Chris Rickleton

Journalist focused on Central Asia. Ex-@RFERL @AFP @Eurasianet. Views my own

[John Brewin @JohnBrewin_]

Jason Tindall is too much Jason for Jason Wilcox. No one is more Jason than Jason Tindall. And Jason Wilcox knows that.

[Dosym Satpayev @DosymSatpayev]

NVIDIA решила инвестировать в ИИ-стартап Higgsfield AI. Основатель NVIDIA Дженсен Хуан, отметил, что команда Higgsfield состоит из талантливых людей и визионеров. Очень рад за свою старшую дочь Жанель которая также входит в эту команду и вносит свой вклад в развитие стартапа.

[Chris Rickleton @ChrisRickleton]

Good @simonmundy @FT explainer on why demand for copper from AI data centers will slow the green energy transition, "especially in developing countries" confronted by soaring copper prices.
https://t.co/21LGeJWKfZ

[The Astana Times @TheAstanaTimes]

President Kassym-Jomart #Tokayev met with Atletico Madrid Chief Executive Officer Miguel Ángel Gil Marín to discuss expanding cooperation in football development, infrastructure and youth training in #Kazakhstan, according to the presidential press service.

https://t.co/OkNCjY7XAh

[Chris Rickleton @ChrisRickleton]

@bneeditor @IuliiaMendel "In a large number of instances, accuracy has yielded to the demands of storytelling"

Irony much!

[Chris Rickleton @ChrisRickleton]

@EvanFeigenbaum Trump more prepared to use state-led finance (DFC etc), which is something Central Asian governments have applauded. It will be interesting to see if future U.S. admins do the same given how cosy things can get (see Trumps, tungsten)...

[Alex Raufoglu @ralexdc]

NEW!! In Samarkand, I pressed Rubio on why the Cold War-era Jackson-Vanik restrictions remain in place. His answer: “We are in favor of repealing it.”

He blamed Congress for the delay and said the administration hopes lawmakers will act.

[Chris Rickleton @ChrisRickleton]

I ate a lot of pomegranates when I lived in #Almaty and #Bishkek. Might give me an extra decade?

[AFP News Agency @AFP]

🇦🇱 Still smiling at 117, Albanian may be world's oldest woman

At 117, Qamile Marra is not particularly concerned with proving she may be the world's oldest woman. Born under Ottoman rule, Marra turned 36 a fortnight before the end of World War II. She has spent almost her entire life in her village, growing her own food and tending livestock.

[Cavid #FreeUlviyya @cavidaga]

Remarkable

[OC Media @OCMediaorg]

Baku-based activist and artist İlkin Huseynov has been unreachable since yesterday, shortly after he set up the ‘Let Leyli Go to School’ project, which sought to organise tutoring for those boycotting school amid hijab ban protests.

🔗 Read more: https://t.co/Xxkjid3jgw

[Chris Rickleton @ChrisRickleton]

Only a dozen or so countries allow seven-year terms for presidents with real powers. Tajikistan and Azerbaijan started the trend among former Soviet states. Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan followed. It can't really be justified for any reason other than not liking elections...

[Cavid #FreeUlviyya @cavidaga]

23 years of Ilham Aliyev today. The two-term limit would have ended it in 2013, so the limit had to go (2009). Then five-year terms felt too short (2016). Then a vice-president was needed, and who better than his wife. Dynasties don't build themselves.

[Cavid #FreeUlviyya @cavidaga]

23 years of Ilham Aliyev today. The two-term limit would have ended it in 2013, so the limit had to go (2009). Then five-year terms felt too short (2016). Then a vice-president was needed, and who better than his wife. Dynasties don't build themselves.

[Cavid #FreeUlviyya @cavidaga]

Azerbaijani users report that several government websites like of the Cabinet of Ministers (https://t.co/9J9ms8217r), the Ministry of Emergency Situations (https://t.co/wFCJ91dCzg), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (https://t.co/n6EelaC9gA), the State Examination Center (https://t.co/qJpWxyK28j), the Ministry of Health (https://t.co/BL1Mdcmdw3), and other government bodies are inaccessible right now. It is not known if it is a result of attack or deliberate shutdown.

