Union Treaty.

ANKARA — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Monday as part of a two-day visit to Russia, which will also take him to the BRICS+ summit.

APU is counterattacked in Volchansk, strikes from HIMARS on air defense systems in the Belgorod region. What Happened at the Front This Week

  • In today’s summary:
  • The Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to stabilize the situation in the Kharkiv region, but it is still not possible to do this in the Donbass
  • Russian troops are expanding the zone of control north and south of Chasiv Yar in the Bakhmut direction
  • Ukrainian forces pushed the enemy in the urban area of Vovchansk, the northern part of the city was turned into ruins
  • Massive combined strikes on Ukraine – the targets were energy facilities and military airfields
  • The first effective use of Western weapons on the territory of the Russian Federation – the S-300 / S-400 air defense system was hit near Belgorod
  • Vladimir Putin spoke about the fantastic ratio of losses in the war – the Russian Armed Forces are losing “five times less” people
  • French President Emmanuel Macron announced the transfer of Mirage 2000-5 fighters to the Armed Forces of Ukraine
  • The new military aid package from the United States includes ammunition for air defense and HIMARS, howitzers, and M113 armored personnel carriers
  • The situation at the front
  • In one of the reviews, Ukrainian military observer Konstantin Mashovets admitted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine, unlike the Kharkiv direction, failed to completely stop the Russian advance in the eastern operational zone. In the north of the Avdiivka operational area near Ocheretyne, the situation remains threatening: in particular, the Russians engaged in battles for the village of Sokol. Impressive footage of these battles is published on social networks, for example, the “meeting” between a Russian BTR-82A with a landing party and a Ukrainian Bradley infantry fighting vehicle on the same road. In the same area, as the Ukrainian military writes (1, 2), the RF Armed Forces do not stop trying to reach the Pokrovsk-Konstantinovka highway.

What to know about Russia’s growing footprint in Africa

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat pledged help and military assistance while on a whirlwind tour of several countries in Africa’s sub-Saharan region of Sahel this week, as Moscow seeks to grow its influence in the restive, mineral-rich section of the continent.