Top European Union officials intend to complain loudly to their U.S. counterparts at a trade meeting on Monday about the bloc’s electric vehicles being cut off from tax credits in U.S. President Joe Biden’s signature climate law.

The U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC), a year-old transatlantic forum for dialogue, focused in its first two meetings on regulatory co-operation and presenting a united front against China’s non-market economic practices.

But the 27-country bloc fears that the $430-billion Inflation Reduction Act with its generous tax credits of $7,500 for Tesla (TSLA.O), Ford (F.N) and other North American-made EVs, will significantly damage European automakers.

The topic is on the agenda of the TTC meeting on the University of Maryland campus in College Park, Maryland, U.S. and EU officials said.

Participants include U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and European Commission Executive Vice Presidents Valdis Dombrovskis and Margrethe Vestager.

In a Dec. 1 draft of a joint statement to be issued later on Monday, the two sides are to say, “We acknowledge the European Union’s concerns and underline our commitment to address them constructively.”

The draft document, which was seen by Reuters and may still be revised, did not set out specific measures to resolve the dispute.

“The Inflation Reduction Act will be part of the range of discussions on trade,” a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said in a statement.

The U.S. side was “committed to continuing to understand EU concerns” through a newly established task force, the spokesperson added.

The meeting would produce a “joint roadmap” on evaluating and measuring trustworthy artificial intelligence technologies as well as a task force to reduce research barriers related to quantum computing science and technology, the spokesperson said.

European and South Korean officials criticized the Inflation Act at the G20 Summit in Indonesia last month. During his state visit to Washington last week, French President Emmanuel Macron told broadcaster CBS it was a “job killer” for Europe.

Biden told Macron in Washington that there could be “tweaks” to the law to make it easier for European countries to participate in the credits.

French officials say they are hopeful an executive order from the White House could give European nations a break, without the need for seeking revisions from Congress – a move the White House wants to avoid.

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Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group has denied responsibility for sending letter bombs and packages containing animal eyes to embassies across Europe.

Referred to as a “well-planned” campaign of intimidation by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, the incidents involved packages being sent to embassies in Poland, Italy, Croatia, and the Netherlands, and consulates in Naples and the Czech Republic.

Other targets have so far included a letter bomb arriving at the office of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the arms manufacturer Instalaza in Zaragoza, and a satellite center at an airbase in Madrid.

Received throughout last week, five of the letters were detected by security personnel before they reached their targets, Spanish TV station La Sexta reported on Thursday.

However, one of the letter bombs, sent to the U.S. embassy in Madrid, went undetected and was opened by an employee on Nov. 30. The individual was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

A further letter, sent to the U.S. Embassy in Madrid was intercepted on Dec, 1, with Spain’s Interior Ministry saying the package displayed “similar characteristics to the previous ones.”

The letter bombs, all sent in brown parcels, consisted of homemade devices containing a tripwire and flammable powder, Rafael Perez, Spain’s Deputy Interior Minister told Reuters.

Other packages were found to contain bloody animal parts, with Yevhenia Voloshchenko, a Ukrainian official in Rome, saying that her embassy had received a small parcel containing a fish eye.

In the Czech Republic, police officials confirmed that an envelope delivered to the Ukrainian embassy in the city of Brno was found to contain “animal tissue.” A similar package was also sent to the Ukrainian Embassy in Prague, while Andrii Yurash, the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See told reporters that the entrance to his apartment had been smeared with a “dirty substance.”

“It was like a warning. Everybody needs to be prepared for a repeat of the same terrible gesture,” Ambassador Yurash, said in a phone interview with CNN on Dec. 1. “Surely it’s a way from the Russian side to threaten Ukrainian diplomats.”

Reaction

Responding to the packages in Spain, the country’s Interior Ministry said in a statement: “As a result of these events, the National Police is conducting a confidential investigation,” adding that it had implemented “an increase in security measures around the consular legations present in our country as well as in other areas that need special protection.”

