Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the largest land war in Europe since WW2, reached the one-year mark on Friday. A 12-point Chinese blueprint for a possible cease-fire appeared designed to offer a reprieve to Moscow. Beijing “doesn’t have much credibility” on the issue, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said.
(Bloomberg) — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the largest land war in Europe since WW2, reached the one-year mark on Friday. A 12-point Chinese blueprint for a possible cease-fire appeared designed to offer a reprieve to Moscow. Beijing “doesn’t have much credibility” on the issue, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said.
The US plans to announce “sweeping sanctions against key sectors that generate revenue” for Russia, including the banking, defense, and technology industry. More military aid is also on tap. EU diplomats will continue work Friday in an effort to finalize a sanctions package.
Russia’s War in Ukraine: Key Events and How It’s Unfolding
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said arming Ukraine for its defense against Russia isn’t “prolonging” the conflict and that President Vladimir Putin has an end to the war “in his hands.” UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will tell G-7 colleagues Friday that it’s time for a bolder approach to weapons donations. Spain will study Ukraine’s request for fighter jets after its premier visited Kyiv this week.
You can follow all our special coverage today of the one year mark for Russia’s invasion via our website, on Twitter and on Bloomberg Television, including live broadcasts from Kyiv. You can also read our biggest pieces from the past week on Flipboard.
(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)
Listen to our special conversations from this week, including our Twitter Space on the military strategies of the war, the impact on energy and the environment, and the effect of sanctions including on the wealth of Russia’s oligarchs. Tune in at 10am ET/3pm London today for a conversation about what the future holds for Ukrainian refugees. And listen via our website to our live blog with military experts about the trajectory of the conflict, hosted by Marc Champion, from 7am ET/midday London today.
Big Take Podcast: How Does Ukraine Continue to Beat Back Russia?
Key Developments
- China Cease-Fire Proposal for Ukraine Falls Flat With US, Allies
- Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: A Political Year in Photos
- China Dismisses US Claim Over Possible Weapons Sales to Russia
- US Sets Tariffs on Russian Metals Including Aluminum
- Russians’ Support for Putin’s War Hardens as His Crackdown Grows
- Biden’s $300 Billion Sanctions Shock Is Failing to Stop Russia
On the Ground
Russia’s main efforts remain focused in the east, around places Kupyansk, Lyman and Bakhmut. In the past day Ukraine repelled about 100 attacks. The Kremlin’s troops launched 10 missile and 31 air strikes, and conducted more than 40 multiple launch rocket systems attacks, resulting in casualties among civilians in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions. Ukraine’s air force conducted 17 strikes on Russian troops and four on anti-aircraft missile systems. The Institute for the Study of War warned that the Kremlin may be planning a false-flag attack on Ukraine’s border with Belarus.
(All times CET)
Weak Peace Settlement Unacceptable, Latvia’s President Says (11:30 a.m.)
China’s cease-fire proposal won’t be acceptable to Ukraine and is unlikely to lead to an end to Russia’s invasion, Latvian President Egils Levits said on Bloomberg TV on Friday.
“There is now no possibility for a weak peace negotiation because Russia is ready to continue the war,” Levits said. China’s peace plan contains “nothing that Ukraine could accept,” he added.
Black Sea Corridor Called Essential for Global Food Security (11:25 a.m.)
Keeping the Black Sea grain corridor open for Ukrainian grain shipments and expanding its capacity is the only way to preserve global food security, Yevhen Osypov, CEO of the grain exporter Kernel, said on Bloomberg TV.
Kyiv is seeking an extension of the safe-transit deal with UN, Turkey and Russia reached over the summer and needs to export the double amount of grain it’s been shipping so far to clear stocks from storage ahead of the next harvest, he said.
Japan PM Kishida Mulls Ukraine Visit (11:17 a.m.)
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering a visit to Ukraine, he told reporters at a news conference in Tokyo, but nothing’s been finalized. After Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv this week, Japan is the only Group of Seven country that hasn’t sent its leader to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.
Kishida earlier this week pledged $5.5 billion in additional financial assistance for Ukraine. This will take the form of loan guarantees, the Asahi newspaper reported, with Japan only required to provide funds if Ukraine is late with repayments.
DTEK, Naftogas Each Lost More Than $1 Billion From Attacks (10:45 a.m.)
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power producer, has invested more than $200 million to repair damaged facilities after losing over $1 billion because of the war, its CEO Maxim Timchenko told Bloomberg TV. Kremlin forces have focused on attacking Ukraine’s key infrastructure since early October.
“We are now in equilibrium in terms of generation and consumption”, Timchenko said, adding that Ukraine’s energy future will pivot to renewables, decentralization and implementing of new technologies.
Missile attacks have caused more than $1 billion in damage to the national energy company Naftogaz, CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov said, adding that the company’s resilience in keeping the heat on in the face of the damage has been “extraordinary.”
China Lacks Credibility on Cease-Fire Proposal, NATO Chief Says (10:19 a.m.)
China has a responsibility to uphold the UN charter as it concerns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Beijing “doesn’t have much credibility” because of its failure to condemn the war, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Tallinn, Estonia.
Speaking alongside Stoltenberg, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would study China’s principles in the context of Beijing’s pledge to an unlimited partnership with Moscow before the start of the war. She added that the EU’s sanctions against Russia were sharply eroding its economic base.
China was one of 32 nations that abstained from a UN non-binding resolution on Thursday calling on Russia to end its war. India, South Africa and Iran were among the abstentions.
Poland to Deliver First Leopard Tanks (9:55 a.m.)
Poland is sending Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine on Friday, the first of 14 vehicles the government has promised, according to an official who declined to be named. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will announce the delivery during his trip to Kyiv to mark one year since the Russian invasion,
UK PM Will Push for Longer-Range Weapons (9:11 a.m.)
Rishi Sunak will use Friday’s G-7 leaders call to make the case for longer-range weapons to be sent to Ukraine, rejecting the “incremental approach” taken over the past year.
“For Ukraine to win this war – and to accelerate that day – they must gain a decisive advantage on the battlefield. That is what it will take to shift Putin’s mindset. This must be our priority now,” Sunak said in remarks emailed by Downing Street. “We need to move faster on artillery, armor, and air defense.”
UK Offers to Backfill Jet Stocks: Wallace (9 a.m.)
The UK has offered to give its fighter jets to eastern European allies to help backfill their stocks if they choose to give Soviet-era jets to Ukraine, said Defense Secretary Ben Wallace. Britain won’t send its own typhoon jets to Ukraine in the short-term though, he said.
“If a country wants to give a Russian or a Soviet model like a MiG-29, and there are some countries in NATO that have them, then Britain will do its very best to either backfill with our own jets or provide some form of air policing to cover their loss of capability,” he told Sky News.
China’s Cease-Fire Proposal for Ukraine Gets Quick Dismissal (8:40 a.m.)
Beijing’s 12-point proposal for ending the war that appears to offer some reprieve to Moscow has little chance of winning broad support. Several of the measures outlined in a position paper issued Friday would, if carried out, offer clear benefits to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including a proposal to immediately end all sanctions not endorsed by the UN Security Council, where Russia holds veto power.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said China’s proposal should have ended after the first bullet point, which calls for “respecting the sovereignty of all countries.”
Biden’s $300 Billion Sanctions Shock Is Failing to Stop Russia (8:30 a.m.)
The move in the early days of the war to freeze some $300 billion of Russian central bank assets held abroad saw Russia’s currency tank, prices soar, and people lining up at banks to pull out whatever cash they could, leaving some US officials briefly worried that they’d gone too far.
With a year’s hindsight, it’s clear that the economic punishment imposed on Russia by the US and allies didn’t overshoot. As Daniel Flatley writes, sanctions have inflicted damage but they haven’t induced Putin to stop the war — raising wider questions about a tool that’s become increasingly central to US foreign policy.
