US Envoy Kelly & Putin Hold Constructive Meetings on Climate, Stress Cooperation

LOCAL NEWS

• US state Department says "Special Envoy Kerry and President Putin stressed the importance of joint work between the US and Russia on a range of climate issues.
  • Putin agreed on the need to redouble international efforts on climate change and reaffirmed Russia's intention to address its own emissions problem,
  • advocating a depoliticized and professional dialogue in this area
• European Commission's program to combat climate change, which involves cross-border carbon regulation (TUR), will affect supplies from Russia of steel, aluminium, pipes, electricity, cement and fertilizers totalling $ 7.6bn when the mechanism is fully operational – Economy Ministry
• Kremlin Spox reiterates that the best way to solve the Donbass issue remains the implementation of the 2015 Minsk agreements.
  • However, the pause in the work on the Normandy format to resolve the situation is due to Kiev's failure to implement the agreements reached earlier in the Minsk accords
• Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council says NATO's Sea Breeze exercises were a deliberate escalation in order to place military, political and psychological pressure on Russia near its borders – which does not contribute to strategic stability.
  • Notes reconnaissance flights and incidents such as the British Destroyer as key instigators to escalation and provocation