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said that whoever was behind the acts of terror “will not succeed in intimidating Ukrainian diplomats or stopping their daily work on strengthening Ukraine and countering Russian aggression.”

Meanwhile, in a written response to CNN, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said: “Think about the madness when some hooligans send bomb letters or other offensive things – what does this have to do with Wagner PMC.”

The Wagner Group has been widely condemned for its involvement in human rights abuses in several conflicts, including in Libya, Syria and Ukraine.

Responding to his comments, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova sent CNN a one-word comment, calling Kuleba a “psycho,” while Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, wrote on Telegram that his organization would “never engage in boorish stupid antics.”

Spanish police have confirmed that an investigation is still ongoing.

The post Wagner Group Denies Sending Letter Bombs, Bloody Packages, to Ukrainian Embassies appeared first on Kyiv Post.

Good morning from Kyiv where it’s day 5 of winter and a bone-freezing -6C. There was one relatively short air raid alert on Saturday but no actual attack on the capital, though one is still expected in the very near future.

What’s happening today?

Today’s big news is that the Russian oil price cap agreed by EU, G7 and Australia will come into force, as western nations seek a way to punish the Kremlin financially for its invasion of Ukraine without upsetting the already fragile global economic markets.

It’s a complicated affair with global implications but U.S. and European officials are confident it will work.

You can read how it will work and what it hopes to achieve here.

What was Zelensky’s latest message?

In his daily address on Sunday evening, President Zelensky spoke rather grimly of “these 90 winter days” Ukraine has just entered but that enduring them and making it through will bring the country 90 days closer to victory.

“The enemy really hopes to use winter against us: to make winter cold and hardship part of his terror,” he said. “We have to do everything to endure this winter, no matter how hard it is. And we will endure. To endure this winter is to defend everything.”

“Russia still has missiles and an advantage in artillery. Yes, but we have something that the occupier does not have and will not have.

“We defend our home, and that gives us the strongest motivation possible. We fight for freedom, and that always multiplies any force. We defend the truth, and this unites the whole world around Ukraine.”

What’s the latest military situation?

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has some good news today, noting the number of sorties conducted by the Russian air force has “reduced significantly”.

“Russian aircraft now probably conducts tens of missions per day, compared to a high of up to 300 per day in March 2022,” it said.

The MoD says this is “likely due” to “continued high threat from Ukrainian air defences, limitations on the flying hours available to Russian aircraft, and worsening weather” and probably will remain at a low rate throughout the winter.

The Institute for the Study of War’s Dec. 4 daily assessment covers a multitude of topics, most notably:

• Ukrainian officials have indicated that Ukrainian forces plan to continue offensive operations over the coming winter to capitalize on recent battlefield successes and prevent Russian forces from regaining the battlefield initiative.
• Ukraine’s ability to maintain the military initiative and continue the momentum of its current operational successes depends on Ukrainian forces continuing to conduct successive operations through the winter of 2022-2023.
• Russian forces likely publicly executed by hanging residents in occupied Luhansk Region on accusations of partisan activity.

Anything else I need to know about?

Sure, here are some brilliant Kyiv Post articles you might have missed over the weekend:

• Local Start-Up Making Modular Homes for Families Made Homeless by Russia’s War
• This is What Happens When Your Child’s Having Surgery During a Missile Attack in Kyiv
• Hot Dogs, Coffee, Bolster Fight in Eastern Ukraine
• Author John Sweeney Says Putin Playing a De-Civilization Game In Ukraine

And that’s it for today’s Morning Memo.

Kyiv Post will bring you the latest news throughout the day and we’ll be back with another edition tomorrow.

The post Kyiv Post Morning Memo – Everything You Need to Know on Monday, Dec. 5 appeared first on Kyiv Post.

Ex-Wirecard CEO goes on trial over ‘unparalleled’ fraud f24.my/95es.T via @FRANCE24

Covid variants still transmissible between species: Study devdiscourse.com/article/scienc…

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