Biden’s $300 Billion Sanctions Shock Is Failing to Stop Russia
Zelenskiy Vows Victory, Lauds Ukraine’s Spirit (8:10 a.m.)
Ukraine will do its utmost to celebrate victory over Russia this year, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said as the war in his country crossed one-year mark.
“This was a year of invincibility. This was a February of invincibility. Its main result is that we have withstood Russia’s invasion, we haven’t been defeated,” Zelenskiy said in a statement on Friday. “And we will do our best to get victory this year.”
Zelenskiy praised the spirit of every Ukrainian as well as the efficiency of Ukrainian and foreign weapons, and thanked Western allies for their help.
Arming Ukraine ‘Not Prolonging War’: Scholz (8 a.m.)
Germany leader pushed back against an accusation by nations including China that supplying Ukraine with weapons is fanning the hostilities triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion one year ago.
“The opposite is true,” Scholz said in a video address to mark the war’s one-year mark.
“The sooner Russia’s president realizes that he will not achieve his imperialist goal, the greater the chance of an early end to the war,” he said. “Putin has it in his hands. He can end this war.”
Russia Switching Tactics Again, UK Ministry Says (6 a.m.)
Russia in recent weeks “has likely changed its approach again,” the UK defense ministry said, after its initial, failed full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago was refocused on expanding and formalizing its rule over Ukraine’s Donbas and the south.
“Its campaign now likely primarily seeks to degrade the Ukrainian military, rather than being focused on seizing substantial new territory,” the ministry said on Twitter.
US Think-Tank Warns of Possible Russian False-Flag Ops (5 a.m.)
The Kremlin appears to be preparing to stage “false flag operations” in Ukraine’s Chernihiv oblast, which borders both Russia and Belarus, and in the occupied Moldovan region of Transnistria, the Institute for the Study of War said Friday, citing the Ukrainian military.
Russia may be stage a false-flag attacks to coerce Belarus into the war, following Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s statement on Feb. 16 that Belarus would only enter the war if attacked by Ukraine, the US-based military analysts said.
Brazil’s President Pushes Mediation Proposal (2:30 a.m.)
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is intensifying a campaign to mediate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine as he seeks to reinsert Brazil on the global political stage. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin was quoted by Russia’s Tass news agency as saying Moscow was studying Lula’s proposal.
Lula’s plan is to create of a group of countries, possibly including India, China and Indonesia, to mediate peace talks. China, Turkey and numerous other nations have also sought to mediate negotiations during the course of the conflict.
China Calls for Cease-Fire, Issues 12-Point Plan (12:25 a.m.)
China called for a cease-fire in Ukraine in a bid to portray itself as a neutral party that can help end Russia’s yearlong invasion. The 12-point plan issued by the Foreign Ministry in Beijing called for ending hostilities and resuming peace talks.
“All parties should support Russia and Ukraine in working in the same direction and resuming direct dialogue as quickly as possible, so as to gradually de-escalate the situation and ultimately reach a comprehensive cease-fire,” the ministry said.
UN Approves Appeal to Russia Calling for War’s End (10:40 p.m.)
The UN General Assembly passed a non binding resolution on Thursday calling on Russia to end its war in Ukraine, with 141 countries voting in support of the measure. Seven nations, including Syria, North Korea and Belarus, voted against the measure, and 32, including China, India, South Africa and Iran, abstained.
Josep Borrell, the European Union foreign policy chief, called the vote a clear message from the international community, which “has called for a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in Ukraine.”
US Pledges Sanctions to Target Russia, Its Enablers (7:53 p.m.)
In addition to targeting Russia’s banking, defense and technology industries, US sanctions to be announced Friday will hit actors in other countries that are attempting to help Russia backfill or evade sanctions, the White House said.
The US and allies also plan to announce a new economic and security assistance package for Ukraine intended to aid defense efforts and provide basic government services such as electricity and heat.
The US also plans to announce a new assistance package of about $2 billion for Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter.
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