Brookstone Capital Management lessened its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE – Free Report) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $191,628,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter worth $166,937,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,146,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $802,037,000 after purchasing an additional 279,627 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,031,500,000 after purchasing an additional 263,709 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 28,306.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 249,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 249,097 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.
Deere & Company Stock Up 1.3 %
Shares of NYSE DE opened at $411.11 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $420.47. The company has a market cap of $113.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $387.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $385.53.
Deere & Company (NYSE:DE – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Deere & Company Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.70%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have weighed in on DE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Deere & Company from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. HSBC lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Deere & Company from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $420.69.
Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.
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Real estate commissions are a crucial part of the home-buying and selling process in Delaware, affecting your overall budget. In 2024, new rules were introduced to make these fees more transparent, empowering both buyers and sellers with clearer insights into costs and more flexibility to negotiate. These changes aim to simplify transactions for everyone involved.
Whether you’re new to the real estate market or a seasoned seller, this guide will break down the key details about real estate commissions in Delaware.
Current state of the Delaware housing market
Before diving into the specifics of real estate commissions, it’s helpful to have a snapshot of the current housing market in Delaware.
Median Home Sale Price
$365,700
Housing Supply
2,054 (+14.4% YoY)
Homes Sold Above List Price
36.4% (-6.7 pts YoY)
Understanding real estate commissions in Delaware
What are real estate commissions?
Real estate commissions are fees paid to agents when a property is successfully bought or sold. These fees, calculated as a percentage of the sale price, are settled at closing and serve as compensation for the agent’s work throughout the transaction.
Who pays the commission?
Traditionally, sellers have covered both the listing agent and buyer’s agent’s fees. However, starting August 17, 2024, buyers must now sign a written agreement outlining their agent’s commission before they begin touring homes.
While buyers can still negotiate with sellers to cover their agent’s commission, these new rules provide more flexibility, making the amount open to negotiation. Sellers are no longer automatically responsible for covering the buyer’s agent fee.
Average real estate commission rates in Delaware
The commission rates in Delaware can vary based on factors like market conditions, the nature of the sale, and the agreements made between the buyer, seller, and agents. While there are standard expectations, these rates are flexible, allowing all parties to tailor fees to their needs.
Several aspects, such as the property’s location, current market demand, and the agent’s services, can influence commission rates. Buyers and sellers have the freedom to negotiate these fees based on their unique situations. Here’s a breakdown of typical commission rates in Delaware’s major cities based on median home prices:
At Redfin, we’re committed to offering great value. For sellers, we offer listing fees starting as low as 1%*, while our competitive fees for buyers, varying by location, are designed to help your offer stand out, increasing your chances of success in Delaware’s real estate market.
Can you negotiate real estate commissions in Delaware?
Absolutely! Commission rates are not fixed, allowing room for negotiation based on the specifics of the transaction. Factors such as the services you need and your relationship with the agent can influence the final rate in Delaware.
When negotiating, it’s essential to consider what services your agent will provide, such as their marketing approach and knowledge of the local market.
Tips for a successful negotiation
Interview multiple agents to compare their fees and services.
Propose a commission structure that rewards the agent for quicker sales or higher sale prices.
If your property is in a high-demand area, use that as leverage to negotiate lower fees.
Delaware real estate commission FAQs
What are the changes to real estate commission? Two key changes were introduced in 2024: buyers must now agree to their agent’s commission in writing before starting home tours, and in some regions, buyer agent commission amounts are no longer displayed on the MLS. Learn more about the real estate commission changes here.
How do the changes impact buyers in Delaware? Buyers must now sign an agreement about their agent’s commission before touring homes. However, they can still negotiate with sellers to cover this fee during the offer stage.
How do the changes impact sellers in Delaware? Sellers can continue working with their listing agent to decide how much, if anything, they will contribute toward the buyer’s agent commission. Sellers should be prepared to negotiate this cost with potential buyers.
How do you find a real estate agent in Delaware? When you’re ready to buy or sell a home, partnering with a Redfin agent ensures you’ll receive expert advice at every step.
How can you avoid fees? One way to avoid paying real estate commissions is by opting for the For Sale By Owner (FSBO) method. However, this requires you to handle every aspect of the sale, including marketing and paperwork, which can be time-intensive and challenging without professional support.
*Listing fee subject to change, minimums apply. Any buyer’s agent fee the seller chooses to cover not included. Listing fee increased by 1% of sale price if buyer is unrepresented. Sell for a 1% listing fee only if you also buy with Redfin within 365 days of closing on your Redfin listing. We will charge a 1.5% listing fee, then send you a check for the 0.5% difference after you buy your next home with us. Learn more here.
Pokémon Go is hosting its yearly Día de Muertos event, bringing out Pokémon wearing special cempasúchil crowns on Nov. 1 and 2.
Throughout the event, candy obtained from catching Pokémon will be doubled and both Incense and lures will last for 90 minutes instead of 30 minutes. Cubone wearing a cempasúchil crown will also be available for the first time. (And yes, both costumed Cubone and Duskull can be shiny.)
You can see all the perks of the Pokémon Go Día de Muertos 2023 event below.
Pokémon Go Día de Muertos 2023 event Field Research and rewards
Spinning PokéStops during the event period may net you one of the following Field Research Tasks:
Make a great throw (Sunkern encounter)
Make a nice curveball throw (Drifloon encounter)
Make 3 great curveball throws in a row (Cubone [Cempasúchil Crown] encounter)
Win a gym battle (Alolan Marowak encounter)
Pokémon Go Día de Muertos 2023 event boosted spawns
The following Pokémon will spawn more frequently during the event:
Cubone (Cempasúchil Crown)
Sunkern
Sableye
Roselia
Duskull (Cempasúchil Crown)
Drifloon
Yamask
Litwick
Phantump
Image: Niantic
Pokémon Go Día de Muertos 2023 event boosted Incense spawns
Using Incense will net you the Pokémon below more frequently:
Shares of investment giant Blackstone Inc. and vacation-home rental platform Airbnb Inc. rallied after hours on Friday after both won the nod to join the S&P 500 index SPX
later this month.
The announcement, from S&P Dow Jones Indices, said that the change would take hold before the start of trading on Monday, Sept. 18. The move, among others announced Friday, will “ensure each index is more representative of its market-capitalization range,” according to a release.
Airbnb ABNB, +0.87%
currently has a market value of $83.98 billion, and its shares are up 64.7% so far this year. Blackstone BX, -1.77%,
currently worth $129.29 billion, has seen its stock rise 43.6% year-to-date.
Shares of Airbnb and Blackstone were up 5.7% and 4.8%, respectively, after hours on Friday.
Blackstone and Airbnb will replace Lincoln National Corp. LNC, +2.14%
and Newell Brands Inc. NWL, +1.23%
in the index, S&P Dow Jones Indices said on Friday. In the process, Lincoln and Newell will join the S&P SmallCap 600.
“We’ve established an unparalleled global platform of leading business lines, offering over 70 distinct investment strategies,” Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman told analysts. “We believe our clients view us as the gold standard in alternative asset management.”
Meanwhile, Airbnb last month said that travelers were seeking longer stays and bigger properties in pricier areas, as the rebound in travel endures despite a tidal wave of inflation last year. The company’s second-quarter results and third-quarter sales forecast topped Wall Street’s estimates.
Meanwhile, S&P 500 member Deere & Co. DE, +1.94%
will replace Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. WBA, -7.43%
in the S&P 100, S&P Dow Jones Indices said on Friday. That change also takes hold on Sept. 18. S&P Dow Jones Indices said Walgreens “is no longer representative of the megacap market space” but will stay in the S&P 500.
Shares of Deere fell 0.2% after hours. Walgreens stock was up 0.4%.
Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE – Free Report) by 15.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 196,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,193 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.07% of Deere & Company worth $81,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Lansing Street Advisors raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1,725.0% during the 1st quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 73 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 25 LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 66.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Deere & Company Trading Up 1.1 %
Shares of DE traded up $4.25 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $394.46. 131,938 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,610,037. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $417.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $400.03. The company has a market capitalization of $115.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $328.62 and a 12 month high of $450.00.
Deere & Company (NYSE:DE – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The industrial products company reported $10.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.22 by $1.98. The firm had revenue of $14.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.14 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 46.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.16 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 33.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Deere & Company Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 29th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 14.78%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts have recently weighed in on DE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $510.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Monday, May 22nd. Credit Suisse Group decreased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $551.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $467.00 to $458.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $537.00 to $517.00 in a research report on Monday, May 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $492.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $458.53.
In related news, CEO John C. May II sold 52,967 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.02, for a total transaction of $22,035,331.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,398,598.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Deere & Company news, Director Tami A. Erwin acquired 675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $371.05 per share, with a total value of $250,458.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $352,497.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 52,967 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.02, for a total transaction of $22,035,331.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,398,598.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,580 shares of company stock valued at $34,799,115 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.
Deere & Company manufactures and distributes various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides mid-size tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters, harvesting front-end equipment, sugarcane loaders, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.
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crushed Wall Street’s earnings estimates and increased fiscal-year financial guidance. The stock, however, was down. Current results were great, but investors are worried about whether the current phase of rising demand for agricultural equipment is over.
TORNIO, Finland/KARLSKRONA, Sweden, July 3 (Reuters) – High above a railway bridge spanning a foaming river just outside the Arctic Circle, Finnish construction workers hammer away at a project that will smooth the connections from NATO’s Atlantic coastline in Norway to its new border with Russia.
“We will be removing some 1,200 of these one by one,” says site manager Mika Hakkarainen, holding up a rivet.
Until February 2022, the 37-million euro ($41 million) electrification of this short stretch of rail – the only rail link between Sweden and Finland – simply promised locals a chance to catch a night train down to the bright lights of Stockholm.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, that changed.
Now Finland is part of NATO, and Sweden hopes to join soon.
As the alliance reshapes its strategy in response to Russia’s campaign, access to these new territories and their infrastructure opens ways for allies to watch and contain Moscow, and an unprecedented chance to treat the whole of northwest Europe as one bloc, nearly two dozen diplomats and military and security experts told Reuters.
“PUT RUSSIA AT RISK”
The Finnish rail improvements around Tornio on the Swedish border are one example. Due for completion next year, they will make it easier for allies to send reinforcements and equipment from across the Atlantic to Kemijarvi, an hour’s drive from the Russian border and seven hours from Russia’s nuclear bastion and military bases near Murmansk in the Kola peninsula.
