Ukraine’s allies warn Europe against returning to Russian gas as part of a peace deal
A chimney and pipes at the BKM Nonprofit Fotav Zrt power plant in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Ukraine’s closest allies have warned against the European Union reopening Russian gas pipelines as part of a potential peace settlement, with one Baltic nation describing the prospect as “not a good solution in any way.”
It comes shortly after the Financial Times reported that EU officials were considering whether to restore gas flows from Russia to Europe as part of a settlement to end the Kremlin’s years-long Ukraine war.
The report, which was published on Jan. 30 and cited unnamed sources familiar with discussions, said the idea had been endorsed by some EU officials as one way of lowering regional energy costs.
Estonia, a NATO member which shares a 294-kilometer (183 miles) border with Russia, is among those calling on the 27-nation bloc not to reopen Russian gas pipelines.
The Eastern European country said the EU must not allow itself to become dependent on Russian energy as part of a Ukraine peace settlement, noting that restoring gas flows would be inconsistent with the bloc’s goal of phasing out Russian fossil fuel imports by 2027.
“We have seen in history that Russia has used energy as a weapon. Russia has repeatedly demonstrated this — and so, going back is not a good solution in any way,” Kadri Elias-Hindoalla, director of Estonia’s foreign affairs’ sanctions and strategic goods department, told CNBC via video call.
In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state owned agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting regarding the situation in the Kursk region, in his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, on August 12, 2024.
Gavriil Grigorov | Afp | Getty Images
Europe should have learned its lesson when Russian forces invaded Georgia in 2008, Estonia’s Elias-Hindoalla said, adding that the Ukraine war has since reaffirmed the importance of finding alternative suppliers and improving the bloc’s energy independence.
“Our position is very clear: We should maximize sanctions and limit Russia’s energy imports as much as possible,” Elias-Hindoalla said.
The foreign ministries of Russia and Ukraine did not respond when contacted by CNBC for comment.
For its part, the European Commission said it is “not making any links” between the reopening of Russian gas and Ukraine peace talks. The European Commission is the EU’s executive arm.
“Whenever we have such talks, when that moment comes, it will be with Ukraine and we do not confirm any links reported in the article … about any links between the transit of gas through Ukraine and any peace talks,” EU spokesperson Paula Pinho said in a press briefing on Thursday.
The EU’s plan, Pinho said, remains to stick to the gradual phasing out of Russian gas. The bloc adopted a 15th package of sanctions against Russia late last year, seeking to further weaken Russia’s military and industrial capabilities.
‘One of the worst ideas in the history of the world’
Lithuania, which was occupied by the Soviet Union until 1990, has said that securing an end to the fighting in Ukraine must take place with Kyiv’s full involvement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy underlined this message in an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month, warning it would be “very dangerous” to exclude Kyiv from talks between the U.S. and Russia about how to end the invasion.
Speaking during a virtual appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Jan. 23 that he would like to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin “soon” to find a way to end the Ukraine war.
Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said the prospect of peace through dependence on Russian gas was “demonstrably one of the worst ideas in the history of the world.”
“The suggestion to reinstate this disastrous policy is nothing more than spitting on the graves of its innocent victims,” Landsbergis said in social media post on Jan. 30.
Even in the event of an end to the Ukraine war, Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda has warned that his country’s geographical position could make it vulnerable to a broader conflict. The country of 2.8 million borders Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave to the west and Moscow’s ally of Belarus to the east.
Europe’s gas supply shift
Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine came to halt at the start of 2025, marking the end of Moscow’s decades-long dominance over the region’s energy markets.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy said at the time that the end of Russian gas transit through his country to Europe represented “one of Moscow’s biggest defeats” and called on the U.S. to supply more gas to the region.
Russia, meanwhile, warned that EU countries would likely suffer the most from the supply shift. Moscow is still able to send gas via the TurkStream pipeline, which links Russia with Hungary, Serbia and Turkey.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 21, 2025.
Fabrice Coffrini | Afp | Getty Images
Poland, a staunch Ukraine ally and another European country that shares a border with Russia’s Kaliningrad, has also urged EU countries not to reopen Russian gas flows.
“I can only hope that European leaders will learn lessons from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and that they will push through a decision to never restore the pumping of gas through this pipeline,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said in an interview with the BBC last month.
His comments referred to the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which connects Russia and northern Germany via the Baltic Sea.
Aviation startup ZeroAvia says it’s been granted a “raft” of 45 new patents key to the development of practical large hydrogen aviation engines – and the company says it has 200 more H-related patents in the pipeline!
The news comes just weeks after ZeroAvia and Scottish regional airline Loganair announced a new, hydrogen-electric “turboprop” replacement motor capable of up to 5MW of shaft horsepower (~6,700 hp). United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) no. 12,341,225 covers an integrated hydrogen-electric engine design land is key to the development of a modular multi-MW hydrogen-electric engine for the ATR 42 and 72 model aircraft — which Loganair owns more than twenty of.
ATR isn’t the only potential customer ZerAvia is eyeballing, either. Despite hydrogen losing ground on utility-scale projects and more companies realizing that it’s “impossible” for hydrogen to compete as a transportation fuel, the fuel still seems to have some practical application in the aviation space. Both Airbus and Boeing have advanced plans and IP for hydrogen-ready airframes in recent weeks, as well, making the IP for large hydrogen-powered aviation engines that much more valuable.
“Recent patents filed and granted around hydrogen aviation give a window into an accelerating field of innovation,” explains Val Miftakhov, Founder and CEO, ZeroAvia. “As we see the large airframe manufacturers beginning to compete on technologies for hydrogen aircraft, there is a big opportunity for companies pioneering hydrogen propulsion systems. These are the inventions that will deliver truly clean, more affordable and highly efficient commercial air travel.”
