One week after Ferrari unveiled its first-ever all-electric car, called the Luce, the design continues to divide analysts. Some referred to the new model as a “mix between a Honda Accord EV and a Tesla,” while others said that Tesla’s Model S Plaid was far superior. The latest report from Goldman analysts provided new details about their most recent visit to Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello.

Last Friday, Ferrari hosted an investor day, which analyst Christian Frenes attended. He spoke with top Ferrari executives just days after the Luce reveal event in Rome earlier in the week.

Frenes said management framed the Ferrari Luce as an “additive range model designed to expand the customer base.“

He continued:

Management reaffirmed the Luce as a strategic entry point to engage new demographics and regions, particularly in markets with higher BEV penetration such as Asia and the Nordics while also targeting a new and younger customer group. The exterior design intentionally distinguishes the EV from existing ICE and PHEV models. Management also reaffirmed it remains aligned with its “technological neutrality” approach continuing to sell V12s and V8s to those interested.

Beyond design, Ferrari’s battery-powered, four-door, five-seat Luce has another problem: its price tag – a staggering 550,000 euros, or about $638,660. If Ferrari expects that to open the brand to a younger, broader customer base, management certainly has a different view of the world – one that isn’t grounded in reality.

For starters, Tesla’s Model S Plaid costs only a fraction as much and, on key performance metrics, appears to outperform the Luce. The Model S also comes with Full Self-Driving, a feature we are fairly certain Ferrari’s first EV lacks.

By the end of last week, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna appeared to be on damage-control duty after shares dropped in response to negative investor reaction to the Luce’s design and performance specifications.

crazy.. pic.twitter.com/DTNVAYNPZX

— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) May 27, 2026

Let’s not forget that Ferrari hybrids are depreciating faster than their petrol-powered counterparts. This is a sign that car collectors are shunning anything electric (read the report). 

Shares have yet to recover to pre-Luce reveal levels.

Beyond the terrible design and high price, one could debadge the Luce, and it would be hard to decipher the car from a Kia or Toyota or even a Nissan … 

Ferrari Luce, explained pic.twitter.com/F0vRf03cwj

— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) May 26, 2026

That problem itself has infuriated Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the former Ferrari president, who told local media that the Luce “risks destroying a legend, and I’m deeply sorry. I hope they at least remove the Prancing Horse from that car.”

American automotive YouTuber Doug DeMuro said Luce has the specs of a “nice Polestar” .. .

Professional subscribers can read the full Ferrari note at our new Marketdesk.ai portal.

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

The current UK government’s policy of not allowing new drilling in the UK North Sea is “utter madness” as billions of barrels of untapped oil could benefit the UK industry and reduce Britain’s reliance on imports, Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, has said.

The ruling Labour government of Sir Keir Starmer has recently moved to permanently ban new oil and gas licenses in the UK section of the North Sea, drawing criticism from the UK offshore industry associations and from the Tories.

The Conservatives’ Badenoch commented this week on a new study by the University of Aberdeen, whose researchers said on Wednesday that it would be “economically, environmentally, and strategically beneficial for the UK to prioritise domestic oil and gas production rather than increasing reliance on imports.”

The University of Aberdeen’s peer-reviewed study found that significant untapped potential remains in the West of Shetland basin, which is estimated to contain about 4.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) yet to be discovered.

The study highlights that the remaining potential in the area could extend the life of the UK oil and gas sector, said Nick Schofield, Professor of Igneous & Petroleum Geology at the University of Aberdeen.

“West of Shetland is not a depleted frontier – it is a technically demanding but strategically important energy province,” Schofield noted.

The study showed the “utter madness” of the ruling Labour in opposing drilling in the North Sea, Badenoch said.

“The University of Aberdeen survey just demonstrates the utter madness of the stance taken by Keir Starmer and John Swinney,” the leader of the Conservatives said in remarks carried by Belfast Telegraph.

“Domestic oil and gas are vital to the nation’s energy security, as well as being the economic lifeblood of the North East,” Badenoch said.

“Yet the industry is on its knees due to the windfall tax and the ban on new developments. The Conservatives would scrap both immediately,” she added.

