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The US will urge Ukraine’s allies and western businesses to choke off supplies for Russia’s defence industry through China, a vital route to sustain President Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

In a speech to German business leaders in Berlin on Friday, US deputy Treasury secretary Wally Adeyemo will urge western companies to stop Russia importing critical components from or via China.

The US has threatened secondary sanctions against Chinese companies found to have supplied Russia’s defence industry.

According to excerpts shared with the Financial Times, Adeyemo will say the US and Europe “must make the choice stark for China: Chinese firms can either do business in our economies or they can equip Russia’s war machine with dual-use goods. They cannot do both.”

“The Kremlin knows it can only meet its military goals with China’s assistance,” Adeyemo will say.

“Every country in our coalition and every member of Nato must also consistently and clearly communicate to Beijing that it is unacceptable for the Chinese to abet the Russian military-industrial base.”

Moscow increased its imports of sensitive, dual-use goods — civilian goods that also have military applications crucial to the Russian war effort — from China-based suppliers by 40 per cent last year, according to the US.

While China accounts for almost two-thirds of Russia’s imports of dual-use high-technology goods, as defined by the EU’s trade regulations, almost all of the imported components used in Russian weaponry are of western origin, according to a study by the Kyiv School of Economics.

The European Central Bank earlier this month told Eurozone lenders with Russian operations to speed up their exits, fearful they could be hit with US secondary sanctions for enabling Moscow’s war effort if they stay.

The ECB’s warnings came shortly after Adeyemo told Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank, the most prominent European bank in Russia, that Washington could restrict its access to the US financial system on national security grounds.

In a roundtable with news outlets during a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, Adeyemo said the US was seeking to ensure that US microchip manufacturers were “taking steps to look at how their chips are being used” and preventing transshipment through third countries such as China.

Putin’s recent appointment of statist technocrat Andrei Belousov as defence minister indicates the extent to which the war is consuming Russia’s economy, Adeyemo said.

The US has increasingly put banks in its crosshairs as it broadens its focus on countries and companies shipping dual-use goods to Russia, he added.

“Financial institutions, in lots of ways, can help us enforce our sanctions by doing additional due diligence on the companies that are trying to use them to finance goods that are going into Russia,” Adeyemo said.

“What we’ve seen the Kremlin do is, instead of using the biggest banks in some of these countries they’re now going to smaller institutions that have less sophisticated compliance departments to try and get around our sanctions and export controls,” he added.

The US now wants to “force” banks to “enhance their due diligence, to try and stop Russia from being able to get access to these goods”, he added.

NASHVILLE – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s presidential campaign is the political equivalent of a Rorschach test: it’s open to interpretation, it aims to be a lot of different things to a lot of different people and its significance and meaning are squarely in the eyes of the beholder.

Kennedy’s independent bid is marketed as an alternative choice for those who don’t like President Biden, former President Donald Trump or the two-party system the country operates under.

Democrats and Republicans see the campaign as a threat that could siphon away enough of their voters in key swing states to tip the election to the other side.

But what about his supporters?

They’re people like Susan Parker, who traveled from Norman, Okla., to Nashville this month for a comedy show put on by the campaign at the historic Ryman Auditorium.

Despite never donating to a presidential candidate before, Parker maxed out campaign contributions to RFK, as he’s often known, after listening to him speak on various podcasts and in other longform interviews where he shared his political philosophy.

“I feel like I’ve gotten to know him as a person, I see him think and everything,” she added. “So that’s what excites me about him being in this race – it’s a third choice.”

Susan Parker came from Oklahoma to Tennessee to hear Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speak at a campaign comedy show. She donated the maximum amount to his independent presidential run and feels he is inspiring compared to President Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Stephen Fowler, NPR

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Parker, clad in a shirt that reads “The Remedy is Kennedy 2024,” has historically voted for Republicans, including Trump, and says her choice is less about voting against Trump and Biden and more about enthusiasm for Kennedy himself.

“He inspires me personally, and I enjoy listening to him talk,” she said. “I have a little bit of a cringe factor when I listen to the other two major candidates.”

So many of RFK’s supporters mention his candidacy as an important alternative representing issues that are most important to them.

“I certainly align with him on his views on the health of America and his wanting to get us all more healthy,” she said. “I didn’t know what his stances were on other political areas like the war and the middle class, but as I listened to him, I realized, no, he knows what he’s doing. He knows what he’s talking about. And I like what he’s saying.”

What draws people to RFK?

She’s not alone. An overwhelming issue of importance to Kennedy supporters is health, and more specifically vaccines. It’s part of his campaign’s embrace of skepticism about the government’s role in, well, everything.

Brittany Ruiz from nearby Franklin, Tenn., said at the comedy show that she considered Kennedy a longtime family friend after years of work in opposition to vaccine mandates.

Ruiz said while she’s a fan of Trump, Kennedy is better on the things that matter to her, like tackling corruption, standing up to big pharmaceutical companies and rolling back government agencies’ purview in daily life.

“I would say that RFK Jr. has been strong on all the issues I feel like all of us want to be talked about or want to have addressed and want to have handled,” she said. “And so for me, my allegiance is more toward the fact that he is speaking on issues that no other candidate is talking about. That’s why I’m a big fan.”

Many of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s campaign supporters say his views on improving health are important to them, and push back on claims that he is anti-vaccine.

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Outside of a recent rally in Austin, Tony Farmer told NPR that Kennedy’s focus on addressing the rise of chronic disease diagnoses is a crucial issue he feels Biden and Trump don’t adequately discuss.

“I like that RFK Jr.’s actually addressing the why: why our nation is so sick?,” he said. “Because to me, nothing’s more important than our health. Health is an economic issue. Our health is a social justice issue. Our health is an environmental issue. It’s tied up into so many other things. To me, it’s one of the most important things and it’s not being talked about.”

It’s important to note Kennedy supporters interviewed by NPR push back against claims that he is anti-vaccine, or that they are either.

Farmer, for example, pointed to Kennedy’s record as an environmental lawyer – like cleaning up the Hudson River and suing Monsanto over cancer-causing chemicals – as something that gets overlooked by the talk of vaccines.

“This dude is a badass activist, and it seems like all people know about who haven’t researched him is, like, he’s anti-vax, he’s anti-vaccine, he’s anti-vaccine,” Farmer said. “And when you actually listen to him talk, he’s not anti-vaccine. He wants safe vaccines.”

But in listening to Kennedy, or his vice presidential pick Nicole Shanahan, skepticism of vaccinations and conspiracies about their effects dominate campaign conversations more than mentions of Monsanto or global conflict, inflation or immigration.

And Kennedy’s rise to political prominence cannot be seen without looking at his role fighting against current vaccine standards.

Like the nebulous inkblots of a Rorschach test, Kennedy’s supporters see the candidate’s activism and ideology differently than how they believe the mainstream media, Democrats and Republicans portray him.

“When I started hearing him talk and actually like listening to the words that he was saying,” Farmer said, “it’s like, wow, what I’ve been hearing in the media about this guy isn’t true. He’s not crazy. He’s not a kook!”

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks at the Libertarian National Convention on May 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. Kennedy is seeking qualification to be part of the first presidential debate currently scheduled on June 27 between Democrat President Biden and Republican, former President Donald Trump.

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Distrust of the existing political system

While waiting for the RFK rally in Austin, Cathleen Yanco and Paul DeSantis shared why they support his campaign.

“Paul started following him first, and I was like, ‘I can’t believe you’re following him, you know he’s anti-vax, he’s this, he’s that’,” Yanco said. “And I did do the Google searches to try and find what I could on him, and it was all just the soundbites, the negative soundbites.”

After doing more research, including hearing more of Kennedy’s thoughts about things like freedom of speech, affordable housing and the influence of money in food, pharmaceuticals and other industries, Yanco said she apologized to DeSantis for initially criticizing his support for Kennedy.

“I do question everything I hear now,” she said. “I feel like my eyes have been opened since learning about Kennedy and looking a little more in depth, not just mainstream and not just Joe Rogan’s podcast, not the popular stuff, but going a little more in depth. And I’m actually quite upset that I was fooled like that.”

Yanco voted for Democratic candidates in the past and said she is open minded to the platform of any candidate running, but said she does not currently trust what Democrats or Republicans say.

Her thoughts echo that of many RFK voters who say they feel like the two major parties don’t have a place for “normal people” who don’t have extreme views.

Tony Farmer, at that same Austin event, said his disconnect with the Democratic Party is over foreign policy.

“Remember when Democrats were taking George Bush to task for the wars in Iraq? What happened to the anti-war left? Where did it go?,” he asked. “I feel like I’m staying still for the most part, and the Democratic Party is just moving further and further left.”

Farmer said Kennedy’s views and platform excites him and provides a new opportunity to buck a polarizing two-party system.

“It’s at a point where I can’t have an honest, open debate with someone and say something against Trump without someone being ‘Well, you must love Biden then,’ or you can’t say anything bad about Biden without someone saying ‘You must love Trump, then,’” he said.

“It’s such a mess.”

Don’t call him a spoiler

The next president will likely not be Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He faces an uphill battle to get on the ballot in all 50 states, let alone to win significant share of the popular vote, but that’s not deterring those who have already committed to vote for him.

Susan Parker at the campaign comedy show in Nashville, said RFK’s campaign is raising more awareness of the importance of who our politicians are and how they impact policy.

