2025-07-15 07:48
Kremlin says Trump sending wrong signal to Ukraine Russia does not care about Trump's theatrics, official says Trump asked Zelenskiy if Ukraine could hit Moscow, FT reports Trump threatened sanctions on buyers of Russian exports Trump says he is 'not done' with Putin, BBC reports MOSCOW, July 15 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Tuesday reacted icily to Donald Trump's warnings to President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, saying that recent decisions by the U.S. president and the NATO military alliance would be interpreted by Kyiv as a signal to continue the war. Trump, sitting beside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, on Monday, announced new weapons for Ukraine and threatened "biting" secondary tariffs of 100% on the buyers of Russian exports unless there is a peace deal in 50 days. Sign up here. "The U.S. president's statements are very serious. Some of them are addressed personally to President Putin," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "We certainly need time to analyse what was said in Washington." Peskov, though, added that it was already clear that decisions being made in Washington and other NATO capitals were "perceived by the Ukrainian side not as a signal for peace but as a signal to continue the war." Putin, who has spoken to Trump by telephone at least six times this year, has yet to comment publicly on Trump's remarks. But two other senior Russian officials did not hold back. Former President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chair of Russia's Security Council, said Moscow did not care about Trump's "theatrical ultimatum", while a senior Russian diplomat, Sergei Ryabkov, suggested that giving ultimatums to Moscow was unacceptable and pointless. Trump, who has said he wants to be seen as a "peacemaker" president, said he wanted to see the end of the war - on which he said the United States had spent $350 billion - but that he had been "disappointed" by Putin. TRUMP 'VERY UNHAPPY' Trump specifically expressed frustration that Putin's "talk" about peace was often followed by Russian strikes on major Ukrainian cities, and indicated Washington wanted to press Moscow into ending the war by sending more arms to Ukraine. "I don't want to say he's an assassin, but he's a tough guy," Trump said of Putin, a reference to former U.S. President Joe Biden calling the Russian leader "a killer" in a 2021 interview. The Financial Times reported that Trump had privately encouraged Ukraine to step up strikes deep , opens new tab in Russian territory, even asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy whether he could hit Moscow if the U.S. provided long-range weapons. Trump told the BBC that he was "not done" with Putin and that he thought a Ukraine peace deal was on the cards. Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces. The United States says 1.2 million people have been injured or killed in the war. In Moscow, state television broadcasts led with advances by Russian troops in Ukraine, of which Russian forces control just under a fifth, and an attack on Russia by Ukrainian drones which injured 18 people. SECONDARY SANCTIONS Kommersant, one of Russia's most respected newspapers, invoked William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" in its front page headline to suggest betrayal: "Et tu, Trump - the main peacekeeper of Ukrainian conflict joined the 'party of war'". Putin has repeatedly said he is ready to make peace - but on his terms - and that there is no point discussing a ceasefire until the details of what a peace would look like are nailed down. In Washington, a White House official said Trump's intention is to impose "100% tariffs on Russia" and secondary sanctions on other countries that buy oil from Russia if a peace deal is not struck in 50 days. "We can do secondary," Trump said. "We're probably talking about 100 percent or something like that. We can do secondary tariffs without the Senate, without the House, but what they're crafting also could be very good." Eighty-five of the 100 U.S. senators are co-sponsoring a bill that would give Trump the authority to impose 500% tariffs on any country that helps Russia. China, India and Turkey are the biggest buyers of crude from Russia, the world's second largest exporter of oil. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-does-not-care-about-trumps-theatrical-ultimatum-senior-official-says-2025-07-15/
2025-07-15 07:06
Kazakhstan has exceeded OPEC+ output quota Output at Tengiz oilfield has been expanded Some OPEC+ members angry with Kazakhstan for surpassing quota No plans for Kazakhstan to leave OPEC+ ASTANA, July 15 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's oil output in the first half of 2025 rose by around 11.6% to 49.9 million metric tons from the same period in 2024, while the country has no plans to leave the OPEC+ group of global leading oil producers, senior officials said on Tuesday. The Central Asian republic has persistently exceeded quotas set by OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers led by Russia, angering some bloc's members, according to the industry sources. Sign up here. Energy minister Erlan Akkenzhenov said on Tuesday that Kazakhstan exported 39.6 million tons of oil (1.64 million barrels per day), while this year's export is expected at 70.5 million tons. Reuters uses the ratio of barrels of Kazakhstan's crude oil to metric tons of 7.5 barrels per metric ton. Separately, the country's Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said Kazakhstan did not plan to leave OPEC+, while conceding it has struggled to abide by the OPEC+ production quotas. He said it was due to the expansion of the Chevron-led (CVX.N) , opens new tab Tengiz oilfield, the country's largest. Kazakhstan's OPEC+ quota is set to rise to 1.532 million barrels per day in August from 1.514 million barrels per day in July. This does not account for output of gas condensate, a type of light oil. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/kazakhstan-hikes-oil-output-by-116-first-half-no-plans-quit-opec-2025-07-15/
2025-07-15 07:04
