Ukraine Update: U.S. Doubts Russian Pullback; Lavrov in China
Catch all the updates from the Russia-Ukraine war here.
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. said Ukraine’s capital Kyiv remains under threat even after Russia promised to scale back military operations there.
De-escalation does not mean a cease-fire or complete withdrawal of troops from around Kyiv, said a person close to the Kremlin. Moscow’s likely war goals now are to take two eastern provinces, together with a land corridor from the Russian border to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, they said.
Moscow’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov arrived in China on his first visit since the conflict in Ukraine began. Beijing has struggled for a consistent response to the war, supporting Vladimir Putin’s rationale for invading but expressing concern about civilian casualties and pushing for talks to end the fighting.
(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)
Key Developments
- Russian Pullback From Kyiv Is Likely to Be Limited and Tactical
- Why Half of Russia’s 20 Richest Billionaires Are Not Sanctioned
- Russia Says It Made $102m Coupon Payment on 2035 Eurobond
- U.S. Eyes $500 Million More for Ukraine Despite Peace Talks
- Putin’s Old Ally in EU Faces Tough Vote as War Rages Next Door
All times CET:
Russian Oil Takes Hit on Exports, Refining (7:21 a.m.)
Three key indicators of Russia’s oil industry declined in the second half of March as appetite for the nation’s barrels dropped at home and abroad, according to data seen by Bloomberg. It indicates how international pressure over the war is affecting Russia’s energy industry, which accounts for some 10% of global crude production.
Only a handful of nations have imposed explicit bans on imports from Russia, but many traditional customers are looking elsewhere amid condemnation of its military aggression.
Russian Foreign Minister in China (4:25 a.m.)
Lavrov is set to participate in a meeting of foreign ministers of countries bordering Afghanistan, Interfax reported last week.
He is also set to visit India on Thursday to discuss the sale of Russian crude to the country and the possibility of a rupee-ruble denominated payment method that could work outside the SWIFT messaging system,
U.S. Warns Citizens of Detentions (4:12 a.m.)
The U.S. State Department warned its citizens that Russian government security forces in Ukraine and Russia may “single out and detain” them -- reissuing travel advisories for both countries that called on Americans to depart immediately.
Stocks Rise With Ukraine Talks Eyed (2:29 a.m.)
Stocks in Asia outside of Japan rose Wednesday as investors weighed prospects for a de-escalation in the war. Oil pared gains.
Bonds got a reprieve from their recent rout as hopes for progress in talks between Russia and Ukraine drove down oil prices and inflation expectations. A slide in long-end yields saw the two- to 10-year curve briefly invert -- typically a signal of impending recession, though its accuracy is in doubt after years of heavy stimulus.
Zelenskiy Sees ‘Positive’ Signals in Talks (10:35 p.m.)
There are some “positive” signals from the latest talks, though those signals “won’t drown out the explosions of Russian shells,” Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his daily video address.
The Ukrainian president again ruled out any compromise over Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and said the issue of easing sanctions on Russia can’t be raised before the war is over.
Threat to Kyiv Hasn’t Faded, Pentagon Says (9:25 p.m.)
The threat to Kyiv isn’t over because Putin’s goals continue to stretch well beyond the Donbas region, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
“Nobody should be fooling ourselves by the Kremlin’s now-recent claim that it will suddenly just reduce military attacks near Kyiv or any reports that it is going to withdraw all its forces,” Kirby said. It’s “a repositioning, not a real withdrawal” from positions around the Ukrainian capital.
World Food Programme Head Sees ‘Catastrophe’ (8:53 p.m.)
Middle East countries such as Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon, which rely on Ukraine for a majority of their wheat imports, are facing “a catastrophe on top of a catastrophe,” David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme, told the UN Security Council.
Beasley said the WFP’s own expenses are soaring, which means people will go hungry unless the world steps up humanitarian aid.
Biden Says Wait and See on a Russian Pullback in Ukraine (7:56 p.m.)
U.S. president Joe Biden said he wants to see how Russia acts in Ukraine after Kremlin negotiators said its military would pull back from assaults on Kyiv and Chernihiv. “I don’t read anything into it until I see what their actions are,” he said at a news conference.
In a call with the leaders of the U.K., France, Germany and Italy earlier, Biden said there seemed to be “a consensus that, let’s just see what they have to offer. We’ll find out what they do.”
Macron Demands Mariupol Truce in Call With Putin (7:05 p.m.)
Putin said he would respond to the French demands but no timeline was set, an Elysee official said. According to the Kremlin, Putin told Emmanuel Macron that Ukrainian fighters should surrender in order to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the southern city.
U.S. Weighs $500 Million More in Ukraine Aid (5:57 p.m.)
The U.S. government is also pushing European allies to match the contribution, according to people familiar with recent discussions. The Ukrainians could use the money to shore up government services or for humanitarian aid or military purposes.
Luxembourg Freezes 2.5 Billion Euros in Sanctions Crackdown (5:55 p.m.)
The Finance Ministry, which works with the financial markets regulator, said last week it has received about 100 notifications of assets or financial resources that have been frozen.
Poland to Ban Russian Coal Imports (5:52 p.m.)
Poland’s government plans will look instead for supplies from countries including Australia, Colombia and the U.S., Environment Minister Anna Moskwa said.
Poland imports around 8 million tones of Russian coal annually but has called on the European Union to ban energy exports from the country. The government will present a plan on Wednesday to cut supplies of Russian oil and gas, Moskwa said.
European Countries Expel More Russian Diplomats (5:15 p.m.)
The Netherlands announced it was expelling 17 Russian intelligence officers, and Belgium said it would oust 21 for spying. North Macedonia also declared five diplomats personae non grata for breaching diplomatic conventions. The Czech Republic, which forced out scores of Russians from the embassy in Prague last year, said on Tuesday it was telling one more to leave.
Since the invasion, European Union members have expelled Russian diplomats, including the three Baltic nations, which expelled 10 people; Bulgaria, which expelled 10 more; and Poland, which ordered 45 to leave. Police in Slovakia expelled three Russian diplomats after it detained four people suspected of spying for Moscow. Germany is also considering expelling suspected spies, an official said Tuesday.
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