“There will be victory to be claimed, because I think a lot of people will take notice that didn’t take notice before like myself,” she said. “And it’s very exciting to finally be part of an election process.”

On that note, every Kennedy supporter interviewed by NPR at these two events did not think they were wasting their vote, despite no real path to victory, and despite the likelihood that his presence could who ultimately does win: Biden or Trump.

“I don’t want to be told ‘Well, if you support Kennedy, then that means Trump’s going to get into office,’” Cathleen Yanco said. “Well, we need some changes. And unless we start somewhere, even if that means the potential for someone I detest getting into office… so be it.”

“A vote for Kennedy is a vote for Kennedy, he’s not a spoiler for anyone,” Paul DeSantis added. “I mean, all we want is another voice in America, and he’s it. We’re just tired of the division between the two parties.”

The Kennedy-shaped inkblot that’s still very much up to interpretation is how his voters will impact the 2024 presidential rematch between Trump and Biden.

These RFK voters have previously voted for Democrats and Republicans, vote both regularly and infrequently and cut across a demographic and ideological spectrum.

Both Democrats and Republicans share concerns that RFK’s independent bid will draw enough disaffected voters from their party to tilt the scales in an election that could once again be decided by narrow margins in a handful of states.

Who Kennedy’s voters could or would otherwise support is harder to gauge this far out from November, though there are signs that his independent campaign is focused on one side of the aisle.

An NPR review of campaign finance records show roughly 95% of RFK’s itemized donors have not given money to a presidential candidate since 2020. Of those who have, almost all contributions were to Republicans.

Kennedy and Shanahan’s prominent views around vaccine skepticism cut across the ideological spectrum, while conspiracies around the coronavirus are also more commonly found on the political right.

Last week, RFK spoke at the Libertarian Party’s national convention, attacking Donald Trump over his response to the pandemic and unsuccessfully sought the party’s nomination for president.

Ultimately, RFK’s impact will come down to a few basic metrics: what states the campaign successfully gains ballot access in, how many of them are swing states, how strategically swing voters view their choices and how many RFK voters actually show up to the polls.

NPR’s Ashley Lopez contributed reporting.

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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Vietnam’s state utility has asked consumers to be economical with their power consumption, as a heatwave pushes electricity usage to record levels in the south-east Asian country that has emerged as a pivotal link in the global supply chain.

National electricity consumption hit a record 1bn kilowatt hours on Tuesday, state-run Vietnam Electricity (EVN) said in a statement this week. In 2023, peak usage in a day was about 940mn kWh, according to state media.

Power usage has surged particularly in northern Vietnam, home to massive industrial parks and factories supplying multinational companies including Apple. Demand is expected to increase in the coming days, EVN said, adding that it was prepared to ensure stable supply.

EVN’s repeated call for power savings comes despite government assurances that Vietnam will not suffer any shortages this year.

Vietnam’s rapid development as a manufacturing alternative to China has placed a strain on the supply of electricity, which is generated from a mix of coal, hydropower and wind, among other sources. In the summer months of May to July last year, northern Vietnam, which particularly relies on hydropower, experienced a shortage that resulted in blackouts at factories.

Vietnam has become one of the top destinations for companies looking to shift manufacturing from China amid geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington. Foreign direct investment hit a record $37bn last year.

But infrastructure, including power, has struggled to keep up with the burgeoning demand. 

A lack of investment in power generation in recent years has led to shortages during the peak season, the World Bank said in a report in April. Investment is particularly lacking in the north and in transition lines connecting the north to the south, where electricity supply is abundant, it said.

Last year’s summer blackouts resulted in an economic loss of $1.4bn, or 0.3 per cent of Vietnam’s GDP, according to preliminary estimates from the World Bank.

“Despite strides towards improving infrastructure, logistics costs remain high and seasonal electricity shortages in northern Vietnam in the past two summers have raised reliability concerns,” the World Bank said in the report.

Vietnam has repeatedly assured foreign investors this year that they will not see a repeat of the blackouts. EVN denied a Reuters report this month that the government had asked Foxconn and other manufacturers to reduce power consumption by 30 per cent.

The government has said a transmission line connecting the north to central Vietnam will be completed in June, ensuring stable supply. Prime minister Pham Minh Chinh has urged government agencies to diversify power sources to guarantee adequate supply and even import electricity if needed.

Vietnam has also been boosting coal imports in recent years to meet power demand amid the massive influx of foreign investment. Customs data shows coal imports in May more than doubled to 6.5 million tonnes from the same period in 2022.

The pressure on Vietnam’s power infrastructure comes in the middle of political turmoil. A sweeping corruption crackdown has shaken up Vietnam’s leadership and caused bureaucratic paralysis, slowing economic activity.

Both the president and the chair of the national assembly were removed this year for unspecified violations.