WORLD BRIEFING: June 4, 2024
Russia’s attempts to conclude a major gas pipeline deal with China have run aground over what Moscow sees as Beijing’s unreasonable demands on price and supply levels, according to three people familiar with the matter. Beijing’s tough stance on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline underscores how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left President Vladimir Putin increasingly dependent on Chinese leader Xi Jinping for economic support. The people familiar with the matter said China had asked to pay close to Russia’s heavily subsidised domestic prices and would only commit to buying a small fraction of the pipeline’s planned annual capacity of 50bn cubic metres of gas. Approval for the pipeline would transform the dire fortunes of Gazprom, Russia’s state gas export monopoly, by linking the Chinese market to gasfields in western Russia that once supplied Europe. Gazprom suffered a loss of Rbs629bn ($6.9bn) last year, its biggest in at least a quarter of a century, amid plummeting gas sales to Europe, which has had greater success than expected in diversifying away from Russian energy. While Russia has insisted it is confident of agreement on Power of Siberia 2 “in the near future”, two of the people said the impasse was the reason Alexei Miller, Gazprom’s chief executive, had not joined Putin on the Russian leader’s state visit to Beijing last month. - FT
Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky on Monday expressed gratitude to the Philippine government for its support for Ukraine's steps and measures in achieving peace. Wearing a black polo shirt and fatigue pants, Zelenskyy met with President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. this morning at Malacañang Palace. ''Thank you for this invitation and we are very thankful to be in your country which supports Ukraine, our territorial integrity and sovereignty. Thank you so much of your big word, and clear position about us, about this Russian occupation of our territories and thank you on your support on the, in your nations, with your resolutions,'' Zelensky told Marcos. In response, Marcos said the Philippines is very much willing to continue helping Ukraine through multilateral platforms such as the United Nations and the European Union in order to achieve peace amid its ongoing conflict with Russia. ''We’ll continue to do all that we can to promote.... to promote peace and to bring an end to the fighting,'' Marcos said. Zelensky also told Marcos Ukraine would open an embassy in the Philippines this year. The Ukrainian president arrived in Manila on Sunday evening for a visit that was kept well under wraps. He flew in first to Singapore on Saturday, June 1, for what Reuters described as an "unscheduled" appearance at the Shangri-La Dialogue. The Philippines had expressed its support for Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, voting at the UN General Assembly to denounce Russia’s invasion, expressing “explicit condemnation” against “the use of force against the political independence and territorial integrity of any state.” —KG, GMA Integrated News
The White House said Vice President Kamala Harris and national-security adviser Jake Sullivan will attend a Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland this month following public pleas by Kyiv for the United States – and President Joe Biden, in particular – to participate in the June 15-16 event. The White House said in a June 3 statement that the vice president “will underscore the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to supporting Ukraine’s effort to secure a just and lasting peace, based on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the principles of the UN Charter.” It added that Harris “will reaffirm support for the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against ongoing Russian aggression.” The announcement comes following weeks of pleas by Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelenskiy for Biden to attend the summit, in which at least 107 countries have confirmed their participation. The White House has said Biden will bypass the summit because of a major fund-raising event -- hosted by Hollywood stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts and including former President Barack Obama -- as he prepares for a November election in which he is likely to face off against former President Donald Trump. - RFE/RL
Hong Kong Artist Sanmu Chan was stopped, questioned and taken away by police in Causeway Bay on Monday, the eve of the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary, as he sought to partake in some performance art. A large police deployment had appeared near Victoria Park, a venue that once hosted mass remembrance vigils. Dozens of uniform and plainclothes police officers were stationed across the shopping district, concentrated around East Point Road, Hennessy Road and Lockhart Road. An armoured police vehicle was briefly seen parked outside SOGO mall. - HKFP
Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum won by at least 30 percentage points Sunday in Mexico’s presidential election. Here are the key takeaways: Sheinbaum and her allies have already won two-thirds of the seats in the lower house and could possibly replicate that success in the senate. Such a supermajority would gift her the power to approve constitutional changes that have eluded AMLO. The peso reversed earlier gains versus the dollar as investors worried about her iron grip on the legislative agenda. While Sheinbaum pledged on the campaign trail to follow his vision, she cannot afford to leave a public security crisis to fester. She said that the voting had been peaceful, but Mexico’s largest-ever elections were also the deadliest in its modern history with attacks carried out against candidates and people close to them. The president elect promised strong relations with the US, Banxico autonomy, fiscal discipline, energy sovereignty and more renewables. - Bloomberg
A global airline association is to examine recent high-profile turbulence incidents to get a better grasp on the causes and help carriers boost safety, its head has said. Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told its annual meeting in Dubai on Monday that they would look into the safety risks and assess the situation after two airline turbulence incidents left one man dead and more than 100 injured “Turbulence is not a new issue,” Walsh said. “It has been a factor in the industry for many years. - SCMP