Via Remix News,

With French national elections approaching in 2027, the mass riots seen in Paris following the PSG victory in the Champions League are leading to an even sharper electoral shift towards the right-leaning National Rally’s Jordan Bardella.

Verian’s June barometer, published by Le Figaro Magazine, places Jordan Bardella at the top of political figures, with 47 percent of those questioned wanting to see him occupy an important place in public life. 

This rating, up six points in one month, reveals a record result for the National Rally.

Marine Le Pen comes in second position and is also progressing. Several other personalities located on the right are also rising in the ranking, including Marion Maréchal, Éric Ciotti and Robert Ménard.

The riots in Paris left stores and cars burned out and resulted in 890 arrests, 180 officers injured, and two deaths. The apocalyptic videos from the riots also sent shockwaves through the French public.

While these polls cannot predict the election, they underline data showing that Bardella or Le Pen are well positioned to win the presidency in 2027 elections.

🇫🇷🔴”He’s scared, he’s scared… Why are you trembling like a trembling d**k? You’re scared? You son of a wh*re?”

“I’ll f**k your mother, you wh*re…. Go die, old man, go die.”

Syrian “asylum seekers” are filming themselves harassing random French people near the Eiffel Tower,… pic.twitter.com/6edBbETccc

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) June 2, 2026

Other recent polls also show that Bardella would win a runoff against a range of candidates. A poll from a week ago from Odoxa showed Bardella beating former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe 52 to 48 percent. Other potential candidates, such as the far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, were also beaten by wide margins, with polling showing Bardella nearly 50 points ahead of him, at 74 percent to 26 percent, illustrating the France’s distate for Mélenchon’s politics.

Brussels’ nightmare scenario

Politico ran a piece three days ago entitled “Brussels’ nightmare scenario,” which predicted that a Bardella-Mélenchon matchup is a real possibility and would be viewed as catastrophic by the EU elite, as both candidates have a highly skeptical view of the European Union.

“That prospect of stopping Bardella has hit a major potential hurdle, however, as momentum builds behind the campaign of the firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the far-left France Unbowed party. The latest polls suggest he now has a strong chance of qualifying for the second-round showdown — depriving the race of a centrist who could rally voters against the far right in the EU’s No. 2 economy.”

🇫🇷”As White as you are, as ugly as you are.”

French far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has once again resorted to anti-White racism, calling Whites “ugy” while claiming the Goth Europeans only destroyed.

This comes after his promotion of a “creolized France.”

“We are destined… https://t.co/otLPnwph4G pic.twitter.com/Lq5fHKN1A5

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 20, 2026

The paper also quoted, Gérald Darmanin, the justice minister under President Emmanuel Macron. He said he now believes Mélenchon will be the main challenger to the “far right.”

“You have … to be wearing blinkers not to see it,” he said.

Read more here…

Authored by John Rosenburger, Senior Fellow at Eisenhower Media Network

The limits of U.S. military power are now fully exposed.

2.5 months in to the U.S.-Israeli war against a nation that posed no threat to the United States’ vital interests, justified by a pyramid of lies, several things are abundantly clear. President Trump failed to define clear and viable political objectives to achieve in our role as Israel’s proxy in yet another war of choice. “Viable” here meaning objectives that are realistically attainable through the military means at a nation’s disposal.

In his classic work Strategy, British theorist B. H. Liddell Hart emphasized that a political leader’s foremost duty is to ensure that war aims are grounded in military reality. As he famously warned, political objectives must “not demand what is militarily impossible.”

Yet that is precisely the error President Trump committed.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons & Amazon

Without clearly defined political objectives, it is impossible to construct U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which is in charge of military operations in West Asia and appears to be moving from one ineffective tactic to the next without any unifying operational design. The repeated bombing of military‑related targets across a country the size of Western Europe with more than 90 million people is not a strategy; it is a tactic untethered to any discernible operational or strategic end state.

By limiting ourselves almost entirely to the use of airpower—fully aware that the American public will not accept another protracted ground war in the Middle East, particularly on behalf of Israel’s interests—the Trump administration has boxed itself into an approach with no historical precedent for success. No regime of Iran’s scale has ever been overthrown through airpower alone, and there is no reason to believe this conflict will be the first.

