First Russian-built ice-class LNG tanker to launch this year, Ifx reports
International sanctions over Ukraine have led to a shortage of tankers in Russia that can cut through thick ice, preventing Arctic LNG 2 from exporting cargo since the first stage of the plant started operation at the end of 2023.
The tanker, named Alexey Kosygin after a Soviet statesman, was built at the Zvezda shipyard and is due to join the fleet of vessels for the Arctic LNG 2 plant.
The tanker, already under U.S. sanctions, started sea trials at the end of last year and the final trial stage is due to begin at the end of this month.
"If all test parameters are achieved, there is a good chance that the vessel will be put into operation in the second half of this year," Sovcomflot's CEO Igor Tonkovidov told Interfax.
Russian energy company Novatek (NVTK.MM), opens new tab, which owns 60% of Arctic LNG 2, has said 15 Arc7 ice-class tankers that are able to cut through two-metre (6.5 ft) thick ice to transport LNG from Arctic projects, will be built at the Zvezda shipyard.
In total, Novatek has contracted 21 such tankers.
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Telegraph
28 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Britain to help restart civilian flights into Ukraine after ceasefire
Britain will help restart international air travel into Ukraine after a peace deal is agreed to boost the country's economy and rebuild its independence. The Coalition of the Willing, a group of more than 30 nations supportive of Ukraine, wants to establish 'normal' flying conditions in the event of a ceasefire. Royal Air Force fighter jets are due to join planes from other European nations in policing the skies to make sure that Russia does not launch a second full-scale invasion. But a secondary aim will be to once again reinstate international travel in and out of Ukrainian cities. A similar effort will be made to reopen Ukraine's ports by accelerating ongoing efforts to clear the Black Sea of mines. The ambitions show an additional feature of the West's hopes of rebuilding Ukraine into not just a secure and strong nation after the fighting ends, but an economically thriving one. There would also be upsides for European travellers, who for more than three years have experienced longer journeys as planes divert around the Ukrainian border. In the sky over Europe, from Portugal to Ukraine, the flight radar shows a striking contrast. Busy air routes full of passenger planes gradually give way to an empty horizon. — (@ukraine_ua) August 14, 2025 Planning for how Europe can do more to protect Ukraine's independence if there is a deal with Russia has been going on intensively for months. Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, have been taking the lead on the drive, with a joint headquarters being set up in Paris. The coalition has put an emphasis that nations reluctant to take part in peace-keeping efforts should not hold back others more ready to act. The coalition will also consider how to ensure Russia will not restock its military after a ceasefire is declared, which could enable a second full-scale invasion in the future. The Prime Minister committed to the consideration of putting British 'boots on the ground and planes in the air', though the idea of a mass UK deployment to man any new border has faded. Instead, hundreds of British military trainers and engineers will be sent into Ukraine to help rebuild its armed forces. The first deployments are expected to take place within a week of a ceasefire, with the UK presence ramping up in the weeks after that. Allies would fly planes over Ukraine to patrol the skies and deter a second Russian invasion, under the plans. The UK is willing to provide Eurofighter Typhoons and F-35s. This would also allow commercial air travel to resume. In July, the UK Government said planes from the coalition would provide 'air policing, reassuring the Ukrainian population and establishing the conditions for normal international air travel to re-commence'. Alongside this will be an effort to create 'safer seas' around Ukraine. The Black Sea Task Force, which was set up by Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria, would be bolstered with specialist staff to more quickly clear mines in the water. The UK Government said this drive would 'ensure safe and secure maritime access for all vessels transiting to and from Ukraine ports'. The resumption of more normal air travel and port activity would provide a boost to the Ukrainian economy at a time when Kyiv wants to rebuild its military. Other companies and travellers in Europe could benefit too. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) noted in its 2025 annual report: 'The ongoing war in Ukraine also has affected air transport in various ways. 'Twenty per cent of European airspace has been closed and Russian airspace overflight rights withdrawn for most Western airlines, requiring the re-routing of long-haul flights to Asia.' How quickly private airline companies would be willing to fly once again both over and into Ukraine, even with the coalition patrols, remains to be seen.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Global markets face shaky week ahead as US pressure mounts on Ukraine
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The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
Putin won in Anchorage. Now Zelenskyy and Europe are in an even more perilous position
