This blog will carry some news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and related developments from various sources. Below are reports from EFE, the Spanish news agency, and teleSUR, the Venezuela-based television network. — MCM
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Ruble plummets as Western sanctions on Russia take effect (EFE) The ruble plunged nearly 30 percent against the US dollar, trading as low as 119 per dollar as markets opened Monday after Western sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine came into force. It was the first day since the European Union, United States and allies cut off a number of Russian banks from the Swift international payment system and the EU “paralyzed” transactions with Russia’s central bank (CBR).
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U.S. Freezes Dollar Assets of Russian Central Bank Telesur reports: “The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday prohibited American companies and financial institutions from carrying out any operations with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBRF) and froze all dollar assets of this institution. Announced before the opening of the U.S. markets, the prohibition took effect immediately and prevents the Russian government from accessing its dollar reserves around the world. The ban also covers operations with the Russian National Investment Fund (RDIF). Besides freezing the CBRF dollar-denominated assets, the measure affects the use of the dollar throughout the world for operations with the Central Bank of Russia. ‘Our prohibition affects any dollar in the world, from any institution, which cannot be transacted with the Russian Central Bank,’ the U.S. authorities insisted. These new sanctions will have a negative and immediate impact on the ruble, a currency that has been losing value in international markets for a few days.” READ MORE . . .
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Russian and Ukrainian Negotiators Return to Their Countries (teleSUR) After holding a first round of talks on Monday in Pripyat on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, the representatives of the governments of Russia and Ukraine returned to their countries to hold “respective consultations” with their authorities. The Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said a new meeting would take place “soon” on the border between Poland and Belarus. “The parties established a series of priorities and issues that require certain decisions,” said Mikhailo Podoiak, a Ukrainian negotiator, suggesting that there would be a second round of talks. “The meeting is over after five hours of talks,” the chairman of the Russian Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee, Leonid Slutsky said, mentioning that negotiators had identified several points on which they could move forward. “The main result,” Slutsky added, “is that the negotiations took place, the parties listened to each other. We found a number of important points where progress is possible.” READ MORE . . .
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Kyiv reduced to ghost town as Russian tanks approach EFE’s Ignacio Ortega reported on Saturday: “Kyiv, a bustling European capital of 4 million people, has been turned into a ghost town. Amid air raid sirens and a curfew, the city’s residents are either fleeing or sheltering from the shelling as Russian forces close in. The eerie silence is only broken by sirens, church bells and the sporadic bombings and gunshots that can be heard across the city that hasn’t seen a foreign army since Nazi troops invaded more than 80 years ago. Those who remain only go outside for food. Only a couple of stores have stayed open in the city center. Even the fast food restaurants stopped serving on Thursday.”
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Russia vetoes UN resolution against Ukraine invasion, China abstains EFE reported Saturday: “Russia used its veto power Friday on a resolution against its invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations, which otherwise was supported by a clear majority of the Security Council, although three countries abstained, among them China. The resolution, doomed to fail from the outset since Moscow could block it, had been pushed by the United States to condemn Russian military intervention and demand the withdrawal of its troops from Ukraine. READ MORE . . .