Trust is everything in the world of Cloud Computing. Companies migrate to the cloud because they expect reliability, scalability and continuous operations, regardless of their location or external pressure that can occur. But what happens if these fundamental expectations are endangered? Recent events with Microsoft and Nayara Energy Suggesting that trust in public cloud providers is eroded, especially among companies that are active outside the United States, and stimulating a growing movement to sovereign and private cloud solutions.
Microsoft clashes with geopolitics
The recent dispute started on July 18, 2025, when the European Union (EU) announced a new sanction round that focuses on Russia to exert economic pressure with regard to the war in Ukraine. In the small print of the EU sanctions, Nayara Energy (a large oil refinery in India) was marked because of the 49% owned by the Russian Oilmaatschappij van de Staat, Rosneft. The EU accused Nayara of contributing income to the Russian government and made it subject to sanctions as a result.
Shortly after the announcement, the American Microsoft took action by suspending Nayara Energy’s access to its teams and Outlook Services. In essence, Microsoft acted as a enforcer of the EU sanctions, so that a customer was cut off from cloud services for which he had paid. From the perspective of Microsoft, this promotion may seemed inevitable – if it did not meet the sanctions of the EU, the company could be confronted with legal or financial consequences. But according to Nayara Energy, this was nothing less than a unilateral disruption of his business activities by a foreign entity.
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