@geoffpyatt

Husband, father, Californian, diplomat and weekend cyclist - this is my new personal account

[Peter Baker @peterbakernyt]

Ex-CEO of $25 billion US gas export venture, launched with involvement of investor tied to the Trump family, has accused Russia's Novatek of secretly controlling the project, prompting mass exodus over fears of violating sanctions. @JamieSmythF @maxseddon https://t.co/TqCGHGEQ1U

[Senator John Cornyn @JohnCornyn]

"Should the historical analogy hold, Ukraine’s giving in—either by ceding all of the Donbas or, even worse, by recognizing the provinces of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk, and Donetsk as Russian—is not likely to lead to lasting peace. Munich was followed five months later by Germany’s invasion and dismemberment of Czechoslovakia. In another six months, World War II began with Hitler’s assault on Poland."

[Peter Baker @peterbakernyt]

“It’s not only unlawful, but it’s not in the US interest to have Russian technology controlling the commercialization of Arctic gas in the North Slope,” ex-Polar LNG CEO who quit after discovering secret Russian funding tells @antontroian and @EricLiptonNYT https://t.co/zARMqvzeiR

[Yaroslav Trofimov @yarotrof]

Trump family friends doing business with Russia, which it turns out secretly controls the $25 billion Alaska LNG project. https://t.co/cKgStaDkX0

[Newt Gingrich @newtgingrich]

Ukrainians keep showing enormous courage in defending their country against Putin’s immoral and indeed evil efforts to conquer a neighbor. They have resisted now for four years and eight months and we should do all we can to help them.

[Financial Times @FT]

US executives quit $25bn gas venture over claims of secret Russian control https://t.co/5YRR8vT8Xk

[@geoffpyatt @geoffpyatt]

Pyatt “said the idea of bringing Novatek into the high north of Alaska is a terrible one. “It is terrible on environmental grounds, it is a terrible idea on economic and geopolitical grounds, and most importantly this feeds the belief that Putin can get an out-of-jail-free card.”

[Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum]

A wild story: the CEO of a US energy company whose plans were discussed during the Witkoff-Kushner-Putin negotiations resigns. Why? He learned that his company's main investor is a sanctioned Russian company, not the UAE
https://t.co/rO3P7aJa8h

[Alex Vindman 🇺🇸 @AVindman]

Putin's diesel arrives in New York Nov 7 aboard the Agioi Fanendes: 40,000 tons, the first Russian fuel cargo since 2022. It's coming in on a Treasury license that sidesteps federal law. New York should refuse to be the loading dock for Putin's war chest. 🧵 1/5

[DTEK Group @dtek_en]

As russia intensifies its attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, it is especially important that these stories reach international audiences.

@LauraLoomer, we deeply appreciate you sharing what you witnessed firsthand and bringing attention to the people working to keep Ukraine powered 🇺🇦

[Mark Warner @MarkWarner]

Insane that it needs to be said… but Putin is not a humanitarian.

He’s a brutal, authoritarian dictator that initiated a wholly unjustified and deadly invasion of Ukraine.

This administration’s posturing will never change that.

[Ian Kelly @ikelly731]

Pres Obama nominated me for ambassador in 2009 and again in 2013. They did not know I voted for McCain in 2008. They rightly assumed that I would fulfill my oath to the Constitution and carry out Obama’s policies. That was the standard — faith to my oath, not loyalty to him.

[Victoria J. Taylor @VictoriaT_]

This should not come as a total surprise. The priority that Ben Franklin Fellows are given in senior positions and the vetting of career officers' political backgrounds and social media posts have been happening since the beginning of this administration. Ben Franklin Fellowship leadership acknowledged as much in public interviews. There are still some exceptional, experienced, and non-partisan career officers who are getting leadership positions, but they are unfortunately few and far between. There is now a new class of career officer that has decided to become, in effect, political.

[Mike Pompeo @mikepompeo]

President Zelensky has consistently shown himself to be willing to make sacrifices for peace - despite that fact that Ukraine is the victim of Russia's war of aggression. Putin has never done so, and there's no reason to believe he will start now.

