President Trump and President Zelenskyy meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly for a bilateral meeting.

During the press availability, President Trump noted the war banter from the U.K leadership was “too nasty” and not productive toward any ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia. President Trump was asked about a potential U.S. diesel export ban and Trump said he supports it, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was reviewing the feasibility of it.

The question not ever raised, except by USTR Jamieson Greer yesterday, is: where do you store it?  We can stop exporting diesel, but we’d also have to stop producing it because there’s nowhere to store it – and limiting production only adds to increased prices.  Russia had that same problem (see previous article).  Trump was asked about Patriot Missiles for Ukraine, which he said were part of the discussion happening after the press availability. WATCH:

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There is a general rule that applies to geopolitical contexts surrounding 96 hours or four days.  The timing is the difference between an event happening Day one, the analysis of the event by nation states communicated to leadership, and the policy shift outcome in Day four.  The rule of 96 is consistent and it is worth understanding.

Four days ago, the EU oil disruption from Saudi Arabia’s East/West pipeline event was noticed. In the four days between event day and policy day (#4) the EU have been beating the drumbeat for war against Russia.  However, you will notice the shift in tone and policy now that we have reached day four.  Analysis has reached policy makers. You might say reality sets in.

Europe now recognizes a vulnerability that was not in their policy briefs 96 hours earlier.  Things change {SOURCE}, and the quiet stuff starts to become visible. Russia has been sending France oil/gas energy products, quietly. Macron needed the internal stabilization because he’s been up against a wall.  On top of all his other issues, Macron could not afford an energy crisis.

Simultaneously, despite what we have been told by Western media, the 5,000 strike drones into the Moscow region should again be taken in context.  Russia is an analog system in a digital world. Russia is exceptionally resilient and can repair and recover much faster than western analysts ever fathom.  Again, apply the ‘rule of 96.’

Russia is now overproducing diesel fuel. Wait, what(?) you might ask.  It’s true.  Russian strategic diesel fuel reserves are now full and overproducing 15% beyond storage capacity. {SOURCE} So, where is the excess capacity going?  To the “stans” in Central Asia, from there it ships to forward destinations. Turkey is a dependent beneficiary. Do you remember the strategic agreement between the USA and Kazakhstan? {Source}

Russia increased diesel supplies to Mongolia by 73.4% in August from July to 215,000 metric tons, while shipments to Kyrgyzstan surged 16.4 times to 72,000 tons and deliveries to Tajikistan rose 3.5 times to 56,000 tons. Russia also exported 28,000 tons of diesel to Kazakhstan after making no deliveries there in July. {source}

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I suspect we will see similar realignment continues as the globalists like Canada and the EU try to oppose President Trump and U.S. best interests.

Belarus stands in ideological opposition to the globalists in Europe and President Alexander Lukashenko is an ally of Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin.  This announcement is a smack back against the leverage Canada claims to carry.  Again, creating more distance between the USA and the Snow Mexicans.

[SOURCE]

Watch the interview with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to understand exactly where this is going.  The United States is systematically decoupling from Canada.  When we cut the economic lifeline represented by the USMCA, Canada will be adrift.

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There has to be a purpose to this messaging, though I’m not exactly sure what it is.

President Trump again draws attention to the Ukraine-Russia war creating havoc on the global diesel market.  Trump notes that Russia has lost control of its diesel industry:

[source]

The strange thing about this message is that Russia has taken measures exactly the opposite of this framework.

Back in July, when NATO began increased targeting of Russian refinery infrastructure, Russian President Vladimir Putin proactively signed a government order banning the export of Russian diesel fuel.  There have been no exports of Russian diesel since, with exceptions to the shipping industry and some humanitarian farm shipments.

Russia is the world’s second largest producer of diesel fuel and as soon as Putin made this announcement global prices of diesel began to rise. Russia then extended the bans, and the current export ban will run from Aug. 1 until Jan. 31, 2027.

Within the export controls there’s no doubt Russia is sending some diesel fuel to allied nations who are not part of the NATO attack alliance.  In essence, Putin is controlling who gets the Russian output and the “ban” on exports simply puts the Russian government in control of it.  This is what they call “intergovernmental agreements” which are not part of the ban itself.

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Days after President Trump asks Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries, Zelenskyy takes the attacks up a notch and brags about all of the different NATO country missile systems being used to attack Russian oil refineries.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X, “One of Russia’s key oil industry facilities and the aggressor’s logistics facility were hit. These are billions of dollars that sustain the war machine. The systems used included FP-1, RZ-100, MICH-2000, Palianytsia, Vendetta, Liutyi, Bars, Flamingo, Sichen, and Pelican.”

Everyone can see this game for what it is.

Everyone can see it.

After weeks of various European/NATO countries hyping pending attacks from Russia, Zelenskyy now begins to name the missile systems being provided by those countries to target Russia.  Zelenskyy and the EU-NATO group are intentionally trying to draw a Russian military response against the support the European countries are providing to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy is naming the missile systems as part of that antagonistic effort, and his NATO allies do it on the last day of the Russian elections.  Specifically timed and coordinated for maximum propaganda use.

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Promethean Action’s Barbara Boyd recaps some of last week’s geopolitical events and activities of both President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.  Good video for those catching up.

President Trump reacts to Mark Carney’s push to align Canada with the EU, calling it “laughable” and warning that if it’s hostile the U.S. could impose heavy tariffs or even halt trade with Europe. The episode argues the administration is securing the southern border through Marco Rubio’s Latin America trip and “Operation Shield of the Americas,” linking Peru’s participation and Keiko Fujimori’s election to an intensified campaign against cartels, drug production and trafficking, and Chinese influence.

Boyd’s recap frames Carney as a longtime opponent of U.S. interests, citing his Bank of England role, “green” credit agenda, and support for Ukraine, and claims Canada-EU plans target Arctic control and the U.S. northern defense line. It ends with Trump announcing a permanent U.S. presence in Greenland and warning Canada to curb fentanyl labs and criminal networks. WATCH:

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European defense industries have been expanding the production of missiles and drones for use in Ukraine. For years, Moscow has watched and seemingly tolerated the use of British, German and Polish military warehouses to manufacture drones and weapons which are then used to target Russia and kill Russian civilians.

It is these targets which Europe has placed on high alert, while simultaneously mixing in false flag alerts and events to scare the European population and rally them for increased spending and expanded conflict.  However, a large part of the European citizenry can see the EU operations clearly (see recent German examples).

Against this backdrop, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers the following remarks (transcript):

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues,

Today, we will talk about the new draft State Armament Programme and the defence industry development programme. They will become the backbone for designing and serial production of modern weapons systems and hardware for our army and other defence and law enforcement agencies for them to be ready for a rapid and effective response to potential external threats.

As you know, such threats are not abating. NATO is “swelling” and expanding and has now extended its reach to other regions of the world. Certain European leaders are openly declaring that they are preparing for war with Russia. In my view, they are merely trying to salvage their plummeting approval ratings by concealing the failures of their economic and social policies. This approach is clearly ineffective – it does not produce results.

Instead of listening to their citizens – who have made it abundantly clear through elections that they do not want war with Russia – these leaders continue to escalate tensions. They are exploiting the situation in Ukraine to exacerbate the crisis, using the Ukrainian people as cannon fodder.

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Ahead of Chariman Xi’s visit to Washington DC for a state visit on September 24th and 25th, Reuters is reporting that China has asked Iran to halt all strikes on Saudi Arabia oil fields.

The request from China carries a self-interest as China’s oil dependencies have become problematic since the Strait of Hormuz became a point of economic friction between Iran and U.S. military forces. The Saudi East/West pipeline was also hit by Iranian backed Houthi rebels from Yemen, creating even more energy turmoil.

Additionally, Beijing is the most exposed to the recent congressional sanctions applied toward countries that retain trade relations with Russia.

Both President Trump and Chairman Xi have a vested interest in seeing an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. However, with EU-NATO still provoking expanded conflict the dynamic has become one of middle-powers (Canada, U.K, EU) against significant energy powers China, USA and Saudi Arabia.

Another way to look at it is the coalition of Green Energy nations -vs- Low Cost energy nations.

The U.K, Canada and Europe have been supporting attacks against gasoline and diesel fuel refineries in Russia. This approach appears to contain a political motivation to drive up gas/diesel prices in the USA as part of an anti-Trump election strategy. The state visit by Chairman Xi comes at a critical time in the global energy dynamic.

HOUSTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Friday after China, acting on a request from Saudi Arabia, asked Iran to limit attacks by Houthi rebels on Saudi oil infrastructure that have threatened a second oil export route in the Middle East.

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After a careful review of HR5334, the Lindsey Graham Russian Sanctions Bill [pdf HERE], I can certainly see why President Trump would happily sign it.

The bill has several elements that are immensely useful for President Trump, beginning with the fact that the baseline of the bill sits upon the cornerstone of current U.S. sanctions against Russia.   This is a critical aspect to understand, because if you take away the originating Russian sanctions, HR5334 disappears.

Secondly, the bill grants President Trump the ability to place 100% tariffs on the top five trading partners of Russia, but the bill also grants wide latitude as to how those top five are determined.  Top five oil, top five gas, top five financial, top five sector specific (energy, grain, oil, minerals etc.) the actual parameters or definitions of the “top five” are undetermined except by monetary value.

Some have just realized what this bill empowers. Others have yet to catch on.  Additionally, The bill gives President Trump the ability to impose tariffs of up to 100% within 30 days on all goods imported into the US from the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or gas as well as any country that knowingly made new purchases of oil or gas 30 days after the law was enacted or was among the top five countries helping Russia evade sanctions.

But there’s the key, again the authority is based on the pre-existing “sanctions.” So, who determines sanction relief? [interim, temporary, or strategic, in coordination with the policy objectives of the President] That would be U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent.

Remember the previous 30-day interim sanction relief that Bessent and Trump provided for Russian oil/gas “on the water’?  In that scenario, the legislatively authorized tariff authority becomes entirely subject to the application determination of President Trump.  Ex. give a 30-day waiver and suddenly oil/gas are no longer the largest monetary trade issues. Instead, it could be as simple as who buys the most Russian caviar; maybe it’s Italy or Spain, or even Canada. lol 😂

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As the story is told, a 40-year-old British intelligence officer named Major Paul Wilks was killed in an “automobile accident” while traveling in Ukraine. The British media frame the incident as a car crash “away from the front lines” of the conflict.

One has to wonder how many British intelligence military officers are just innocuously traveling around Ukraine.  Who knows, maybe it’s just a great place for a holiday. However, common sense would seem to indicate that Major Wilks was probably not on vacation.

Sky News – […] Remembered as a “man of great intellect”, Major Wilks was deployed on multiple tours, including to Afghanistan, and was recognised with two Operational Service Medals. And he was awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in May.

He was commissioned from Sandhurst in 2012 and joined the Intelligence Corps, where he remained throughout his career. (source)

In related news:

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Thursday that Russia is planning hybrid strikes with drones or rockets on European countries supporting Ukraine, among them Poland.

Russia will pretend the attacks are “accidental” in order to “paralyze or at least weaken the motivation of NATO countries” to rush to the defense of the member state coming under attack, Tusk said in a speech to the Polish parliament.

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