UNITED24 Media Telegram Highlights
China and Russia will resume talks on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline this week, Bloomberg reports.
The negotiations are expected to take place during Chinese leader Xi Jinpingβs visit to Moscow, where he is scheduled to meet with Vladimir Putin.
Sources suggest Beijing may now be open to discussing a higher gas priceβsomewhere between Russiaβs domestic rate and the current tariff for gas supplied through the existing Power of Siberia pipeline. China is also pushing for a direct route that bypasses Mongolia.
The Power of Siberia 2 pipeline would enable Russia to supply an additional 50 billion cubic meters of gas annually, allowing China to reduce its dependence on more expensive liquefied natural gas.
However, talks on the project have dragged on for years, and sources say a final agreement is unlikely to be signed during this visit.
France and Germany are creating a Defense and Security Council that will meet to respond to common strategic challenges, French President Emmanuel Macron said at a press conference with newly elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Germany has delivered a new package of military aid to Ukraine.
It includes:
β’ 66 MRAP armored vehicles
β’ Ammunition for Leopard 2 tanks
β’ 38,000 rounds for Gepard air defense systems
β’ Missiles for IRIS-T SLM air defense systems
β’ 3 Zuzana-2 howitzers (co-financed with Denmark and Norway)
β’ 27,000 artillery shells of 155 mm
β’ 1,000 artillery shells of 122 mm
β’ Various types of unmanned aerial vehicles
β’ And more
[yesterday] A fiber optic systems plant in the Russian city of Saransk, the only one of its kind in the country, was seriously damaged in a drone attack, according to the Center for Countering Disinformation.
In total, several Russian military facilities were hit:
β«οΈ The Saransk fiber optic plant caught fire. The facility is critical for supplying the Russian army with fiber optics used in drones, and its future operations are now in question.
β«οΈ In the Tula region, a Rostec enterprise producing multiple launch rocket systemsβincluding the BM-21 Grad, BM-27 Uragan, BM-30 Smerch, Tornado, and ammunition for the TOS-1A Solntsepekβwas damaged.
β«οΈ In the Moscow region, the Kubinka military airfield, home to MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters, was also attacked. Following the strike, almost all nearby airports were closed.
Russian media have confirmed the severe damage to the fiber optics plant, expressing surprise that such a strategically vital facility was not better protected.
France strongly condemns Russian actors and their accomplices involved in the βStorm-1516β maneuvers, according to a communiquΓ© from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, citing a report by the state agency VIGINUM.
The report documents numerous information operations carried out by Russian individuals using the βStorm 1516β operational method. Since 2023, this method has been identified in 77 Russian information maneuvers targeting France, Ukraine, and other Western countries. It employs sophisticated dissemination techniques and has been notably active during electoral processesβsuch as Franceβs early parliamentary elections in June 2024.
The communiquΓ© describes βStorm 1516β as involving a complex network of individuals and organizations operating from Russian territory, some of whom are closely tied to the Russian government, pointing to direct links with the Kremlin's propaganda apparatus.
Russian Urals oil fell below $50 per barrel again at the end of April, according to the international price agency Argus.
Urals had already dipped under this mark on April 9, but the decline was brief. Now prices have stabilized around this level: as of May 6, a barrel of Urals cost about $48.5β49.5.
For the first time, HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have destroyed Russiaβs newest Uragan-1M/KN-09 MLRS.
Refugees from Ukraine contributed twice as much to the Slovak budget as was spent on supporting them, Dennik N reports.
According to the Slovak governmentβs Institute for Fiscal Policy, Ukrainians boosted state revenues by β¬217 million last year through income tax, mandatory contributions, excise duties and VAT.
Canada to gift Ukraine Russian An-124 Ruslan aircraft seized in February 2022.