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Three waves of ballistic missiles have been launched at Kyiv by Russian “humanitarians” since yesterday evening. They used 21 missiles. Unfortunately, numerous sites across the city have been hit and damaged: ordinary residential buildings, energy facilities, infrastructure at one of the railway stations and the metro, shopping malls, and businesses. Even a monastery is among the damaged sites. Our emergency services are working at all the affected locations. Twelve of our regions came under Russian attack overnight. In Kyiv and across the regions, 34 people were injured, including five children. As of now, two people have been confirmed killed. My condolences to their families and loved ones.

Almost immediately after another round of talks, Russia launched a pointed attack. This means there has been no real change in its attitude toward everything that is happening. It is important to keep trying to find the right solutions to end this war. But when Russia responds to negotiations with ballistic missiles, real pressure on Russia is needed to bring about different steps – steps toward ending the killing. Stronger air defenses and the rapid delivery of missiles, the ability to destroy ballistic missile launchers, sanctions over the war – all of this must be in place. I am grateful to everyone who sees the situation for what it is and acknowledges the reality. The aggressor deserves to be treated accordingly. Ukraine deserves support. People's lives deserve protection. Thank you to everyone who stands with Ukraine!

[Alex Wickham @alexwickham]

NEW: Rosneft deep dive by Bloomberg News

+ Officials at Russia’s largest oil producer are concerned that even a few more months of the war with Ukraine could leave lasting damage across the business.

+ One of Rosneft’s biggest refineries, Ryazan, has been shut for more than half the time since it was first hit by Ukraine in May and has run well below full capacity when operating, according to damage assessments seen by Bloomberg.

+ Another, Syzran, has spent much of the past six months either completely shut or operating at less than a third of capacity, according to data reviewed by Bloomberg. The Tuapse refinery has been offline since April.

+ Ukraine is conducting repeat strikes on the refineries as soon as repairs are completed or nearing completion. The need to repeatedly repair damaged equipment is straining operations and causing costs to pile up to levels that Rosneft officials have privately warned cannot be sustained long-term.

+ Some plants have deliberately slowed repairs as a result, stretching work that should take days into weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.

+ Efforts to protect the facilities with shipping containers, nets and steel cables have proved ineffective against swarms of drones, company plans show.

+ The damage is particularly difficult to repair when strikes hit complex secondary units, whose parts would previously have been sourced from the West. It means relying on Russian-made copies and Chinese imports that can take months to obtain and are not always compatible with existing machinery.

+ It’s put Rosneft into financial trouble. Even before the ramping up of Ukraine’s drone campaign, the company saw a “perfect storm” for its finances. Since then, its profits are down and debt is rising despite what should have been a big windfall from the Iran war.

+ Moscow Credit Bank, which is linked to Rosneft, is showing signs of distress with $8 billion of problem loans. It highlights how both Russia’s energy and banking sectors are coming under strain at the same time, a dynamic causing concern to Russian finance officials.

All this and much more in the full story here: https://t.co/0qbu8cCStl

[Yaroslav Trofimov @yarotrof]

More pushback from GOP senators. A U.S. alliance with Putin remains deeply unpopular.

[Daniel Fried @AmbDanFried]

A ceasefire along the existing line would be a solid basis to end the war. Trump once proposed it. @ZelenskyyUa has accepted it (again). Putin refuses. Therefore, the US should put pressure on Russia to accept Trump's good idea. (Now that wasn't so hard...)

[Luke Coffey @LukeDCoffey]

Completely made up

[Kurt Volker @kvolker]

If we want to end Putin's war on Ukraine, we need more pressure on Russia, not less. Simple as that. This on @CNN. Thanks @wolfblitzer. @cepa

[@geoffpyatt @geoffpyatt]

The right message at the right time. Thank you President @vonderleyen Wavering on Russia sanctions undermines years of American foreign policy, weakens U.S. national security, and is contrary to the commercial interest of America’s energy industry https://t.co/WHxNhoremd