SEOUL, July 15 (Reuters) - South Korea will prepare within this year a roadmap for its stock market to win developed market status from a global index provider, the country's acting finance minister said on Tuesday. The move is part of market reform pledges by President Lee Jae Myung, who took office last month, to win an upgrade from emerging market status to developed market status by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) to attract capital inflows. Sign up here. The government will prepare a comprehensive roadmap to bring improvements in market accessibility and implement measures as soon as they are prepared, Acting Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said at a task-force meeting. "Through the promotion to the MSCI developed market index, we will establish an investment environment that is in line with global standards and advance our foreign exchange and capital markets," Minister Lee said. Last month, MSCI kept South Korea on its emerging market index, as it said more needed to be done, particularly on the foreign exchange market, though it acknowledged an improvement in short-selling accessibility. The benchmark KOSPI stock index (.KS11) , opens new tab has been rallying since President Lee's election victory in early June, hitting its highest level in nearly four years on Tuesday. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/south-korea-prepare-roadmap-developed-market-upgrade-2025-07-15/
2025-07-15 07:02
HONG KONG, July 15 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered (STAN.L) , opens new tab will allow institutional clients to trade bitcoin and ether through its UK branch, the bank said on Tuesday, becoming what it said was the first global systemically important bank to offer such crypto services. Some financial institutions have said they are seeing more client demand for crypto products as the price of bitcoin hits record highs, helped by U.S. President Donald Trump's pro-crypto stance. Sign up here. Institutional clients around the world, including corporates, investors and asset managers, will be able to conduct spot crypto trading through Standard Chartered's existing platforms, and will soon be offered non-deliverable forwards trading, the bank said in a statement. Standard Chartered already offers crypto products, including trading, via two independent subsidiary companies: Zodia Markets and Zodia Custody. Zodia Markets allows clients to trade more than 70 crypto assets, a spokesperson for Standard Chartered said. "As client demand accelerates further, we want to offer clients a route to transact, trade and manage digital asset risk safely and efficiently within regulatory requirements," Chief Executive Bill Winters said in the statement. Crypto asset markets have gradually recovered in recent years, after a series of crypto company bankruptcies in 2022 revealed widespread misconduct across the nascent industry and left millions of investors out of pocket. The U.S. House of Representatives is set to pass a series of crypto-related bills this week, which the Republican majority has dubbed "crypto week". Some U.S. banks are holding internal discussions about expanding into crypto, a sector many had previously avoided, and France's Societe Generale last month became the world's first major bank to launch a dollar-pegged stablecoin. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/stanchart-launches-bitcoin-ether-spot-trading-institutional-clients-2025-07-15/
2025-07-15 07:00
TOKYO, July 15 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) , opens new tab said on Tuesday it will stop producing vehicles at its Oppama plant in Japan by March 2028 and transfer operations to its factory in the southern prefecture of Fukuoka as part of a global restructuring plan to reduce capacity. CEO Ivan Espinosa has announced sweeping plans aimed at turning around the embattled automaker - Japan's third-largest - including slashing production capacity to 2.5 million vehicles from 3.5 million and manufacturing sites to 10 from 17. Sign up here. Reuters reported last week that Nissan was in talks to allow Taiwan's Foxconn (2317.TW) , opens new tab to use the Oppama factory, in the port city of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, to produce EVs and avert a closure. "Today, Nissan made a tough but necessary decision," Espinosa said in a statement. "It wasn't easy - for me or for the company - but I believe it's a vital step toward overcoming our current challenges and building a sustainable future." Nissan said it would explore "a wide range of options" for the future use of the Oppama plant. Costs related to the transfer of production to Nissan Motor Kyushu will be disclosed along with first-quarter financial results, it said. When the Oppama factory first opened in 1961, it was one of Japan's first large-scale auto factories and a symbol of Nissan's - and Japan's - global ambitions. Long referred to as Nissan's "mother factory", it employs 3,900 workers and has produced more than 17.8 million vehicles to date. Other facilities and functions in the district such as the Nissan Research Center and a crash-test facility, will be unaffected, Nissan said. Battered by declining sales in the United States and China, Nissan faces a mountain of debt repayment and mounting losses. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/nissan-says-oppama-plant-will-stop-production-by-end-fy202728-2025-07-15/
2025-07-15 06:47
MELBOURNE/LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) , opens new tab, (RIO.L) , opens new tab on Tuesday named Simon Trott, the head of its iron ore division, as its new chief executive officer, replacing Jakob Stausholm, who announced his intention to step down in May. Trott, a more than 20-year veteran at the world's biggest iron ore miner, has led the engine of the company's profit for the past four years. He will take over the duties of group CEO effective August 25. Sign up here. Trott's appointment has come swiftly on the heels of the surprise news of Stausholm's departure and his appointment will raise hopes in Australia for a locally domiciled CEO. "It's a relatively safe appointment," said Kaan Peker at RBC in Sydney. "He knows the iron ore business very well and that's the main driver of free cashflow and earnings. Obviously he has proven himself in the eyes of the chair." Trott brought to market Rio Tinto's biggest iron ore mine in more than a decade in Western Australia and is building out a huge programme of replacement tons. "Simon and the Board are aligned that Rio Tinto's next phase is about unlocking significant value for shareholders from our portfolio, driven by operational performance, and cost and financial discipline," chair Dominic Barton said in a statement. Trott, who also served as the miner's chief commercial officer from 2018 to 2021, has faced pushback from investors because the quality of ore in Rio's exports has dropped during his tenure and the miner has struggled to reach the top end of its production forecast. Stausholm, who oversaw a big bet on lithium and expansions in iron ore and copper, was named CEO in 2020 as the miner grappled with legal, public and investor angst over the destruction of Australia's ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelters, which led to the ousting of its former CEO. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/rio-tinto-names-simon-trott-new-ceo-2025-07-15/
