📹 Footage of the visit of the head of the IAEA Rafael Grossi to the Zaporozhye NPP

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Cyclone-battered New Zealand slips into recession, faces 'awkward' outlook

New Zealand has entered a recession for the first time since 2020, with its economy contracting by 0.1% in the first quarter of this year. This marks the second consecutive quarter of negative growth, meeting the technical definition of a recession.

The decline was primarily driven by a slowdown in services, exports, and agriculture, particularly in business services, which fell by 3.5%. The recession was further exacerbated by the severe impact of the cyclones Hale and Gabrielle, as well as teachers' strikes.

Additionally, the country is experiencing inflation above the Central Bank's target range, currently at 6.7%.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Highlights of Energy in the 21st Century: Challenges of Today — Opportunities of Tomorrow panel at #SPIEF2023

💬 “We [Europeans] must understand that energy supply is not an ideological or political issue, but a physical one,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told attendees.

He also warned that Europe’s energy crisis could be significantly worse this upcoming winter than last year. Szijjarto noted that there is no guarantee that next winter will be as mild as the winter of 2022-23.

Additionally, the flows of Russian gas to Europe this year are significantly down compared to last year, providing the continent with less room for maneuver.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇭🇺📹 ‘No country should take advantage out of energy crisis’: Hungarian FM Szijjarto calls out Ukraine for gouging gas prices.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇭🇺📹 Diversification does not mean changing one gas supplier for another, Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto says

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

De-dollarization 'could happen much quicker than most think'

De-dollarization could occur quicker than anticipated, according to Michael Goddard, President of the Netley Group, speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

The BRICS countries, constituting Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, are spearheading the movement to reduce reliance on the US dollar. The bloc is considering various measures, including the creation of a common currency backed by gold or a basket of assets.

Goddard believes that if the BRICS countries and others begin trading in this new currency, it could significantly reduce the use of dollars in trade, leading to accelerated de-dollarization.

Sergey Vakhrukov, deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, emphasized the risks associated with Washington's use of the dollar as a sanctions tool. He warned that countries opposing US foreign policy face the threat of economic sanctions.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣️”The US sees only one opportunity to stop the irreversible rise of China. So they're doing everything imaginable to stop it. They're destabilizing, overthrowing governments all around China. They're targeting China itself and Taiwan being part of China. They're encouraging separatism. They're encouraging the very same sort of scenario they created in Ukraine to prompt the ongoing conflict we're watching unfold there now”: Brian Berletic, ex-US Marine Corps independent geopolitical researcher and writer based in Bangkok, on Washington’s plan to cling to world domination

🎧Listen to more of Berletic’s analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

🇷🇺 Dmitry Medvedev attended a meeting of the working group of the Military-Industrial Commission of Russia dedicated to control over the production of popular types of weapons, as well as military and special equipment

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣️”Ukraine is dragging Europe with it inside that huge hole that [it] seems doesn't have an end, because Victoria Nuland told us that this war can last for one year, for six years, or for 16 years. And I don't think Europe has the appetite for that. This is why Macron is saying 'Okay, I am not yet jumping the European-US ship, but I am going to go closer to the BRICS where there are the African resources and the world resources”: Elijah Magnier, a veteran war correspondent, on France embarking on the path of its own politics

🎧Listen to more of Magnier’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits