The live blog session has concluded. For more news, views and updates, stay tuned with Moneycontrol.com.
Russia Ukraine Crisis Highlights | Israel called on Wednesday for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine crisis and said it was concerned about the country's large Jewish community but avoided any mention of Russia, a major player in the conflict in Syria. "Israel shares international concern over the steps in eastern Ukraine and the severe escalation in the situation (and) hopes that a diplomatic solution will be found," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
US President Joe Biden, while speaking to reporters at the White House, said the United States would impose sanctions against two large Russian financial institutions and Russian sovereign debt. Sanctions were imposed against Russian elites and their family members as well, administration officials said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday told Russia's defense ministry to deploy what he called peacekeeping forces into two breakaway regions of Ukraine after recognizing them as independent, raising fears of imminent war in Europe.
"This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine," Biden said. "Russia has now undeniably moved against Ukraine by declaring these independent states."
The United States had promised severe sanctions against Russia if it invaded Ukraine, which the White House previously defined as any movement of troops across the border.
The United States deployed its most powerful sanctioning tool, placing Russian elites and two banks on the Specially Designated Nationals list, effectively kicking them out of the U.S. banking system, banning them from trading with Americans, and freezing their U.S. assets.
Biden said the sanctions in the initial tranche applied to VEB bank and Russia's military bank - Promsvyazbank, which does defense deals. He said the sanctions against Russia's sovereign debt meant the Russian government would be cut off from Western financing.
"As Russia contemplates its next move, we have our next move prepared as well," Biden said. "Russia will pay an even steeper price if it continues its aggression, including additional sanctions."
Putin did not watch Biden's speech and Russia will first look at what the United States has outlined before responding, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, cited by Russian news agencies.
Biden said the United States would continue to provide "defensive assistance" to Ukraine but had no intention of fighting Russia. He said he authorized additional movements of U.S. forces already stationed in Europe to strengthen Baltic allies Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Biden, who is facing concerns at home about inflation and high energy prices, said his administration was closely monitoring energy supplies for disruptions and working on a "collective investment to secure stability and global energy supplies" with major oil producers and consumers.
"This will blunt gas prices. I want to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump. This is critical to me," he said.
SANCTIONS TRIGGERED
On Monday a senior administration official said Russia sending troops to the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine did not represent a further invasion because Russia had troops there previously. But on Tuesday, White House officials changed their language to say an invasion had begun.
Washington slapped sanctions on VEB and Promsvyazbank Public Joint Stock Company, as well as 42 of their subsidiaries, accusing the two banks of being "state-owned institutions that play specific roles to prop up Russia's defense capability and its economy."
The sanctions on the banks come on top of designations of Russian "elites" the Treasury Department accused of being close to Putin, including Aleksandr Bortnikov, director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), and Petr Fradkov, the chairman and chief executive of Promsvyazbank Public Joint Stock Company.
Also hit with sanctions was Sergei Kiriyenko, a former prime minister of Russia.
"They share in the corrupt gains of the Kremlin policies and should share in the pain as well," Biden said of Russian elites.
Brian O'Toole, a former Treasury Department official now with the Atlantic Council, said Tuesday's sanctions will have impact, but questioned whether it would be immediate enough.
"I think the risk they run by not going after a big state-owned commercial bank is that Putin thinks that the West is not going to be willing to bear the pain of big economic sanctions, and therefore that he can safely expand his ambitions," he said.
Russia's Sberbank and VTB would face American sanctions if Moscow proceeds with its invasion of Ukraine, a senior U.S. administration official told reporters.
The official also said Russian elites not sanctioned on Tuesday should be on notice and noted that the Biden administration was fully prepared to implement export control measures with a large number of countries if Russia invades further.
"Further Russian assault into Ukraine remains a severe threat in the days ahead," Biden said. "The United States and our allies and partners remain open to diplomacy if it is serious."
The live blog session has concluded. For more news, views and updates, stay tuned with Moneycontrol.com.
Israel called on Wednesday for a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine crisis and said it was concerned about the country's large Jewish community but avoided any mention of Russia, a major player in the conflict in Syria."Israel shares international concern over the steps in eastern Ukraine and the severe escalation in the situation (and) hopes that a diplomatic solution will be found," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
It said it supported "the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine" but offered no comment on Russia's actions in ordering troops into two breakaway regions in the east of the country.
The carefully worded statement reflected the balance Israel has long maintained over Russia, with which it maintains a coordination mechanism to avoid unintentional clashes in Syria, where Russian forces have been present since 2015. (Reuters)
Investors around the world lost their appetite for risk shortly after the U.S. market open on Wednesday with stocks turning lower and oil prices rallying as Ukraine declared a state of emergency and investors worried about a bigger Russian invasion.
After rising as much as 0.7% earlier on Wednesday the MSCI World Index, a leading gauge of equity markets globally, reversed course after Ukraine announced a cyber attack and declared the state of emergency. It was last down 0.5%.
Meanwhile oil futures prices higher on concerns about supply stemming from heightened fears about Ukraine. After falling as much as 1%, Brent crude reversed course and was trading at $97.91, up 1.1%, while West Texas Intermediate was up 1.11% at $92.93 per barrel after earlier falling as much as 1.85%. (Reuters)
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Wednesday said efforts are being made to arrange more flights, as per requirement, for bringing back Indians from Ukraine in view of the escalating political tensions there. Muraleedharan, speaking to reporters at Kottayam, said the central government was responsible for ensuring safety and welfare of nearly 20,000 Indians, majority of them students, presently in Ukraine and towards that goal the External Affairs Ministry was working with the Civil Aviation Ministry to arrange more flights for those wishing to come back.
He said efforts are being made to arrange more flights in view of the situation that many Indians there do not have the requisite means to return and added that no one was being forced to come back presently. Meanwhile, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president and MP K Sudhakaran shot off a letter on Wednesday to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for ensuring more flights out of Ukraine for Indians. (PTI)
U.K.-based financier and anti-corruption campaigner Bill Browder said that of all the international sanctions announced so far, only the American ones would have “stung Putin.”
“To put the Russian central bank, the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Russian Sovereign Wealth Fund on the sanctions list, and to put three oligarchs whose fathers are government officials on the sanctions list is good,” he said. “Thank God for the U.S, because nobody else is doing anything of any value.
“Putin is banking on the fact that we won’t be able to agree with each other, we’re not going to be bold, we’re all going to do the same things we’ve done in previous times,” Browder added. (AP)
"We are currently in middle of the largest security crisis in Europe since World War 2. This crisis was created & is being escalated by one side unilaterally by Russian Federation. Russia's accusations of Ukraine are absurd,"said Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
Uncertainty over sunflower oil supplies due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is spurring demand for rivals palm oil and soyoil, fuelling a red-hot vegetable oil market.
The Black Sea accounts for 60% of world sunoil output and 76% of exports, so the uncertainty over how the crisis in the region may impact crop production and movement has prompted buyers to seek alternative oils.
Surging palm oil and soyoil prices could hit new record highs in the short term, and squeeze price-sensitive Asian and African consumers already reeling from spiralling fuel and food costs, analysts and traders said. "We are facing a perfect storm," James Fry, chairman of commodities consultancy LMC International, told Reuters.
Reuters
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson denied on Wednesday that his Conservative Party took donations from Russian oligarchs, saying all those who fund the governing party were registered in Britain.
After Russia heightened fears of a full-scale offensive against Ukraine, some opposition lawmakers have accused the government of failing to impose tough sanctions against Moscow because of donations of what one called "dirty Russian money".
Asked whether the prime minister would commit to giving up donations from Russian oligarchs, Johnson told parliament: "I just think it's very important ... to understand that we do not raise money from Russian oligarchs ... we raise money from people who are registered to vote on the UK register of interests."
According to the Electoral Commission, the Conservative Party has received funds from some donors who have earned much of their wealth in Russia. (Reuters)
Russian state-run news agency Tass reports Russia has started evacuating diplomatic personnel from Ukraine, the Associated Press reported. This comes barely two days after Moscow took the unprecedented decision of recognising two pro-Russia frontier regions of Ukraine as "independent".
Britain has asked the media regulator to review the broadcast licence of Russian news channel RT after the Kremlin recognised two rebel regions of eastern Ukraine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries expressed concerns to the media regulator that RT was part of Moscow's information armoury and would spread misleading disinformation about the Ukraine crisis, according to a letter leaked to The Times newspaper.
Asked about the matter in parliament, Johnson said he believed Dorries had asked the regulator, known as Ofcom, to review the licence but cautioned that it should be given the space to make its own decisions. "We live in a country that believes in free speech," Johnson told parliament. "And I think it's important that we should leave it up to Ofcom rather than to politicians to decide which media organisations to ban - that's what Russia does." (Reuters)
The Russian-backed leader of the breakaway Donetsk region said on Wednesday he wanted to peacefully settle its borders with Ukraine but reserved the right to ask Russia for help.Denis Pushilin, who heads the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic that was recognised by Russia this week, said he favoured dialogue with Ukraine in the first instance.
But he told a news conference the situation in their long-running conflict had become critical, and the separatists would win with support from "big Russia".Russia's recognition of Donetsk and the neighbouring self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic on Monday was declared illegal by Western countries, which have imposed new sanctions against Moscow. (Reuters)