Among forces based there, Russia’s Northern Fleet includes 27 submarines, more than 40 warships, around 80 fighter planes and stocks of nuclear warheads and missiles, data collected by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) shows.
In a military conflict with NATO, the Fleet’s main task would be to secure control of the Barents Sea and stop ships bringing reinforcements from North America to Europe through the waters between Greenland, Iceland and the UK.
That’s something Finland can help NATO resist.
“It’s all about containing those kinds of capabilities from the north,” retired U.S. Major General Gordon B. Davis Jr. told Reuters.
Maps showing marine traffic through the Baltic
Besides opening its territory, Helsinki is buying the right assets, particularly fighter jets, “to add value to (the) northeastern defence and, frankly, in a conflict put Russia at risk,” he said.
Sweden’s contribution will, by 2028, include a new generation of submarines in the Baltic Sea that Fredrik Linden, Commander of Sweden’s First Submarine Flotilla, says will make a big difference in protecting vulnerable seabed infrastructure and preserving access – currently major security headaches, as the September 2022 destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipelines read more showed.
“With five submarines we can close the Baltic Sea,” Linden told Reuters. “We will cover the parts that are interesting with our sensors and with our weapons.”
Analysts say the change is not before time. Russia has been actively developing its military and hybrid capabilities in the Arctic against the West, partly under the cover of international environmental and economic cooperation, the FIIA’s Deputy Director Samu Paukkunen told Reuters. Russia’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Paukkunen’s institute estimates Western armed forces are militarily about 10 years behind Russia in the Arctic.
Even with the losses that Russia has sustained in Ukraine, the naval component of the Northern Fleet and the strategic bombers remain intact, Paukkunen said.
NATO-member Denmark phased out its submarine fleet in 2004, part of a move to scale back its military capabilities after the end of the Cold War, and it has yet to decide on future investments. Norway is also ordering four new submarines, with delivery of the first due in 2029.
“It seems to me that we have some catching up to do, because we haven’t done it properly for the last 25 years,” said Sebastian Bruns, a senior researcher into maritime security at Kiel University’s Institute for Security Policy.
Maps showing marine traffic through the Baltic
“A WHOLE PIECE”
Both developments show how the expanded alliance will reshape Europe’s security map. The region from the Baltic in the south to the high north may become almost an integrated operating area for NATO.
“For NATO it’s quite important to have now the whole northern part, to see it as a whole piece,” Lieutenant Colonel Michael Maus from NATO’s Allied Command Transformation told Reuters. He chaired the working group which led Finland’s military integration into NATO.
“With (existing) NATO nations Norway and Denmark, now we have a whole bloc. And thinking about potential defence plans, it’s for us a huge step forward, to consider it as a whole area now.”
This became clear in May, when Finland hosted its first Arctic military exercise as a NATO member at one of Europe’s largest artillery training grounds 25 km above the Arctic Circle.
The nearby town of Rovaniemi, known to tourists as the home of Santa Claus, is also the base of Finland’s Arctic air force and would serve as a military hub for the region in case of a conflict. Finland is investing some 150 million euros to renew the base to be able to host half a new fleet of 64 F-35 fighter jets, due to arrive from 2026.
An undated artist’s rendition depicts divers and an unmanned vehicle exiting the A26 submarine. Saab AB/Handout via REUTERS
For the May manoeuvres, nearly 1,000 allied forces from the United States, Britain, Norway and Sweden filled the sparse motorways as they joined some 6,500 Finnish troops and 1,000 vehicles.
Captain Kurt Rossi, Field Artillery Officer of the U.S. Army, led a battery bringing in an M270 multiple rocket launcher.
It was first shipped from Germany across the Baltic Sea, then trucked nearly 900 km to the north.
“We haven’t been this close (to Russia) and been able to train up in Finland before,” Rossi said.
If there was a conflict with Russia in the Baltic Sea area – where Russia has significant military capabilities at St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad – the shipping lane NATO used for that exercise would be vulnerable. Finland relies heavily on maritime freight for all its supplies – customs data shows almost 96% of its foreign trade is carried across the Baltic.
The east-west railway link across the high north will open up an alternative, which could prove crucial.
“I think the Russians can quite easily interrupt the cargo transportation by sea so basically this northern route is the only accessible route after that,” said Tuomo Lamberg, manager for cross border operations at Sweco, the Swedish company designing the electrification.
Maps showing marine traffic through the Baltic
“NOTHING BEATS THEM”
But that risk, too, may recede when Sweden joins NATO.
Down beneath the Baltic Sea waterline, the submarine commander Linden shows a reporter the captain’s quarters of the Gotland, one of four submarines currently in Sweden’s fleet, which will bring NATO’s total in the Baltic countries to 12 by 2028.
The Kiel institute expects Russia to add one to three submarines in the coming years, to bring its Baltic submarine total to four, along with its fleet of around six modern warships. Its capabilities at Kaliningrad also include medium-range ballistic missiles.
“This can be the loneliest place in the world,” says Linden, who captained the vessel for many years. On a typical mission, which lasts two to three weeks, there is no communication with headquarters, he said.
The Gotlands, like Germany’s modern Type 212 submarines, will be among NATO’s most advanced non-nuclear submarines and can stay out of port for significantly longer than most other conventional models, the researcher Bruns said read more .