What it’s all about
Like many tech-based startups, securing IP has been an integral part of ZeroAvia’s strategy, with the value of its patents being, essentially, the value of the company. Just as – if not more important to airlines like Loganair, American, and EcoJet, however, are the potential cost-savings of hydrogen compared to conventional aviation fuels like kerosene.
Importantly, these novel engines promise cost reductions for airlines. The substantially lower maintenance needs of hydrogen-electric engines will mean a decrease in maintenance and downtime for an airline’s fleet, with hydrogen fuel also projected to be significantly more cost effective than kerosene over time.
ZEROAVIA
You can read more about the new ZA600 and ZA2000 hydrogen-electric av motors here, and let us know what you think of hydrogen’s chances against traditional, kerosense-based aviation fuels in the comments.
SOURCE | IMAGES: ZeroAvia.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
You might want to hold onto your handlebars for this one – literally. The fashion-forward British electric scooter maker Bo just unveiled what could be the most extreme electric scooter the world has ever seen. Named The Turbo, this standing e-scooter isn’t just playing around with speed – it’s aiming to smash right through it and find out what’s waiting on the other side.
And it all begs the question, “How much is too much?”
When we talk about fast electric scooters, we’re usually in the neighborhood of 50 mph (80 km/h). But the Bo Turbo doubles those numbers.
With 100 mph+ (160+ km/h) top speeds and claimed acceleration that’s faster than a Tesla, this scooter seems to use a design philosophy pulled straight from the playbook of Formula One. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the team behind The Turbo includes engineers with experience from Williams F1 and the Bloodhound Land Speed Record rocket car.
The world’s fastest e-scooter?
Built on the same base chassis as the company’s sleek road-going Bo Model-M, The Turbo takes everything up a notch – actually, several notches. It features a 24,000 W dual-motor powertrain, 1,800 Wh battery, advanced traction control, and a power-to-weight ratio that reportedly beats a Bugatti Veyron.
At full power, the system is capable of propelling riders down a straightaway at three-digit speeds while standing upright. It’s absurd. It’s glorious. It’s gratuitous. It’s a dream. Or it’s a nightmare.
Bo says the machine is already delivering 85+ mph (137+ km/h) in early track testing at Goodwood Motor Circuit and is currently in development to push beyond the 100 mph barrier under Guinness World Record supervision.
And just in case you’re wondering if this is some experimental prototype cooked up in a lab – it’s not. The company is planning a limited run of built-to-order Turbo scooters, starting at a whopping $29,500. The first one is scheduled for delivery to a collector in Madrid during the 2026 Formula One race weekend.
From F1 brake ducts to street scooter DNA
Despite the headline-grabbing speed numbers, there’s a ton of serious engineering going on here. The Turbo uses ram-air intakes based on F1 brake cooling designs to keep the motors and controllers from overheating. The chassis – made from aerospace-grade aluminum and CNC-machined billet parts – is based on Bo’s proven Monocurve platform, the same structure that underpins the Bo Model-M. In fact, that might be the most impressive part of all, that the same chassis used underneath their everyday-ride-it-to-work Bo Model-M scooter is also holding together this 100 mph beast.
Bo’s team insists that despite the monster specs, The Turbo remains “surprisingly rideable.” Professional BMX rider Tre Whyte has piloted over 20 high-speed test runs, with the team now preparing to push the envelope even further.
A wild PR stunt – or something more?
It’s tempting to see The Turbo as just a headline machine (and hey, it works), but Bo says this project is about more than just chasing speed records. According to Bo CEO Oscar Morgan, “The Turbo is part of our mission to elevate these futuristic electric vehicles into the top tier of automotive performance.”
And honestly, they’ve got a point. E-scooters have exploded in popularity as low-speed urban vehicles, but the category rarely gets taken seriously in the performance world, despite the advent of racing leagues. Bo wants to change that – and they’re using motorsport technology to do it.
Electrek’s Take
Is this a practical daily rider? Absolutely not. But that’s not the point.
Bo is doing what so few e-scooter companies are willing to do – pushing boundaries, proving performance, and trying to make scooters feel exciting, not just functional. Whether The Turbo hits 100 mph or not, it’s already helped raise the bar for what electric micromobility can be. And if that means they develop safer and stable ways to build scooters along the way, then all the better.
The fact that they actually plan to sell these is a bit worrying, though the $30k pricetag means the local teens on your street aren’t going to be terrorizing the sidewalks with them. Well, not unless you’ve got an oil sheikh and his teenagers living on your street.
But hey, if you’ve got thirty grand and a need for painful death levels of speed – maybe this is your next toy.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Environment
Chevron defeats Exxon in dispute over Guyana oil assets, clearing path for Hess acquisition
Chevron has prevailed against Exxon Mobil in a dispute over Hess Corporation’s offshore oil assets in the South American nation of Guyana, Exxon CEO Darren Woods told CNBC’s Becky Quick on Friday.
The ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce in favor of Chevron clears the way for the oil major to complete its $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corporation.
Chevron shares jumped about 3% in premarket trading.
“We disagree with the ICC panel’s interpretation but respect the arbitration and dispute resolution process,” Exxon said in a statement Friday.
The dispute had created significant uncertainty over whether Chevron’s acquisition of Hess would close, weighing on the oil major’s stock performance. The transaction would have failed if Exxon had prevailed.
Exxon and China National Offshore Oil Corporation had filed an arbitration case with the ICC, claiming a right of first refusal over Hess’s assets in the Stabroek Block, an oil development off the coast of Guyana.
Hess has a 30% stake in an oil patch, while Exxon leads the project with a 45% stake and CNOOC maintains 25% stake.
“We welcome Chevron to the venture and look forward to continued industry-leading performance and value creation in Guyana for all parties involved,” Exxon said.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike