Russia Warns It Can Hit UK’s Military “Beyond” Ukraine Amid Nuclear Saber-Rattling We reported earlier Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his armed forces to conduct tactical nuclear weapons drills in order for the country to be fully ‘ready’ to deter threats against it. A specific date for these nuclear drills has yet to be publicized, but importantly the Kremlin has made it clear that the order is directly in response to recent threatening comments by Western powers. For example both the US and UK have lately pledged to continue arming Ukraine “for as long as it takes” – and further British officials have openly stated that Ukraine may use UK-supplied weaponry to attack inside Russia if need be. There’s also the example of France’s Macron continually talking about being open to Western boots on the ground in defense of Ukraine. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron was in Ukraine late last week, his second trip there since the war began, where he stated provocatively, “Ukraine has that right. Just as Russia is striking inside Ukraine, you can quite understand why Ukraine feels the need to make sure it’s defending itself.” Russian strategic bomber, via Ministry of Defense (MoD) Russia’s foreign ministry in response promptly summoned UK Ambassador to Moscow Nigel Casey over the remarks. “Casey was warned that the response to Ukrainian strikes using British weapons on Russian territory could be any British military facilities and equipment on the territory of Ukraine and beyond,” the ministry stated after the meeting. Importantly, the Kremlin laid out that Cameron’s words mean he “de facto recognized his country as a party to the conflict.” This marks possibly the first time that the Russian government specifically threatened to attack British military installations and equipment within Ukraine and beyond. The foreign ministry statement further said this constitutes “evidence of

Manila is turning Beijing’s gray-zone tactics on their head as it shows off its own information warfare muscles in the intensifying territorial battles in the South China Sea.

Saudi Arabia’s Price Hike May Signal Oil Bottom One of the recent positives for bonds and non-energy stocks could have run its course after Saudi Arabia raised the price of its flagship crude to Asia for a third consecutive month, according to Bloomberg markets live reporter Garfield Reynolds Over the weekend, state-owned Saudi Aramco raised the June official selling price of Arab Light crude for customers in Asia by 90 cents to $2.90 a barrel above the regional Oman-Dubai benchmark, Bloomberg reported. It compares with an increase of 60 cents forecast in a Bloomberg survey of six refiners. Prices for other lighter and heavier varieties were also increased from May. The hike highlights Saudi Arabia’s efforts to keep the market tight amid fading war risk in the Middle East, which has helped drive oil prices in London lower. Most traders and analysts predict that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will extend their output curbs, potentially to the end of the year. Crude took a marked step lower last week thanks to a surge in US inventories and optimism that Middle East tensions can cool further, but there’s a decent chance it’s busy finding a new floor rather than settling in for sustained declines according to Reynolds who notes that if Israel and Hamas can agree on a truce — a substantial if with the status of talks unclear after the latest round in Cairo — that would likely set off a fresh, rapid drop in the short term for crude. But even then it looks as though Saudi Arabia and the other producers would be likely to respond with further efforts to trim supply to prop up prices. With two-year US inflation swaps sitting at ~2.5% that shows bonds remain vulnerable to sticky oil prices even with WTI under $80/barrel. Tyler Durden Mon, 05/06/2024 – 11:25