Despite repeated assurances that the war is being won, President Trump has provided no stable or coherent definition of what “victory” actually means. Is it regime change and internal overthrow of the Iranian government? Is it unconditional surrender of Iran’s armed forces? Is it the seizure of nuclear material previously claimed to have been obliterated? Take your pick. The absence of a clear, consistent political end state leaves military commanders struggling to determine what they are supposed to achieve.

Credit: Evan Vucci, @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social

History shows that wars fought without well‑defined political objectives, matched with a viable military strategy, tend to devolve into wars of attrition—conflicts that favor the side with greater resilience and willingness to endure. We see that historical truism unfolding before our eyes. We fail to appreciate that Iran is waging a fundamentally different kind of war, one rooted in national survival, and that resolve has shaped the character and trajectory of the conflict.

It is also clear that this war was based on a host of flawed assumptions. The Trump administration assumed that by assassinating the Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, the IGRC and security apparatus of the nation would collapse, and the Iranian people would flood into the streets to violently overthrow the government. How they would do that while being unarmed defies logic. That overthrow, of course, didn’t happen. It had the opposite effect. The government and the people have never been more unified.

Credit: Hamshahri Photo/Wikimedia Commons

The Trump administration assumed that the massive armada of air power it would employ would quickly destroy Iran’s capability to retaliate. It didn’t. It assumed that the Iranian armed forces would not attack U.S. bases and embassies in the region. They did. It assumed that Iran did not have the capability to hide and accurately employ thousands of ballistic missiles and drones for days and weeks on end. It did; another gross failure of both U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies as the Iranians pound Israel’s cities, U.S. bases, and Gulf nations night after night.

The Trump administration assumed Iran was incapable of closing the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. military destroyed Iran’s naval surface fleet. They ignored the fact that Iran had several other means of interdicting the movement of any ships through the Strait—a plethora of different mines, small attack submarines designed to operate in shallow water, swarms of armed fast boats, multiple types of attack drones, and an arsenal of ballistic and hypersonic missiles. Equally concerning, the administration overlooked the fact that Lloyds of London and other maritime insurance companies would not underwrite the loss of tankers and cargo ships that attempted to cross the Strait. Iran will ensure the Strait remains closed using its arsenal of asymmetric weapons they’ve designed for just that purpose, giving them powerful leverage in future negotiations.

Credit: MassLive, AP, CalMatters

The result? Cascading and disastrous effects. The U.S.-Israel war against Iran initiated a global economic crisis, strangling the production and transportation of oil, liquid natural gas, urea, helium, and aluminum from the nations surrounding the Persian Gulf. The war further increased U.S. national debt, which is just shy of $39 trillion dollars and growing. The Trump administration increased our national debt by $1 trillion in the first 5 months of this year, and borrowed another $343 billion last month alone. Now, the Department of War is asking Congress for another appropriation of $200 billion to cover the unexpected costs of this war of choice. For the first time in our nation’s history, our debt-to-GDP ratio is 122 percent, with no sign of decreasing. The consequences could be catastrophic to our economy in the months and years ahead if left unabated.

This war of choice has practically exhausted the U.S. military’s inventory of offensive and defensive missiles, inventories that cannot be replenished for years. It’s increased our country’s strategic vulnerability and reduced the Pentagon’s ability to deter other threats around the globe. The limits of U.S. military power are now fully exposed. Russia and China smile with glee.

Nine U.S. military bases in the Gulf States have been destroyed or abandoned. The Gulf States are unlikely to ever welcome American forces back into their countries, as the Trump administration has demonstrated that the United States cannot and will not protect Gulf Arab allies. The administration has essentially destroyed the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) coalition and also managed to alienate most NATO allies in the process.

Russia is enjoying a windfall in oil and natural gas sales and revenue as it becomes the principal supplier of oil to China, India, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and other nations that relied on oil from the Gulf nations. Airlines across the globe are rationing jet fuel and reducing flights. Prices for gas and diesel are exploding at the pump here in the United States, which will thrust additional inflation on the American people struggling to afford the costs of food, housing, transportation, and medical insurance.

Credit: U.S. Department of State/Wikimedia Commons

Furthermore, given that the U.S. attacked Iran with no warning twice during earnest negotiations the past year, Iran has no reason to ever trust us again and negotiate an end to this conflict. We’re witnessing the unintended consequences of a war of choice that was poorly conceived and poorly planned, driven entirely by hubris. In two short months, Iran has gained the operational and strategic initiative and will determine the outcome of this war. It seems the Trump administration has opened Pandora’s Box.

Lastly, the administration has failed to define a path to victory that culminates in the restoration of a durable peace in the Middle East.

Professor Donald Stoker captures this imperative in his illuminating book Why America Loses Wars, noting that “…if the political leadership has done its job, their definition of victory [the political objective] includes a clear vision of what they want the post-war situation to look like. Ultimately, as Cicero tells us, war is about the restoration of peace; if it does not seek this, the war is not just. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman insisted that “The legitimate object of war is a more perfect peace. War is fighting for the peace we want.”

All were right.

Absent an effective political and military strategy that restores stable and enduring peace between nations in the region, this war risks becoming yet another U.S. exercise in violence untethered from purpose; a war ending in failure, useless destruction, and economic depression that will require years to overcome.

Electricity prices are becoming one of the fastest-rising household expenses in parts of America.

Using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), this map, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld, shows how residential electricity prices changed across all 50 states over the past year.

The differences are striking. Washington D.C. saw electricity prices surge 23% year over year, over two times the national average increase of 10%, while several states in the West saw little change or outright declines.

Much of the pressure is being driven by rising grid investment costs and growing electricity demand, including from AI-related data center expansion in some regions.

Electricity Price Growth by State

The following table shows the annual change in average residential electricity prices by state in March 2026.

Where Electricity Bills Are Surging the Most

Electricity prices climbed significantly across much of America over the past year, but the increases varied significantly by region.

Several Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states recorded some of the nation’s largest increases. Washington D.C. saw prices rise 23%, while New Jersey and New Hampshire both posted gains of 18%. Maryland followed at 17%.

For households in the hardest-hit states, electricity bills are becoming a larger budget concern. Unlike many consumer purchases, electricity is a recurring necessity, meaning even moderate price increases can quickly add up over a year.

Why Utility Costs Are Climbing Nationwide

Electricity prices are rising as America’s power grid faces growing strain from aging infrastructure and surging demand.

Utilities are investing billions into grid upgrades, transmission networks, and wildfire prevention projects, while electricity demand is accelerating due to AI data centers, population growth, and the shift toward electric vehicles and electric heating systems.

AI-related data center growth is becoming a major source of new electricity demand. In Maryland, for example, Amazon Web Services recently expanded its data center operations as utilities across the region race to keep up with rising power needs.

In PJM Interconnection—the largest U.S. power market serving 13 Eastern states and Washington D.C.—wholesale electricity prices surged 76% year over year in early 2026 as data center demand accelerated. Analysts warned many of those costs could ultimately be passed on to households through higher utility bills.

America’s Growing Electricity Divide

The map highlights a widening regional split in electricity costs. Many Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states experienced double-digit price increases, while parts of the West saw relatively stable prices or outright declines.

Rhode Island recorded the largest drop in electricity prices at -7%, followed by Connecticut at -6%. Oregon and Nevada both saw prices fall 2% over the past year.

The differences reflect how electricity markets vary widely across the U.S., with regional fuel mixes, grid investment needs, regulatory structures, and demand growth all shaping local utility costs.

As AI data centers, electrification, and grid expansion reshape power demand, utility costs are starting to diverge sharply between regions. For consumers, electricity is increasingly shifting from a stable household expense into a more volatile and regionally uneven cost burden.

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic showing the number of data centers by country.

Summary:

• The US reportedly military intercepted and shot down at least four Iranian one-way attack drones
• CENTCOM says coastal radar and missile sites bombed in retaliation.
• Iran Military Fires “Warning Missiles” At US Destroyers In Gulf of Oman; U.S. CENTCOM Denies Report 
• Iran FM Warns American Bases Are Legitimate Targets, Cites ‘No Tangible Progress’ In Talks

Polymarket 

New Overnight US Military Intercepts, Attacks

Things are again popping off in the overnight hours in the Strait of Hormuz, but so far it may be looking like another limited action and exchange.