“I would say, without a doubt, that the Gotland-class and the German Type 212 are the most capable non-nuclear submarines in the world,” said Bruns.
“There is nothing that beats them, quite literally. In terms of how quiet they are, the engines they use, they are particularly quiet and very maneuverable.”
In submarine warfare, Linden said, the primary question is where the adversary is. A careless crew member dropping a wrench or slamming a cupboard door can lead to detection.
“We talk quietly on board,” Linden said. “You shouldn’t believe … films where orders are shouted.”
The Gotland is based at Karlskrona, about 350 km across the Baltic from Kaliningrad. With an average of 1,500 vessels per day trafficking the Baltic according to the Commission on Security and Cooperation In Europe, it is one of the world’s busiest seaways – and there is really only one way out, the Kattegatt Sea between Denmark and Sweden.
The shallow and crowded seaway can only be accessed through three narrow straits that submarines can’t pass through without being detected.
LISTENING POWERS
If any of the straits were to be closed, the sea freight traffic to Sweden and Finland would be hit hard and the Baltic states completely cut off. But with Sweden in the alliance, that becomes more preventable, because Sweden’s submarines will add to NATO’s listening powers.
Linden says the Gotland’s crew can sometimes hear Russia’s vessels. The range of sound travel varies partly depending on the seasons. In winter, he said, you can hear as far as the island of Oeland – just a bit further than the distance between London and Birmingham in the UK.
“You can lie outside Stockholm and hear the chain rattling on Oeland’s northern buoy,” Linden said. “In the summer you can hear maybe 3,000 meters.”
By 2028, once Sweden takes delivery of a new design of vessel, this capacity will increase. The new design, known as A26, will allow submarine crews to deploy remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), combat divers or autonomous systems of some sort without putting the submarine or crew at risk, Bruns said.
“Depending on the mission it could be an ROV that safeguards a pipeline or data cable, it could be combat divers that go ashore in the cover of darkness, it could be almost anything.”
That capacity will increase Sweden’s scope to control comings and goings through the Baltic.
“If you count all the forces, with Germany in the lead and Sweden and Finland coming on board, all those have really shifted the balance in the Baltic Sea quite significantly,” said Nick Childs, Senior Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
“It would make it very difficult for the Russian Baltic Sea fleet to operate in a free way,” he said. “But it could … still pose challenges for NATO.”
Anne Kauranen reported from Tornio, Johan Ahlander from Karlskrona; additional reporting from Gwladys Fouche in Oslo, Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Copenhagen and Sabine Siebold in Brussels; Edited by Sara Ledwith
AMSTERDAM, June 13 (Reuters) – A Dutch intelligence agency tipped off the CIA about an alleged Ukrainian plan in June 2022 to blow up the Nord Stream pipeline, Dutch national broadcaster NOS reported on Tuesday.
The NOS report, which was compiled with help from leading German media outlets, did not identify its sources.
It said that the Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD had warned the CIA of the existence of such a plan, leading to a warning from Washington to Kyiv not to attack the pipeline.
Unexplained explosions ruptured both Nord Stream 1 and the newly built Nord Stream 2 pipelines, carrying gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, in September.
The blasts occurred in the economic zones of Sweden and Denmark. Both countries said the explosions were deliberate, but have yet to determine who was responsible. Those countries and Germany are investigating.
Washington and NATO called the incident “an act of sabotage”. Moscow accused investigators of dragging their feet and trying to conceal who was behind the attack. Ukraine denies responsibility.
The MIVD could not immediately be reached for comment.
Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Conor Humphries
June 13 (Reuters) – Russia’s Defence Ministry released video footage on Tuesday of what it said were German-made Leopard tanks and U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles captured by Russian forces in a fierce battle with Ukrainian troops.
Reuters was able to confirm that the vehicles seen in the video were Leopard tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, but was not able to independently verify the location or date of the footage.
The Defence Ministry said the armoured vehicles and tanks were captured on the Zaporizhzhia front in southern Ukraine, one of the areas where Ukrainian forces have been trying to counter-attack.
Two Leopard tanks were shown in the footage, which was released on the ministry’s official channel on the Telegram messaging application, along with two damaged Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
A still image from a video, released by Russia’s Defence Ministry, shows what it said to be a German-made Leopard tank captured by Russian forces in a battle with Ukrainian forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, in this image taken from a handout footage released June 13, 2023. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
The ministry in a short statement accompanying the footage called the captured military hardware “our trophies” and said the video showed soldiers from its Vostok (East) military grouping inspecting the equipment.
It noted that the engines of some of the vehicles were still running, evidence it said of how quickly their Ukrainian crews had fled.
Reuters cannot verify such battlefield accounts.
Ukraine said on Monday its troops had recaptured a string of villages from Russian forces along an approximately 100-km (60-mile) front in the southeast since starting its long-anticipated counteroffensive last week.
Unconfirmed reports from Russian military bloggers suggest Russian forces may have recaptured some territory which they ceded in recent days.
Reporting by Andrew Osborn and Felix Light
Editing by Gareth Jones
MOSCOW, June 3 (Reuters) – Russia’s Gazprom (GAZP.MM) will send 40.3 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Saturday, the company said, down from 40.6 mcm on Friday.