[OC Media @OCMediaorg]

Chechen Leader Ramzan Kadyrov has been awarded the title of ‘Honorary Railway Worker’, adding to his extensive list of awards and titles he has received over the years.

🔴Kadyrov has been awarded for his ‘contribution to the development of science’, given the titles ‘Honoured Worker of the Agro-Industrial Complex’, among others, with dozens of these awards conferred to him following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

[Abdujalil A @abdujalil]

In his first interview since his dramatic sacking, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine's ex commander-in-chief told me about Ukraine's strategy to contain more powerful Russian forces, his key battles, new tech and his dismissal https://t.co/5B9Xn9U69N

[IntelliNews @bneintellinews]

Ukraine strikes on Russian data centres disrupt Yandex services across Central Asia: Taxi bookings, delivery platforms and other digital services go down. dlvr.​it/TVtv8R Follow for news

[Alex Raufoglu @ralexdc]

NEW!! Zelenskyy pushes back on a “refinery-for-refinery” approach to an energy ceasefire, saying Ukraine will halt strikes on Russian oil infrastructure only if Moscow stops attacking Ukraine’s power grid and critical infrastructure

“This is only fair,” he explains

👇

[Alex Raufoglu @ralexdc]

NEW!! Trump accuses the Ukrainian president of ignoring U.S. warnings against striking Russian refineries, calls for Zelenskyy to be replaced…

[Evan A. Feigenbaum @EvanFeigenbaum]

Tell me again why the U.S. keeps threatening penalties on India? The whole reason the U.S. had NOT discouraged India's Russia purchases in the first place was because of supply and stability in the global market, i.e., the exact justification for THIS diesel-related general license that the United States is now giving to itself. But ever since the first threat to layer an additional 25% on top of the initial 25% base tariff, and now with the Graham bill enshrined into law, that "global supply" rationale dropped away as the U.S. has threatened India over Russia-related purchases. So how is this supposed to look to folks in Delhi?

[NEXTA @nexta_tv]

🚨 Zelensky accused the US of weakness and said that gifts to Putin will not bring peace

Following news that sanctions on Russian diesel had been lifted, the Ukrainian president published a lengthy statement on his Telegram channel. Here it is in full:

Peace never comes through weakness. Today, representatives of the US Congress — a bipartisan delegation — were in Kyiv, and I am grateful to them for visiting Ukraine at such a difficult time. They asked: “What is needed to end the war?” The answer must be strong. There must be sanctions under Lindsey Graham's legislation, there must be support for Ukraine in protecting lives, and there must be pressure on Russia over the war. And today, the leaders of America and Russia had a conversation. A conversation that leads to another.

Recently, Europe made a decision to lift sanctions on Russian oligarchs. Since then, Russian strikes and the suffering inflicted on people have only increased. This week alone, there was a brutal Russian missile strike on a residential building in Pryluky, aerial bombs dropped on Kramatorsk — targeting ordinary city buses — and constant attacks on Kyiv's energy infrastructure and the vital infrastructure of Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa and our other cities. Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds wounded.

The Russians are compensating for their inability to achieve their objectives on the battlefield with such terror. This year, Russia is weaker on the battlefield than at any other point in the war. That is precisely why Putin relies on terror. That is precisely why he relies on attempts to reach backroom deals to ease pressure on Russia in one way or another, buying more time and more opportunities to continue the war.

Any easing of sanctions against Russia without a clear and lasting de-escalation agreement with Russia is an obvious sign of weakness. It plays into Russia's hands, allowing it to kill more people, wage war for longer, show even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world.

Ukraine is ready to take reciprocal steps towards de-escalation, and the American team is aware of our position.

Our strikes on Russian oil refineries and other oil facilities are a response to Russia's years-long campaign of terror against Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Ukraine will not set Russian oil refineries ablaze if Russia stops destroying our energy infrastructure. This is precisely the agreement we are proposing to America, and we believe the United States is strong enough to achieve such a compromise.

Gifts to Putin will bring neither peace nor any benefit to the civilized world. Russia will “repay” the diesel with more terror and dirty tricks. Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that needs to be ended, not prolonged. What is needed is genuine de-escalation with Russia, on a reciprocal basis.

We count on America's fair support for our efforts to protect lives and people in Ukraine, as well as a correspondingly strong conversation between the United States and Russia. A strong one, not a weak one.