Ukrainian and Russian officials met on the border with Belarus on Monday to discuss a possible ceasefire in Ukraine, five days after the start of the Russian invasion that triggered a series of diplomatic and economic sanctions against Moscow, but the attempt dialog ended with no progress.
After a few hours of “difficult” discussions, according to Ukrainian official Mikhaïlo Podoliak, the delegations returned to their respective capitals for consultations before further talks.
While the Ukrainian presidency says it wants to negotiate an immediate ceasefire, nothing on the ground indicates events are heading that way, with Russian troops continuing to slowly advance towards Kiev, while rocket attacks on Kharkiv, the second city country, left at least 11 civilians dead, according to a local official.
As Ukrainians and Russians negotiated, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on the phone with his Ukrainian counterparts Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian Vladimir Putin.
According to the French presidency, Macron urged Vladimir Putin to end his offensive and accept a ceasefire, while urging him to respect humanitarian law and spare civilians.
New sanctions
At the same time, Western countries unveiled new sanctions against Russia and began implementing those announced in recent days, including the exclusion of several Russian banks from the Swift interbank network, as well as targeted sanctions on the Central Bank’s foreign currency reserves deposited abroad. .
These unprecedented measures taken this weekend by the European Union (EU) and Monday by the United States caused the ruble to fall to an all-time low against the dollar. The Moscow Stock Exchange remained closed on Monday as the Russian Central Bank urgently raised its benchmark interest rate from 9.5% to 20% in an attempt to stem capital flight.
Switzerland, a traditionally neutral country, announced that it would apply certain sanctions adopted by the EU, including banning the use of its airspace, including for Russian private jets, and freezing the assets of certain Russian leaders.
Japan and South Korea have, in turn, indicated that they will participate in the exclusion of several Russian banks from the Swift interbank network. According to the Straits Times, Singapore also intends to impose sanctions and restrictions on Russia.
Pressure has also increased on Western companies that have investments in Russia following the decision by oil group BP BP.L to withdraw from the country altogether.
International Olympic Committee
More symbolically, the International Olympic Committee on Monday recommended banning all Russian and Belarusian athletes – whose country serves as a rear base for the invasion – from international competitions, paving the way in particular for Russia’s suspension from the World Cup. this year by FIFA, just over three weeks away from their last playoff games.
Sanctioned on all sides, Russia began to retaliate by announcing the closure of its airspace to companies from 36 countries, including the 27 EU states.
Russia, which supplies about 40% of natural gas used in the EU, could also use the energy weapon, a possibility that is at the heart of an emergency meeting of the Twenty-seven Energy Ministers scheduled for later on Monday.
“Energy will not be left out of this conflict, whether we like it or not,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told a news conference. “We have a dependence on Russian gas and it is an existential issue to reduce that dependence.”
For Ukrainian authorities, the priority remains to resist the Russian military offensive, as more and more European countries announce their intention to hand over defensive weapons, in particular anti-tank weapons, to Kiev.
Italy and Finland notably announced on Monday their intention to supply these weapons to Ukraine, echoing the unprecedented decision taken by the EU to fund the purchase and delivery of weapons and equipment in Kiev, a decision denounced Monday by the Kremlin. as hostile to act towards Russia.
*Reproduction of this content is prohibited.
