Against the background of the Oleshky ceasefire, Fox News’ Trey Yingst sat down with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the current situation in the ongoing NATO proxy conflict with the Russian Federation.

Zelenskyy’s recent attacks into Russia, or at least to the extent we can call them ‘Zelenskyy’s attacks’ when we really don’t know what interests are directing the targeting, have been hitting very specific Russian energy infrastructure. Ukraine targeted Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery, and another big refinery in the Samara oblast owned by the Russian state energy giant Rosneft.

Then came another major drone strike. According to ASTRA on November 1, a drone attack targeted the LUKOIL refinery, also known as NORSI, in the city of Kstovo. The facility is among Russia’s five largest oil refineries and has an annual processing capacity of approximately 15–17 million metric tons of crude oil.  The NORSI refinery produces gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, fuel oil, bitumen, and other petroleum products. It is Lukoil’s largest facility.

You can see from the insert (image above) the drone attacks into the city of Kstovo travelled a considerable distance to reach their LUKOIL target.  It should also be noted that since the time of the Trump administration’s requests to stop targeting Russian oil refining capacity, Ukraine has actually expanded those attacks specifically targeting refining capacity.

The attacks against Russian oil refining in the Samara region happened at the same time western media attention was following the ceasefire in Oleshky, southern Ukraine. The full geopolitical context here needs to be considered.

Ukraine officials told the Kyiv Independent newspaper they never agreed to a request from President Trump, Emissary Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to pause refinery strikes for 30 days. The raids on Russia restarted during the ceasefire in Oleshky apparently as Zelenskyy sought to take advantage of the media distraction. As a consequence, Kremlin officials said, Kyiv was “simply ignoring” US wishes.

The strikes deep into Russia also restarted immediately following statements last week by Zelenskyy about the full restoration of their ability to use Starlink satellite guidance systems. The timing cannot be simply coincidental.

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It is a factual datapoint that will not change.  A fully vested Free Trade Agreement with the European Union does not align with an FTA with the United States.  It’s a fact that doesn’t change no matter how much spin is applied.  The EU has structural rules and regulations (climate, energy, net zero, carbon trading) that create distance in any trade effort with the USA.

That said, much to the chagrin of Prime Minister Mark Carney and EU head Ursula Fond-of-Lyin, last Friday the major economies within the EU, specifically Germany, rejected any possibility of an “Associate Member” status for Canada.  Simultaneously, Canadian media realized a trade deal with Europe would subject Canada to carbon taxes that are larger and more economically intrusive than Trump’s tariffs.

Well, whaddyaknow…. This happens:

[SOURCE]

Go figure!

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Canada is in a really weird place and I’ve all but given up trying to understand it.  At a certain point you just have to accept that Prime Minister Mark Carney is operating on an agenda for that country that is disconnected from all traditional perspectives around national best interest.

For example, the Canadian trade relationship with the single state of Texas, USA, is larger than the total Canadian trade relationship with the European Union, yet Carney is spending an inordinate amount of time chasing a trade deal with the EU that is never going to amount to anything.  Seriously, it’s a literal dead-end.

First, there’s not a scintilla of alignment between the USMCA (Canada says CUSMA) and the European Union.  There’s two entirely different sets of economic baselines, standards, rules and regulations between trading with the United States and trading with the EU.  If Canada wants a trade relationship with the USA, they have to give up trying to structure their economy to align with the EU; both systems are entirely different.

Canada cannot have a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the EU that contains structural regulations on the flow of goods that substantively restricts Canadian products from entering the USA.  The same issue exists with China.

Now, if Canada wants to separate from the North American trade agreement, then by all means – go for the deal with the EU and/or China.  However, as long as Canada wants to retain their USA dependencies and benefits, there’s no mechanism that permits an FTA of substance with Europe or China.  Mark Carney cannot have it both ways.

Secondly, do you remember when CTH noted the second quarter GDP for Canada appeared to be entirely manipulated by the movement of Dutch Central Bank gold from Ottawa to London.  People laughed at me for noticing the timing and the mysterious (completely unexplained) gain in economic output in the second quarter.  Q4 2025 was flat, Q1 2026 was negative, then mysteriously Q2 had a bounce – and, well, now Q3 is showing a return to flatline or negative.

OTTAWA—Canada’s economy cooled in the latest quarter after activity unexpectedly stalled two months running and early data points to a slight contraction in September.

Gross domestic product was essentially unchanged in August from the month before at 2.372 trillion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of US$1.695 trillion, Statistics Canada said on Friday.  That was softer than the 0.2% expansion expected by economists following a similarly flat result in July.

The national data agency’s advance data indicates output edged down 0.1% in September.

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European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde has announced her resignation from the ECB effective February 7, 2027. [X-Platform] Her departure is nine months earlier than the natural conclusion of her term.

Lagarde is a French national, and stated her decision was about leaving the ECB as President so that she could engage in political speech, which is an interesting justification considering the current state of Germany and France and the very consequential elections upcoming.

However, as a consequence of prior research, from my position I would note that she’s exiting the position of ECB President based on something else entirely.  She intends to fail-up, very lucratively, and if our research is accurate, she will likely be the next Chair of the World Economic Forum.

As readers are well aware, Europe is on the cusp of an irreversible economic downward spiral.  Low growth, high inflation, and the entire continent is crippled by short-sighted energy policy and subsequent deindustrialization that is creating significant debt burdens.  In short, the EU is contracting.

The #1 issue that makes the downward spiral irreversible is their entrenched advocacy for the net zero ‘climate change’ agenda, which is now triggering carbon taxes and various carbon border adjustment mechanisms on trade.  Their energy policy is killing their industrial capacity, and the overall European Union is in a self-fulfilling crisis.

On top of the economic mess is the ever-worsening mass migration problem that will eventually topple several key European capitals.

Lagarde, looking every bit the part of a Bond villain, is bailing out of the central bank at the moment right before things begin escalating horribly.  I am almost certain she will take up the position as Chair of the WEF in an effort to inoculate herself from the political chaos that is about to surface.  The rise of the nationalists in the upcoming elections is a symptom of the problem Brussels has created.

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For two weeks I have essentially locked myself away while trying to disprove a thesis I developed over the past few years. Perhaps you might be interested.

Context Links: New York Times Today HERE – CTH Two Weeks Ago HERE

Take out a pencil, draw a line down the center of the page and on the left hand-column write out every individual, nation, organization, institution and political movement that is aligned with, and advanced the global warming/climate change agenda.

Then, on the right-hand column, write out every individual, nation, organization, institution and political movement that is aligned with, advances the interests of, and support for Ukraine.

Notice something in the commonality?

They are a perfect match.

25+ years of Global Warming, Climate Change, Net Zero, Carbon Trading, Carbon Taxing, Build Back Better etc. advocacy, revolves around the singularity of one issue, energy production.

From that baseline the western nemesis of a multi-trillion investment and banking system, built around the destruction of the coal, oil and gas carbon-based energy sector is Russia.

Additionally, over the past 10 years as western interests have stopped building oil refining capacity, Russia has expanded oil refining capacity.

All ‘modern’ opposition to Russia in the last 25 years, is now culminating…. But the root is something everyone misses. The root commonality of interests is Energy Production.

The advocates for the system of dependencies created by the “climate change/net zero” energy processes are the same advocates supporting Ukraine and specifically supporting the targeting of Russian energy production vis-a-vis Russian oil refineries.

All of the advocates for Ukraine are also heavily invested advocates for the climate change agenda. A western system that has created multi-trillions of prior investments that need returns.

Russia’s interests are against that system.

Someone recently paused, thought about it and remarked back to me, “well, that is an interesting commonality of interests; however, if that were indeed the case, then why wouldn’t that same network confront the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with the same ferocity of opposition?”

I replied, “wait, did you forget the Arab Spring?”

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Texas-based ConocoPhillips announced last year they were restructuring their labor force and anticipated a 20-25% reduction in overall workers.

Now, given the nature of energy policy impacts to private industry, where do you think a major oil-gas company would first consider cutting jobs.  Common sense would tell you, the first regions to be reviewed would be those regions hostile to the exploitation of the product the corporation brings to market.

Thus, reductions in workforce and operational capacity are not only determined by contract leasing, but also by the regulatory environment that surrounds the business. Add the political hostility to the business sector at issue and you end up with a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Advance anti-oil/gas policy and you get less oil/gas business investment.

Oct 26 (Reuters) – ConocoPhillips has informed its staff of a reduction ​to its workforce in Canada, a ‌spokesperson for the oil and gas producer said on Monday. The reduction includes employees and ​contractors and is set to take ​place on Tuesday, the spokesperson added.

However, the ⁠Houston, Texas-based company did not disclose ​how many jobs were affected. ConocoPhillips has ​about 9,900 employees globally, according to its 2025 annual report.

“We routinely review our organization to align ​with our long-term strategy, operate safely ​and efficiently, and remain well-positioned for future opportunities,” the ‌spokesperson ⁠said. (more)

While there are many ideological factors involved in the ‘western’ political opposition to the Russian Federation as a nation, I am of the opinion that one of the significant facets is the scale and scope of Russia’s oil/gas development.

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Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party leader Alice Weidel represents the opposition leader within the current German political system.  The AfD party is on the rise within Germany as the severe leftist and globalist policies carried out by Chancellors Angela Merkel, Olaf Schulz and Friedrich Merz have severely compromised the German economy.

Beginning with the catastrophic energy policy decisions, Ms. Weidel walks through the problems currently being faced by country of Germany and the urgent policy changes needed in order to attempt recovery.  Thousands of businesses along with industrial manufacturing are currently collapsing.  The economic spiral is shedding tens-of-thousands of jobs, and the bureaucracy of the European Union is compounding their ability to respond effectively.

Germany has always represented the economic engine of the EU, and as a nation the primary prism by which the German people evaluate their status is through the prism of economics.  From that perspective Germany is in severe trouble.  AfD party leader Alice Weidel outlines the structural reforms needed in order to get out of this economic mess.  WATCH:

“Alice Weidel is one of the most important politicians in Europe today. She is the co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the right-wing populist party which is leading in Germany’s national polls and came top in two recent state elections. Ms Weidel is skilled at voicing Germans’ frustrations with mainstream political parties. In conversation with Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, in the Bundestag in Berlin, Ms Weidel discusses the AfD’s economic plan and its stance on Russia and Ukraine.”

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Two fundamental issues that Canadian politicians and media keep hidden from Canadians. First, in the 2025 U.S. Supreme Court decision last year about tariffs, the court outlined that the executive branch can constitutionally ban trade with another country. Second, the U.S. can exit the USMCA with a six-month notification.

There is an awful lot of pretending and gaslighting within this general discussion segment; purposefully advanced to keep the Canadian people in the dark. However, that said, Canada’s chief trade negotiator to the United States, Janice Charette does admit that tariff free access to the U.S market is lost forever.

Janice Charette is participating in a discussion at the Toronto Global Forum, where she is questioned by Brian Tobin, vice chair of the BMO Financial Group about the trade relationship with the United States and the opinion that many Canadian officials have espoused that Canada just needs to outlast President Donald Trump.

Charette informs the audience that regardless of who is the U.S. President, tariffs will likely remain in place permanently because the amount of revenue being generated to the U.S. Treasury is too great for any President or congress to stop. PROMPTED – WATCH:

While almost all of her analysis is flawed, skewed and seriously underestimates the nature of the dynamic that Canada is facing, what Janice Charette outlines about how Donald Trump has shifted the national revenue model using global tariffs to offset national expenditures (her baseline) is accurate.

Beyond her statement it is worth pausing for a moment and using Charette’s frame of reference to reconsider the post WWII European revenue model.  It was/is President Trump’s model in reverse.

The Marshal plan, was essentially one-way tariffs on American trade that provided one-way benefits (revenue) that permitted the EU to rebuild after the second world war.  To Charlette’s framework, how willing was the EU mindset to change this beneficial economic outcome?

Answer: The EU fought it (and is still fighting it), perceiving the elimination of that benefit as an existential threat to their economic power. The EU became reliant on the Marshal Plan.

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The AP is reporting that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has restarted drone attacks against Russian oil refineries despite the request by President Trump to halt targeting energy infrastructure.  There are a lot of aspects within this dynamic.

♦ First, keep in mind that any attacks against Russian infrastructure should always be evaluated against the capability of Russia to effectively mitigate such attacks.  Russia is an analog infrastructure in a digital world, and one of the benefits to their system is the rapid repair capability in the old-school systems.

This may seem like a small detail, however, as noted in the prior attacks against almost all Russian infrastructure, Russia continued energy operations and exports of diesel fuel despite Ukraine targeting. Russia is remarkably resilient and they build out their capabilities with redundancies no longer used in most of the western industrial systems.

Due to their analog systems Russia may be less efficient in maximizing productivity; but what they lose in industrial productivity becomes an actual asset when shifting between internal systems becomes a matter of physically opening and closing valves to shift from damaged to operational stations. Russia’s slow adaption of technological innovation factually becomes a strategic advantage in this type of kinetic war.

♦ Second, it is worth remembering that oil refining capacity has been curtailed by the “climate change advocates” who now assemble to support Zelenskyy.  The nations now aligned against the interests of Russia are yet dependent on the dirty industrial carbon energy resources provided by Russia and other oil exporting countries.

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Canadian Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has threatened to sue Stelco Inc for shutting down its Hamilton finishing operations and laying off around 500 workers.

Stelco owner Cleveland Cliffs is calling Joly’s bluff, citing the government’s own Investment Canada Act guidelines.

OTTAWA — Stelco Inc. says Canadian exports of cold-rolled and coated steel to the United States have plunged 58 per cent compared with pre-trade-war levels, while continued foreign imports put pressure on domestic producers.

In a seven-page letter to Canada’s industry minister obtained by The Canadian Press, Stelco president Paul Simon says Canadian exports of those steel products to the United States fell by 226,000 tonnes in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the 2024 quarterly average.

At the same time, he says imports accounted for 45 per cent of market share for those products, despite Ottawa’s efforts to protect the industry by restricting steel imports.

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