On the earth of cloud computing, belief is all the pieces. Companies migrate to the cloud as a result of they count on reliability, scalability, and uninterrupted operations, no matter their location or exterior pressures which will come up. However what occurs when these foundational expectations are jeopardized? Latest occasions involving Microsoft and Nayara Power counsel that belief in public cloud suppliers is being eroded, particularly amongst companies working exterior the USA, and driving a rising motion towards sovereign and personal cloud options.
Microsoft collides with geopolitics
The latest dispute started on July 18, 2025, when the European Union (EU) introduced a contemporary spherical of sanctions focusing on Russia to exert financial strain associated to the conflict in Ukraine. Within the nice print of the EU sanctions, Nayara Power (a serious oil refinery in India) was flagged because of its 49% possession by Russia’s state oil firm, Rosneft. The EU accused Nayara of contributing income to the Russian authorities and, consequently, made it topic to sanctions.
Shortly after the announcement, U.S.-based Microsoft took motion by suspending Nayara Power’s entry to its Groups and Outlook companies. Primarily, Microsoft acted as an enforcer of the EU sanctions, slicing off a buyer from cloud companies it had paid for. From Microsoft’s perspective, this motion may need appeared unavoidable—if it didn’t adjust to the EU’s sanctions, the corporate may face authorized or monetary repercussions. However from Nayara Power’s view, this was nothing wanting a unilateral disruption of its enterprise actions by a international entity.