Shares of Deere & Co. powered higher Friday after the maker of agricultural, construction and forestry equipment reported fiscal second-quarter results that beat expectations by wide margins and raised its net income outlook, citing “healthy demand” for farm and construction equipment.
Net income for the quarter to April 30 rose to $2.86 billion, or $9.65 a share, from $2.10 billion, or $6.81 a share, in the same period a year ago. That was well above the FactSet consensus for earnings per share of $8.58.
Sales grew 30% to $17.39 billion, to beat the FactSet consensus of $14.89 billion, as production and precision agriculture sales jumped 53%, small agriculture and turf sales increased 16% and construction and forestry sales rose 23%.
The stock DE, -1.88%
rallied 3.9% in premarket trading, enough to make it the S&P 500 index’s SPX, -0.14%
biggest gainer ahead of the open.
Among Deere’s business segments:
Production & Precision Agriculture sales jumped 52.9% to $7.82 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $7.29 billion. Operating profit more than doubled, rising 105.3% to $2.17 billion, as operating margin improved by 7.0 percentage points to 27.7%.
Small Agriculture & Turf sales increased 16.1% to $4.15 billion to beat expectations of $3.74 billion. Operating profit rose 63.3% to $849 million, as operating margin improved 5.9 percentage points to 20.5%.
Construction & Forestry sales grew 22.9% to $4.11 billion, topping expectations of $3.88 billion. Operating profit edged up 2.9% while operating margin contracted by 3.9 percentage points to 20.4%.
“As shown by the company’s outstanding second-quarter results, Deere continues to benefit from favorable market conditions and an improving operating environment,” said Chief Executive Officer John May.
The company raised its full-year guidance range for net income to $9.25 billion to $9.50 billion from $8.75 billion to $9.25 billion.
For its business segments, the company affirmed its fiscal 2023 sales growth outlook for Production & Precision Agriculture of up about 20%, lifted its outlook for Small Agriculture & Turf to up about 5% from flat to up 5% and revised higher its guidance for Construction & Forestry to up about 15% from up 10% to 15%.
The stock has dropped 13.6% year to date through Thursday, while the Industrial Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund XLI, -0.24%
has tacked on 1.8% and the S&P 500 has gained 9.3%.
At least 427 people killed since fighting began on April 15
Foreign nations fly military planes to extract citizens
U.N.’s Guterres urges Security Council to intervene
KHARTOUM, April 24 (Reuters) – Sudan’s warring factions agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting on Tuesday, while Western, Arab and Asian nations raced to extract their citizens from the country.
The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said the U.S. and Saudi Arabia mediated the truce. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the agreement first and said it followed two days of intense negotiations. The two sides have not abided by several previous temporary truce deals.
Fighting erupted between the SAF and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group on April 15 and has killed at least 427 people, knocked out hospitals and other services, and turned residential areas into war zones.
“During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire,” Blinken said in a statement.
He said the U.S. would coordinate with regional, international and Sudanese civilian interests to create a committee that would oversee work on a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian arrangements.
The RSF confirmed in Khartoum that it had agreed to the ceasefire, starting at midnight, to facilitate humanitarian efforts. “We affirm our commitment to a complete ceasefire during the truce period”, the RSF said.
The SAF said on its Facebook page that it also agreed to the truce deal. A coalition of Sudanese civil society groups that had been part of negotiations on a transition to democracy welcomed the news.
Ahead of the evening truce announcement, air strikes and ground fighting shook Omdurman, one of three adjacent cities in the capital region, and there were also clashes in capital Khartoum, a Reuters reporter said.
Dark smoke enveloped the sky near the international airport in central Khartoum, adjacent to army headquarters, and booms of artillery fire rattled the surroundings.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the violence in a country that flanks the Red Sea, Horn of Africa and Sahel regions “risks a catastrophic conflagration … that could engulf the whole region and beyond”.
The Security Council planned a meeting on Sudan on Tuesday.
THOUSANDS FLEE
Tens of thousands of people including Sudanese and citizens from neighbouring countries have fled in the past few days, to Egypt, Chad and South Sudan, despite instability and difficult living conditions there.
[1/3] Spanish military plane and military vehicles are seen departing on tarmac as Spanish diplomatic personnel and citizens are evacuated, in Khartoum, Sudan, April 23. Spanish Defence Ministry via REUTERS
Foreign governments have been working to bring their nationals to safety. One 65-vehicle convoy took dozens of children, along with hundreds of diplomats and aid workers, on an 800-km (500-mile), 35-hour journey in searing heat from Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
For those remaining in Africa’s third-largest country, where a third of its 46 million people needed aid even before the violence, the situation was increasingly bleak.
There were acute shortages of food, clean water, medicines and fuel and limited communications and electricity, with prices skyrocketing, said deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq.
He cited reports of looting of humanitarian supplies and said “intense fighting” in Khartoum as well as in Northern, Blue Nile, North Kordofan and Darfur states was hindering relief operations.
Facing attacks, aid organisations were among those withdrawing staff, and the World Food Programme suspended its food distribution mission, one of the largest in the world.
“The quick evacuation of Westerners means that the country is on the brink of collapse. But we expect a greater role from them in supporting stability by pressuring the two sides to stop the war,” said Suleiman Awad, a 43-year-old academic in Omdurman.