Donald Trump portrays himself as a hard-nosed dealmaker. Yet in the run-up to Friday's summit with Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, his claim that the Russian leader held him in high regard and was therefore serious about ending the war in Ukraine sounded naive. Putin doesn't let sentimentality shape his political and military decisions. Nor has he disavowed his longstanding claim to four Ukrainian provinces: Donetsk and Luhansk, which together comprise Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, and Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south. Despite Russia's overwhelming numerical advantage in troops and weaponry, Putin occupies only one province, Luhansk, almost entirely. Yet he persists. In the days before his meeting with Putin, Trump said the Russian economy 'stinks' and that falling oil prices would cause Russia's war to run aground. The war has certainly placed severe strains on Russia's economy, including high inflation and interest rates, labour shortages and a lack of investment by private businesses. Earnings from oil sales, a key source of state income, have also shrunk by 18% this year due to falling prices. There has even been talk of a recession. But these pressures have not prompted Putin to reassess his war plans. He ignored Trump's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accepted right away. Likewise, he was unfazed by Trump's threats to impose additional sanctions – with 'severe consequences', as he put it just before the summit – if Russia did not relent. Trump returned from Anchorage empty-handed for other reasons. Successful summits require painstaking advance work by leaders' subordinates; this one was arranged in haste. Given the rush, it was unsurprising that the Anchorage talks ended hours ahead of time. (The working lunch the two delegations were to have was cancelled.) During his post-summit press conference, Trump gamely praised Putin's goodwill and said that they had agreed on 'many points' during discussions that he described as 'productive'. Yet he failed to identify a single point of agreement and, atypically, didn't stay to answer reporters' questions. Putin came out ahead in Anchorage. He didn't agree to Trump's pet proposal for a ceasefire. It was Trump who ended up accepting Putin's position that a ceasefire must be preceded by a comprehensive peace agreement that addresses the 'root causes' of the war. Putin did show some flexibility by agreeing to freeze the frontline if Ukraine were to withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk, and thus the entire Donbas, enabling Russia to acquire lands it has failed to conquer despite more than 40 months of fighting. Yet this offer could prove to be a trap. If Zelenskyy, who arrives in Washington for talks with Trump on Monday, refuses to do this, Putin may be able to look on as Trump tries to coerce the Ukrainian leader, forcing Europe to take sides. If Trump fails, Putin can paint Zelenskyy as the real obstacle to peace. Trump had declared that there would be no future talks if the summit failed – which it did, as he couldn't obtain a ceasefire, his main objective – yet in Anchorage, he spoke of follow-up meetings. Putin concurred, mischievously suggesting Moscow as the venue, but without indicating that he was open to including Zelenskyy and European leaders. By agreeing to further negotiations and keeping Trump's hopes for a peace deal alive, Putin may have ensured that the efficacy of additional US sanctions on Russia remains untested. By simply showing up in Anchorage, Putin demonstrated that the western policy of isolating him won't work. Zelenskyy and European leaders are undoubtedly relieved that the duo didn't unveil a deal to end the war by partitioning Ukraine. Still, Trump's readiness to accept Putin's insistence on this bilateral meeting after US efforts to include Zelenskyy failed had already sown more mistrust between Washington and Europe. Now Trump has embraced Putin's view that there can be no ceasefire without an overall agreement that addresses all aspects of the conflict. He has also in effect endorsed Putin's call for Ukraine to cede Donbas in exchange for a freeze of the frontline. These shifts will increase Ukraine and Europe's distrust of Trump – to Putin's advantage. Putin's confidence in Russia's eventual victory has been bolstered by Trump's decision, taken well before the summit, to cease direct weapons deliveries to Ukraine – assistance that totalled $65.9bn while Joe Biden was the US president. Russia will continue bombing Ukraine's cities, and its ground troops will keep pushing to grab even more land. In this respect, the summit has changed nothing. What has changed since Trump's return to the White House, though, is the US's role in the war. Ultimately, Trump believes that Russia's invasion does not threaten the US so it's up to the Europeans to support Ukraine's defence, a point JD Vance reiterated shortly before the summit. European countries have been increasing its defence spending and military support to Ukraine. But it had better be prepared to do even more and summon the unity to stay the course. Meanwhile, the lure of additional talks with Putin will keep alive Trump's illusion that continued diplomatic engagement with Russia and his self-proclaimed deal-making skills will eventually end the war – clearing the path to the Nobel peace prize he covets. Rajan Menon is a professor emeritus of international relations at the City College of New York and a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies
