North Asia

Azerbaijan has evacuated its diplomats to Iran, according to Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on Friday. This comes a day after Baku claimed that four Iranian drones crossed the border into Azerbaijan and injured four people at Nakhchivan. Bayramov, speaking at a press conference in Baku said that Azerbaijan is evacuating its employees from its embassy in Tehran and consulate in Tabriz. Tabriz is the largest city in Iran's northwestern region, where ethnic Azerbaijanis reside. On the orders of President Ilham Aliyev instructions were given to evacuate our embassy in Tehran, as well as the consulate in Tabriz, from Iran. These...

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry lodged an official protest at the Iranian Embassy on Thursday, after a pair of Iranian drones crossed the border and injured two people in a Nakhchivan airport. The?foreign minister said that the attack on Azerbaijan's territory violates international law and its principles and contradicts them. "We demand the Islamic Republic of Iran to clarify the matter as soon as possible, provide an explanation, and take the necessary urgent measures in order to prevent similar occurrences in the future." Baku reported that the Iranian ambassador in Azerbaijan was summoned by Baku to receive an official protest note. Azerbaijan...

The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority reported late Wednesday that a Russian drone had damaged a civilian Panama-flagged ship transporting 'corn near the Ukrainian port of 'Chornomorsk' in the Black Sea Odesa area. The ports authority announced on Telegram that the vessel was struck while it was en route to leave the port, but did not specify the extent of damage. The Ukrainian Navy said that one crew member was injured?in an attack on the "BULL", which had left the port and was headed towards the Bosphorus Strait. A statement posted on social media stated that the captain refused to assist...

The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority reported late Wednesday that a Russian drone had damaged a civilian Panama flagged vessel transporting corn in the Black Sea Odesa area near the Ukrainian port of Cronomorsk. The port authority said that the vessel was struck while it was en route out of the harbor and that some crew members were injured. They did not specify the extent of damage or how many crewmembers had been injured. Odesa is the hub port for 90% of Ukraine's exports. In recent months, Russia has attacked Ukraine's ports and maritime export routes, which are vital for its...

Data from LSEG and market sources showed that Russia's seaborne gasoil and diesel exports dropped 21% last month compared to the previous one. This was due to harsh weather conditions and unplanned refinery repairs disrupting fuel loadings. The sources say that the ultra-low-sulphur exports from Primorsk in the Baltic fell to 1.563 millions tons last month from a record of 2.256 million tons the previous month, due to severe frosts in the Baltic Sea and unplanned refinery maintenance. Since mid-February, non-ice-class vessels are barred from entering Primorsk. Ust-Luga and Vysotsk have also been restricted. However, icebreakers escorting ice1 and ice2...

Global airlines halted flights across the Middle East Saturday, after Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran. The strikes plunged the region into another military conflict. As Israel claimed to have struck Iran and the U.S., flight?maps showed that the airspace above Iran, Iraq Kuwait, Israel and Bahrain was virtually empty. The?military launched a series strikes against the targets within the country. Iran responded with a salvo missiles. According to Cirium's preliminary data, airlines cancelled nearly 40% of flights into Israel on Saturday and 6.7% to the rest of the region. Witnesses reported explosions in Doha in Qatar,...

The volume of grain delivered to Ukraine's Black Sea ports for export has risen by 2% in February, compared to a year ago, but remains below the February 2025 levels. This was announced on Thursday by Ukrzaliznytsia, a state railway. In a report, the railway stated that it has delivered approximately 2 million metric tonnes of grain this month. This is down 1.4% compared to a year ago. The company stated that "this year, we will face new challenges: attacks on rail infrastructure and power substations which didn't happen last year." An anonymous source in the transport industry, who asked...

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which transports oil from Kazakhstan to a terminal on the Russian Black Sea, increased its exports last year by 12%, reaching 70.52 millions metric tons. CPC, which is responsible for delivering'more than 1% of the world's oil, has been under scrutiny due to a number of disruptions in its operations. This includes a drone attack by Ukraine on November 29 that damaged a vital piece of exporting equipment. CPC, according to three industry sources earlier this month, plans to increase CPC Blend crude exports to 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 1.1million bpd...

Mykhailo Federorov, Ukraine's Minister of Defence, said that the country will speed up the installation of a?anti-drone?net over the roads in the frontline areas, with a goal of covering 4,000 km of roads?by the end of the year. The Russians have been using the remotely controlled aircraft to target military supply routes, and bases in Ukraine. The drones also targeted hospitals, infrastructure, and civilian traffic. Fedorov stated that a growing number of nets have been installed in the last year. However, more are needed. He added that an extra 1.6 billion hryvnias (37 million dollars) has been 'allocated to the...

Ukraine's emergency service and a government official confirmed that a Russian attack on Ukraine's southern Odesa area overnight killed two people and injured three, respectively. Two people were killed when a Russian Drone fell on a truck-stop, causing an fire, according to the Telegram messenger. Oleksiy Kuleba, Infrastructure Minister Oleksiy Kuleba, said on 'Telegram' that Russia has attacked the port infrastructure in Odesa?region. "This is another blow to port infrastructure and civilian logistics." Kuleba said that Russia is attacking non-military facilities to undermine the economy of the area and the country as a whole. He claimed that the storage area...

Officials said that Russian forces had pounded Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the days before a new round of peace talks, killing three workers and leaving tens thousands without heat or electricity. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, President of Ukraine, condemned the overnight attacks on 12 Ukrainian regions. The strikes occurred hours before scheduled trilateral talks in Geneva between Kyiv and Moscow. Zelenskiy, writing on?X and calling for "justice" and "strength", said that the combined strike was calculated to cause as much harm as possible to our sector of energy. This winter, Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian energy facilities, knocking out heating and power....

The governor of Russia's Krasnodar Region said that a Ukrainian drone had 'damaged' the 'Black Sea port' of Taman in Russia, which handles oil, grain, and coal, among other commodities. Veniamin kondratyev, in a Telegram post, said that two people were injured when an oil storage tank and warehouse, as well as terminals, suffered damage?in Volna Village, which is the site of Taman Port. Kondratyev stated that more than 100 people worked to extinguish several fires in the port. Separate attacks on the resort city of Sochi and the village of Yurovka near the seaside town Anapa had caused less...

The Unification Ministry of South Korea announced on Tuesday that passenger train services between Pyongyang, North Korea and Beijing will resume this week. This marks the end of a six-year suspension due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. After years of border closures, which began in early 2020, the resumption of traffic restores an important transport link between North Korea's primary economic ally and itself. China's State Railway?told Yonhap News Agency the Pyongyang to Beijing train would?begin round-trip service starting March 12 and operate four times per week. Yonhap reported that only 'the last two carriages would initially carry passengers, mostly diplomats...

Slovak PM Robert Fico announced on Sunday that he will meet with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, on Tuesday. Slovakia and Hungary are increasing pressure on Ukraine to resume Russian oil flow, while warning Slovakia it could block a large EU loan to Kyiv. Since late January, Russian oil has been stopped flowing through the Druzhba Pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia. Kyiv claimed that a Russian attack had caused an 'incident' which seriously damaged the pipeline. The outage has ignited one of the most heated arguments between the two neighbours since Russia's full-scale invasion in Ukraine 2022. Ukraine claims...

Azerbaijan has said that it prevented several "terrorist" sabotage plots by Iran's Islamic?Revolutionary?Guard?Corps (IRGC), which included a plot to target a major oil pipeline running -through the South –Caucasus and into?Turkey. According to the Azertag news agency, a statement from the State Security?Service late Friday night, targets included the Baku, Tbilisi, Ceyhan (BTC), oil pipeline and the Israeli Embassy in Azerbaijan. Also, there was an Ashkenazi Synagogue as well as a leader of an ancient Jewish group in Azerbaijan known by the Mountain Jews. Iran has not responded to the statement. BTC is a pipeline that travels through?Georgia, Turkey, and...

The schedule showed that the differentials between dated Brent and Urals crude jumped in 'the Indian market due to supply shortages brought on by 'the conflict in Iran. Meanwhile, exports of Azeri BTC from Ceyhan were expected to increase next month. Reports on Thursday indicated that traders are selling Russian Urals at a premium to Brent of $4-5 per barrel upon arrival in Indian ports between March and April. This is after the United States granted Indian refiners an 'waiver' to resume purchasing Russian oil. Calculations on Friday showed that the grade's discount on Brent at the Russian Baltic Sea...

SPP, Slovakia's national?gas?company?, amended its long-term?contract?with Gazprom? to align it with European regulation and continue to import Russian?gas?, it announced on Friday. After talks, sources claimed that the discussions were to increase volumes before an EU prohibition on Russian?gas? kicks in later next year. EU gas prices have increased by 50% in the last week, after Qatar stopped exporting liquefied gas following U.S., Israeli and Tehran's response to U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. SPP started?the discussions before the conflict erupted. SPP stated that the amendment was intended to align the long-term contracts with the EU RePowerEU? plan to wean...

Hungary's Oil and Gas Company?MOL announced on Friday that capacity testing on the Adria oil pipeline will begin on March 11, and last for 10 months. The company is attempting to find alternative routes as Russian crude oil supplies are set to cease at the end 2027. MOL, the operator of refineries in Hungary, Slovakia and Romania, has expressed concerns about whether or not the Adria Pipeline can meet their needs. JANAF, a Croatian operator, dismissed these concerns. Hungary and Slovakia want to continue receiving supplies from Russia, and are exempted?from the current European Union sanctions. Adria is a viable...

The Kremlin announced?on Friday?that?the war against Iran has fueled demand for Russian energy. This comes a day after U.S. Treasury granted India a waiver of 30 days to purchase Russian oil that is currently "stuck" at sea. As the conflict entered its seventh?day on Friday, the Strait of Hormuz - a vital shipping?passage - was all but closed, and countries around the globe were cut off from global oil and LNG supplies. Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, told reporters that Russia is a reliable source of oil and natural gas via pipelines as well as in liquefied forms. The war in...

Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, said on Thursday that Hungary would use "political and financial tools" to force Ukraine to reopen a key pipeline - Druzhba - which carries Russian oil into Hungarian refineries. Since late January, Ukraine has suspended the flow of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia. Kyiv claims that the pipeline had been seriously damaged by an fire following a Russian attack. Hungary and Slovakia - the only European Union countries that still import Russian oil - have accused Ukraine for deliberately delaying a resumption in?oil flow due to political reasons....

Two ethnic Hungarian POWs?released by Russia and brought to Budapest?arrived in the country early on Thursday. Kyiv condemned them as "provocations" because they were dual citizens of Ukraine. Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's foreign minister, secured their release during a meeting on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, just a day after Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban had a telephone call with the Russian leader regarding the crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as energy supplies to?Hungary. The Ukrainians were furious, and the coordination committee for prisoner exchanges called it a "Russian provocation." It said that the...

Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's foreign minister, said in a statement issued after he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin?in Moscow on Wednesday that two ethnic -Hungarian prisoners of... war would be released by.... Russia. Szijjarto traveled to Moscow one day after Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban had a telephone call with Putin. They discussed the Middle East situation, Ukraine and whether there was enough crude oil and gas available for Hungary. Orban's Government has made Russia's War on Ukraine a major topic in his election campaign for the 12th April parliamentary elections, increasing tensions between Budapest & Kyiv. Szijjarto stated?earlier Wednesday...

The differential between Urals crude and dated Brent has remained relatively unchanged, although buyers in Asia have increased their 'interest' in this grade due to Middle Eastern oil supply disruptions. They are still weighing the risks as well as the duration of the shortages. The disruption to the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, at the southern tip of Gulf, has led to a tightening of availability of Middle Eastern grades and increased freight rates. According to two traders and an industry source, Indian refiners are contacting Russian sellers about March and April deliveries. Chinese buyers also show...

Five traders said that concerns about Middle Eastern oil supply are causing buyers to be more interested in Russian oil. However, prices haven't yet responded. Analysts and traders said that disruptions to the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, at the southern tip of Gulf, have led to a tightening of Middle Eastern grades. Two traders and a source in the industry report that Indian refiners are contacting Russian suppliers about March and April deliveries. Sources claim that Indian refiners have begun consulting the government on the possibility of "additional Russian exports". Chinese buyers also show interest in...