Several nations, including Canada, France, Poland, Switzerland and the United States, have halted embassy operations until further notice.
Fighting calmed enough over the weekend for the United States and Britain to get embassy staff out, triggering a rush of evacuations of hundreds of foreign nationals by countries ranging from Gulf Arab states to Russia, Japan and South Korea.
Japan said all its citizens who wished to leave Sudan had been evacuated. Paris said it had arranged evacuations of 491 people, including 196 French citizens and others from 36 other nationalities. A French warship was heading for Port Sudan to pick up more evacuees.
Four German air force planes evacuated more than 400 people of various nationalities from Sudan as of Monday, while the Saudi foreign ministry said on Monday it evacuated 356 people, including 101 Saudis and people of 26 other nationalities.
Several countries sent military planes from Djibouti. Families with children crowded into Spanish and French military transport aircraft, while a group of nuns were among the evacuees on an Italian plane, photographs showed.
The U.N. secretary general urged the 15 members of the Security Council to use their clout to return Sudan to the path of democratic transition.
Islamist autocrat Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in a popular uprising in 2019, and the army and RSF jointly mounted a 2021 military coup. But two years later, they fell out during negotiations to integrate and form a civilian government.
Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Martin Schlicht in Berlin and Simon Johnson in Stockholm; Writing by Michael Georgy and Toby Chopra
LUXEMBOURG, April 24 (Reuters) – China respects the status of former Soviet member states as sovereign nations, its foreign ministry said on Monday, distancing itself from comments by its envoy to Paris that triggered an uproar among European capitals.
Several European Union foreign ministers had said comments by ambassador Lu Shaye – in which he questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet states – were unacceptable and had asked Beijing to clarify its stance.
Asked if Lu’s comments represented China’s official position, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that Beijing respected the status of the former Soviet member states as sovereign nations following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Mao told a regular news briefing that it was her remarks on sovereignty that represented China’s official government stance.
The Chinese embassy in Paris issued a statement later on Monday to say that Lu’s comments on Ukraine “were not a political declaration but an expression of his personal views”.
Both statements, following the backlash, appeared to be an effort to ease the tension with the EU while Washington also cited growing closeness between Beijing and Moscow.
“Beijing has distanced itself from the unacceptable remarks by its ambassador,” Josep Borrell told a news conference, saying it was “good news”.
The French foreign ministry said it was “taking note” of Beijing’s “clarifications” and that the minister’s chief of staff had met with Lu on Monday, told him his comments were unacceptable and urged him to speak in a way “that is in line with his country’s official stance.”
Lu has earned himself a reputation as one of China’s “wolf warrior” diplomats, so-called for their hawkish and abrasive style.
Asked about his position on whether Crimea was part of Ukraine or not, Lu had said in an interview aired on French TV on Friday that historically it was part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
“These ex-USSR countries don’t have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialize their sovereign status,” Lu added.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky speaks during a news conference, in Riga, Latvia April 21, 2023. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
‘TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE’
Monday’s statements from the Chinese foreign ministry and embassy in Paris came after criticism from across the EU.
Speaking ahead of a Luxembourg meeting of EU foreign ministers earlier in the day, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said Lu’s comments were “totally unacceptable”.
“I hope the bosses of this ambassador will make these things straight,” he told reporters.
A spokesperson for Germany’s foreign ministry said it had taken note of Lu’s comments “with great astonishment, especially as the statements are not in line with the Chinese position we have known so far.”
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said the three Baltic countries would summon Chinese representatives to officially ask for clarification.
He said Beijing was “sending the same message” as Moscow on questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet countries, which he described as “dangerous”.
Lithuania and its Baltic neighbours Latvia and Estonia were incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940, but regained independence after its break-up in 1991.
EU leaders would discuss the bloc’s stance towards China and its future relations with Beijing during their next summit in June, EU Council President Charles Michel said.
Lu has been summoned to France’s foreign ministry several times in the past, including for suggesting France was abandoning old people in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic and for calling a respected China scholar at a French think-tank a “mad hyena”.
Asked about Chinese officials’ comments, White House spokesperson John Kirby told MSNBC broadcaster that China and Russia are clearly aligning, adding: “These are two countries that want to challenge outright the international rules-based order … that respects sovereignty around the world.”
“They want to undermine it. They want to reduce and diminish not only the United States and our influence around the world but also our allies and partners.”
RATINGEN, Germany, April 14 (Reuters) – In the German town of Ratingen, exploding cash machines are a hot-button topic.
Two got blown up early on the same morning last month, at branches of Santander (SAN.MC) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) across the street from each other close to the Duesseldorf suburb’s main square.
A year ago, residents of the apartments above Santander unsuccessfully sued to have the machines removed due to concerns they could be raided – a gesture that might in retrospect be deemed prophetic in other countries.
But in Germany, thieves are blowing ATMs up at the rate of more than one a day.
Attacks are up more than 40% since 2019, according to the interior ministry, and investigators say two factors are driving the increase.
Europe’s largest economy has 53,000 ATM machines, a disproportionately high number that reflects Germans’ preference for cash rather than bank cards. The country also boasts an extensive network of highways, or Autobahns, on much of which no speed limit is enforced.
Ratingen lies just 70km (40 miles) from the Dutch border, and investigators say gangs from the Netherlands are the prime culprits for the attacks, which send glass flying, cause building facades to crumble and money cartridges to crack open.
Raiders got away with nearly 20 million euros ($22.1 million) in 2021, when 392 ATM explosions were recorded, a tally that rose to 496 in 2022. Police in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Ratingen lies and which has borne the brunt of the attacks, have recorded 47 incidents so far in 2023, up on last year’s rate.
Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics
DUTCH RAIDERS
Meanwhile the frequency of ATM attackers is falling in the Netherlands, partly due to security measures such as glue that makes blocks of cash inside ATMs unusable, Dutch police say.
So Dutch cash machine raiders are crossing the border and, German police estimate, have carried out between 70% to 80% of attacks in Germany since 2018.
Dutch police suspect around 500 men are responsible, working in ever-evolving groups as new recruits replace those who get caught. Prosecutors in Frankfurt this week charged six Dutch citizens with causing explosions, theft and property damage.
Reuters Graphics
Ratingen police are investigating a possible Dutch connection in last month’s twin raid too, having identified a small vehicle that sped from the scene to a nearby Autobahn.
On Thursday, nearly a month after the attacks, Santander’s facade remained boarded up. Deutsche Bank’s sign was still damaged, and a sign asked for customers’ understanding that ATMs were out of order while under repair.
In Germany, roughly 60% of everyday purchases are paid in cash, according to a Bundesbank study that found Germans, on average, withdrew more than 6,600 euros annually chiefly from cash machines.
Germany is also working with officials in Belgium and France and at Europol to combat the cash machine crime wave. The partner authorities did not respond to requests for comment.
Noting that ATM raids endangered lives, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser this week urged banks to step up safety measures for ATMs.
Both Santander and Deutsche said they prioritised safety and were continuously improving ATM security, but banks inside Germany are reluctant to adopt blanket measures, instead advocating a case-by-case approach depending on individual security risk.
A spokesperson for Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft, a umbrella lobby group for the nation’s financial institutions, said: “Different locations come with different risks. There is currently no one-size-fits-all solution.”
($1 = 0.9044 euros)
Additional reporting by Milan Pavicic; editing by John Stonestreet
Covers German finance with a focus on big banks, insurance companies, regulation and financial crime, previous experience at the Wall Street Journal and New York Times in Europe and Asia.
April 14 (Reuters) – European foreign policy officials on Friday urged China not to use force over Taiwan, taking a tough stance against Beijing’s threats over the democratically governed island, after comments by French President Emmanuel Macron were perceived as weak.
China in recent days has held intense military drills around Taiwan, which it claims as its own, and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, addressing the issue at a press conference in Beijing alongside her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, said any attempt by China to control Taiwan would be unacceptable and would have serious repercussions for Europe.
EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell echoed her remarks in a statement prepared for a speech due to be delivered in Beijing at the Center for China and Globalization think tank on Friday that had to be cancelled after he caught COVID-19.
“A military escalation in the Taiwan Strait, through which … 50% of world trade goes every day, would be a horror scenario for the entire world,” said Baerbock, adding it would have “inevitable repercussions” for European interests.
In interviews published after his trip to China last week, which was meant to showcase European unity on China policy, Macron cautioned against being drawn into a crisis over Taiwan driven by an “American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction”.
While many of the remarks were not new, the timing of their publication, and their bluntness, annoyed many Western officials.
“The European Union’s position (on Taiwan) is consistent and clear,” Borrell said in his remarks. “Any attempt to change the status quo by force would be unacceptable.”
UKRAINE ISSUE
Borrell also said Europe’s future relationship with China depended on it trying to use its influence to find a political solution to the Ukraine crisis.
“It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the European Union to maintain a relationship of trust with China, which I would like to see, if China does not contribute to the search for a political solution based on Russia’s withdrawal from the Ukrainian territory,” Borrell said.
“Neutrality in the face of the violation of international law is not credible,” Borrell said, adding an appeal for Chinese President Xi Jinping to speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and for China to provide more humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Xi has met Russian President Vladimir Putin twice but not spoken with Zelenskiy since Russia invaded Ukraine in what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in February 2022.
China stated its opposition to attacks on civilians and on nuclear facilities in a position paper on Ukraine published in February, but it has refrained from openly criticising Russia.
“President Xi’s visit to Moscow has demonstrated that no other country has a bigger influence on Russia than China,” said Baerbock.
“It is good that China has signalled to get engaged in finding a solution. But I have to say clearly that I wonder why China so far has not asked the aggressor Russia to stop the war. We all know President Putin has the opportunity to do so any time he wants to.”
Poland’s prime minister warned earlier this week that Ukraine’s defeat may embolden China to invade Taiwan.
Baerbock and Borrell also spoke about the risks of being too dependent economically on China, in line with comments made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a speech last month on the eve of her China visit.
“We just paid a high price for our energy dependency on Russia, and it is well-known that one should not make the same mistake twice,” said Baerbock, adding that economic security is core to Germany’s strategy for China.
Borrell said that the EU needs to diversify its value chains to reduce its dependency on China for raw materials.
He also said that the increasing trade imbalances between the EU and China are “unsustainable” and called on China to remove market access barriers.