The US military reportedly intercepted and shot down at least four Iranian one-way attack drones on Friday into possibly early Saturday (local). According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), the incoming unmanned aerial vehicles were heading directly toward the Strait of Hormuz and posed an “imminent threat to maritime traffic.”

Following the drone shootdowns, American forces immediately launched retaliatory strikes against key military targets inside Iranian territory. CENTCOM further detailed that American assets hit Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites located in Goruk, a city in the Hormozgan province, as well as on Qeshm Island, a strategically vital Iranian outpost in the mouth of the strait.

The Pentagon justified the immediate counter-offensive by stating the radar sites were targeted specifically to “defend against further attacks.” One thing is clear: these ‘limited’ escalations are becoming more regular, and even almost nightly at this point, raising the stakes and possibility of a more full-on, dangerous renewed war. Currently, there are reports of air defenses active over Kuwait:

KUWAITI AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS INTERCEPTING DRONE, MISSILE ATTACKS

Iran Military Fires “Warning Missiles” At US Destroyers In Gulf of Oman

AFP is reporting that Iranian military forces fired “warning missiles” at two U.S. Navy destroyers transiting the Gulf of Oman, citing Iranian state media.

“In continuation of operations to counter maritime misconduct and harassment, as well as the hijacking of commercial vessels and oil tankers by the terrorist naval forces of the United States, following the firing of warning missiles, the hostile destroyers DDG-103 and DDG-8 have left the Gulf of Oman towards the Indian Ocean,” Iranian military forces wrote in a statement published by state news agency IRNA.

Meanwhile…

• US DENIES REPORT IRAN ATTACKED OR FIRED AT US NAVAL SHIPS

🚫 CLAIM: Iran claims it fired warning shots at U.S. warships in the Gulf of Oman, forcing American vessels to “retreat” toward the Indian Ocean. FALSE.

✅TRUTH: Iranian forces did NOT attack or fire at U.S. Navy warships. Doing so would be a gross violation of the ceasefire.… pic.twitter.com/PdfC1EMZTP

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 5, 2026

Most Important Headlines (courtesy of Bloomberg):

Military Confrontation

• Iran’s army fired warning shots using Qadir missiles and drones at two US Navy destroyers (DDG-103 and DDG-87) in the Sea of Oman on Friday, forcing them to retreat to the northern Indian Ocean, according to Iranian military statements
• Iran fired missiles and drones at Kuwait and Bahrain on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring dozens at Kuwait’s main airport, after the US struck an oil tanker headed to Iran

Peace Talks

• The US and Iran have made little progress in talks over an interim peace deal this week, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying no tangible progress has been achieved
• President Trump said ceasefire talks are in the ‘final’ stages despite the stalled negotiations
• Iran’s Foreign Minister dismissed the idea of Supreme Leader meeting Trump after the US president expressed openness to such a meeting

U.S. Congressional Opposition

• The Republican-led House voted 215-208 on Wednesday to halt the US war with Iran, breaking with President Trump
• Trump called the House vote against the Iran war ‘meaningless’ and ‘unpatriotic’ in a Truth Social post

Regional Impact

• Lebanon’s Prime Minister told Iran to stop treating the country as a ‘bargaining chip’ on Friday
• Hezbollah rejected a US-brokered truce proposal in Lebanon, though attacks on northern Israel have eased
• The US said Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire contingent on Hezbollah stopping attacks and evacuating operatives from southern Lebanon

Nuclear

• Iran permitted UN atomic watchdog monitors to visit its Bushehr nuclear power plant this week while stonewalling inspectors’ demands to verify its enriched uranium stockpile.

Iran FM Warns American Bases Are Legitimate Targets, Cites ‘No Tangible Progress’ In Talks

At a moment it’s become more than clear that the US and Iran are not anywhere closer to the negotiating table, and after they’ve shown little progress after a week of clashes – as one Friday morning Bloomberg headline reads, Tehran has again putting US bases in the region on notice, while admitting “no tangible progress” in negotiations on ending the conflict.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in fresh remarks has said that “standing against the world’s greatest power, equipped with nuclear weapons, for 40 days is no joke,” and that “the world has realized the true power of the Iranian nation.”

Araghchi also again issued a direct warning to regional Gulf states: “We warned regional states that US bases used for any aggression against Iran are legitimate targets” – he was quoted Friday by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) as saying.

However, the Iranian foreign minister also cautioned that there is a way forward, stressing that despite conflict, “We are committed to fostering sustainable, constructive ties with Saudi Arabia.”

The war is fast approaching the 100-day milestone, which comes Sunday, since Trump first initiated his Operation Epic Fury. He had in the opening ‘assured’ the American public of only a short conflict lasting but a few days or weeks.

Iran’s supreme leader too has been signaling defiance while apparently in hiding, saying that the US and Israel had been dealt a “decisive blow”

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s message was read out by a prayer leader at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of the Islamic republic’s founder on Thursday:

In his message, Khamenei said his country’s enemies, after “facing a decisive blow,” were now “experiencing a deeply meaningful and profound humiliation.”

He went on to accuse them of seeking to “plant the seeds of doubt, despair, fear, mistrust and division” among the public, calling for unity to “neutralize their sinister plot.”

Tehran is still seeking to integrate the Lebanon situation into a broader US-Iran peace deal. But in Lebanon itself, sporadic fighting has raged despite declaration of a ceasefire – of which Hezbollah has declared itself not part of.

On Friday, “The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee on Friday warned residents of six towns and villages including south Lebanon’s Sarafand, a town on the coastal road between Tyre and Sidon, to immediately evacuate,” according to CBS.

More reports of mystery explosions in Strait of Hormuz, off Oman…

🇴🇲 New: Oman has suspended oil loading operations at the Mina al Fahal terminal after an explosion near its offshore berths, according to Reuters.

Two sources familiar with the matter said the blast, which occurred between two single-buoy moorings, was believed to have been… pic.twitter.com/N6O5nZoqWF

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) June 5, 2026

“Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported mass displacement from the three villages named in the warning, and it subsequently reported a strike on one of the villages, Arqoun,” the report continues.

And Al Jazeera also reports Friday that “Israel’s deadly strikes continue across Lebanon, killing at least six today, despite the announcement of a new US-brokered ceasefire agreed between Lebanese and Israeli officials in Washington, DC.”

The public is increasingly pessimistic that a ceasefire can be achieved anytime soon, even as Trump has seemed to soften on the issue of retrieving highly enriched uranium: US-Iran permanent peace deal by June 30, 2026?

The world’s two largest nuclear powers are apparently turning to old school, Cold War-style sports diplomacy to thaw out their deeply frozen bilateral relations, even as there’s as yet no solution to the grinding Russia-Ukraine war.

Russian and American ice hockey players are scheduled to face off in Moscow on July 1. President Vladimir Putin first proposed holding hockey matches between Russian and American players in both countries during a direct phone call with President Trump.

Soon after that March 2025 phone call the Kremlin noted at the time that Trump had “expressed support” for the initiative.

According to the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (AmCham Russia), the event is part of a broader series of matches. Notably the initial match is timed just ahead of the milestone 250th anniversary of US independence on July 4th.

“We hope this will help melt the ice that formed between us,” AmCham Russia President Robert Agee said Thursday. The announcement was made at the 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), which is currently ongoing.

He confirmed that Russia and the US would play the match, expressing that it will be a “friendly” game, according to TASS.

While it’s unclear which players will make up the rosters from either side, The Moscow Times has cited that Agee said “NHL superstar and prominent Putin supporter Alexander Ovechkin will be involved in the event, though the full roster will be a mix of professional and amateur athletes. He did not provide further details.”

The International Ice Hockey Federation banned Russia from all official international tournaments immediately following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and so this event constitutes a rare, symbolic defiance of the international sports body and its regulations set down.

In the meantime, the Ukrainians are fuming over the plan, as they want to see Russia as isolated as possible. But a US against Russia hockey game, covered by international media and featuring superstar athletes on the ice would be anything but ‘isolation’.

Back when Putin was literally on the ice himself for an exhibition…

WATCH: Putin scores 8 goals in an exhibition hockey game in Russia pic.twitter.com/XePFMRIej9

— Bloomberg Originals (@bbgoriginals) May 10, 2019

Indeed it in and of itself would be a big diplomatic win for Moscow, but the White House sees this as essentially worth it if it can lead to peace, and eventual normalization of relations with Russia.