Reporting by Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
March 14 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said Germany’s response to the explosion on North Sea pipelines showed that the country remained “occupied” and unable to act independently decades after its surrender at the end of World War Two.
Putin, interviewed on Russian television, also said European leaders had been browbeaten into losing their sense of sovereignty and independence.
Western countries, including Germany, have reacted cautiously to investigations into the blasts which hit Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipelines last year, saying they believe they were a deliberate act, but declining to say who they think was responsible.
“The matter is that European politicians have said themselves publicly that after World War Two, Germany was never a fully sovereign state,” Russian news agencies quoted Putin as telling state Rossiya-1 TV channel.
“The Soviet Union at one point withdrew its forces and ended what amounted to an occupation of the country. But that, as is well known, was not the case with the Americans. They continue to occupy Germany.”
Putin told the interviewer that the blasts were carried out on a “state level” and dismissed as “complete nonsense” suggestions that an autonomous pro-Ukraine group was responsible.
The pipelines were intended to bring Russian gas to Germany, though since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago Berlin has taken steps to reduce its reliance on Russian hydrocarbons.
Leaders in Berlin have been careful about apportioning blame for the explosions, with Defence Minister Boris Pistorius saying last week the blasts could have been a “false-flag operation to blame Ukraine”.
Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Angus MacSwan
VIENNA, March 4 (Reuters) – Iran has given sweeping assurances to the U.N. nuclear watchdog that it will finally assist a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles found at undeclared sites and even re-install removed monitoring equipment, the watchdog said on Saturday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran issued a joint statement on IAEA chief Rafael Grossi’s return from a trip to Tehran just two days before a quarterly meeting of the agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors.
The statement went into little detail but the possibility of a marked improvement in relations between the two is likely to stave off a Western push for another resolution ordering Iran to cooperate, diplomats said. Iran has, however, made similar promises before that have yielded little or nothing.
“Iran expressed its readiness to … provide further information and access to address the outstanding safeguards issues,” the joint statement said. A confidential IAEA report to member states seen by Reuters said Grossi “looks forward to … prompt and full implementation of the Joint Statement”.
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Iran is supposed to provide access to information, locations and people, Grossi told a news conference at Vienna airport soon after landing, suggesting a vast improvement after years of Iranian stonewalling.
[1/2] Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi meets with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2023. Iran’s President Website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS.
Iran would also allow the re-installation of extra monitoring equipment that had been put in place under the 2015 nuclear deal, but then removed last year as the deal unravelled in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from the deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi, however, said Tehran had not agreed to give access to people.
“During the two days that Mr. Grossi was in Iran, the issue of access to individuals was never raised,” Kamalvandi told state news agency IRNA, adding there also has been no deal regarding putting new cameras in Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Follow-up talks in Iran between IAEA and Iranian officials aimed at hammering out the details would happen “very, very soon”, Grossi said.
Asked if all that monitoring equipment would be re-installed, Grossi replied “Yes”. When asked where it would be re-installed, however, he said only that it would be at a number of locations.
Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Louise Heavens and David Holmes
BENGALURU, Feb 22 (Reuters) – India does not want the G20 to discuss additional sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine during New Delhi’s one-year presidency of the bloc, six senior Indian officials said on Wednesday, amid debate over how even to describe the conflict.
On the sidelines of a G20 gathering in India, financial leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations will meet on Feb. 23, the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion, to discuss measures against Russia, Japan’s finance minister said on Tuesday.
The officials, who are directly involved in this week’s G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs, said the economic impact of the conflict would be discussed but India did not want to consider additional actions against Russia.
“India is not keen to discuss or back any additional sanctions on Russia during the G20,” said one of the officials. “The existing sanctions on Russia have had a negative impact on the world.”
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Another official said sanctions were not a G20 issue. “G20 is an economic forum for discussing growth issues.”
Spokespeople for the Indian government and the finance and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Wednesday, the first day of meetings to draft the G20 communique, officials struggled to find an acceptable word to describe the Russia-Ukraine conflict, delegates of at least seven countries present in the meetings said.
India tried to form a consensus on the words by calling it a “crisis” or a “challenge” instead of a “war”, the officials said, but the discussions concluded without a decision.
These discussions have been rolled over to Thursday when U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will be part of the meetings.
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has previously said the war has disproportionately hit poorer countries by raising prices of fuel and food.
India’s neighbours – Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh – have all sought loans from the International Monetary Fund in recent months to tide over economic troubles brought about by the pandemic and the war.
U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Tuesday that Washington and its allies planned in coming days to impose new sanctions and export controls that would target Russia’s purchase of dual-use goods like refrigerators and microwaves to secure semiconductors needed for its military.
The sanctions would also seek to do more to stem the trans-shipment of oil and other restricted goods through bordering countries.
In addition, Adeyemo said officials from a coalition of more than 30 countries would warn companies, financial institutions and individuals still doing business with Russia that they faced sanctions.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has not openly criticised Moscow for the invasion and instead called for dialogue and diplomacy to end the war. India has also sharply raised purchases of oil from Russia, its biggest supplier of defence hardware.
Jaishankar told Reuters partner ANI this week that India’s relationship with Russia had been “extraordinarily steady and it has been steady through all the turbulence in global politics”.
Additional reporting by Krishn Kaushik; Writing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie
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