Ukraine Update: Mariupol Refuses Russia Ultimatum; Kyiv Mall Hit
The latest from the strife in Ukraine.
(Bloomberg) --
Ukraine rejected a Russian demand that its forces lay down their arms and leave Mariupol on Monday. The besieged southern city has been under heavy bombardment and Ukraine has accused Russian forces of blocking humanitarian aid.
Moscow had delivered the ultimatum with a morning deadline, in return for which food and medicine could be sent into the city, and potentially safe passage arranged for civilians. It’s unclear what action might follow the refusal to surrender.
A large shopping center on the outskirts of Kyiv was shelled overnight, setting off a fire. Agence France-Presse reported that at least six people were killed and the 10-story building was significantly damaged.
U.S. President Joe Biden will speak with European leaders ahead of his trip to the continent this week. Senior U.S. officials will also meet with executives of Exxon Mobil Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other firms about the impact of the invasion and sanctions.
(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)
Key Developments
- War Complicates Russia’s Role in Supplying Commodities to China
- Russia Peace Talks May Last Several Weeks, Kyiv Negotiator Says
- Russia Says It Used Hypersonic ‘Kinzhal’ Missiles to Attack
- World’s Top Alumina Supplier Australia Bans Exports to Russia
- Inside Russia’s 96-Hour Cliffhanger to Sidestep Bond Default
All times CET
Several Sites in Ukraine’s West and North Struck (8:10 a.m.)
Russia shelled a number of sites in Ukraine overnight, local officials said. That included a training base in the Rivne area in the country’s west, and a large shopping mall on the outskirts of Kyiv, where a fire broke out. AFP reported at least six people were killed, saying the burnt-out building was still smoking on Monday morning.
A reservoir at Sumykhimprom, a chemical plant based in the vicinity of the northern city of Sumy, was hit, the state emergency service said. It added there was an ammonia leak although it was localized and posed no immediate threat to the city.
Biden Plans Call With European Leaders (3:24 a.m.)
The conversation with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. will take place at 11am EDT, according to the White House. Biden, who is in Europe later this week, will also visit Warsaw on Friday and meet with President Andrzej Duda, it said.
Rusal Shares Slide on Australia’s Alumina Export Ban (2:24 a.m.)
Shares of United Co. Rusal International PJSC fell 4.7% on Monday in Hong Kong after Australia, the world’s biggest exporter of alumina, announced a ban on shipments to Russia.
Asian stocks held steady to start the week as West Texas Intermediate oil rose to $107 and investors monitored diplomatic efforts to end the war. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts fell.
White House to Meet Companies on Russia Sanctions (1:22 a.m.)
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other top officials will host an off-record discussion with companies across several industries, an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Energy companies like Exxon and ConocoPhillips, refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp., lenders like JPMorgan and Bank of America Corp., as well as agricultural and manufacturing firms will be among the attendees. The meeting comes as the White House has publicly called on energy suppliers to step up production after a jump in prices, while criticizing executives who have said they are prioritizing investor returns over additional output.
Ukraine Rejects Russian Demand on Mariupol (12:30 a.m.)
Ukraine rejects a Russian demand for its forces to lay down their arms and leave the city of Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk was quoted as saying by Ukrainska Pravda.
“There can be no question of surrendering or assembling weapons,” she was cited as saying. “We have already informed the Russian side about this.” Vereshchuk said Russia should instead let residents leave and deliver humanitarian aid to those who want to stay.
Russia’s Defense Ministry had issued the ultimatum for this morning, saying all troops and foreign fighters should leave the city in order for humanitarian convoys with food, medicines and other essentials to come in.
Ukraine Aide Says Peace Talks Are Continuing (11:45 p.m.)
Another round of talks is tentatively planned for Monday, according to Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak. The timing depends on progress by working groups in the negotiations, he said in a WhatsApp message. Podolyak told Bloomberg Television on Friday that the talks could take several weeks.
Fonterra Exits Russian Joint Venture (11:30 p.m.)
New Zealand dairy producer Fonterra said it’s withdrawing from the Unifood joint venture in Russia after little more than three years and closing its office in Moscow.
Fonterra has already halted shipments to Russia, which account for about 1% of its annual exports, mainly butter, CEO Miles Hurrell said in a statement.
Germany Opens Door to Qatar LNG Imports (10:25 p.m.)
Qatar said it agreed to work on supplying Germany with liquefied natural gas as Europe’s biggest economy seeks to reduce its dependence on Russian gas.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said during talks in Doha on Sunday that his government plans to fast-track two LNG import terminals in Germany, QatarEnergy said in a statement.
Both countries agreed “that their respective commercial entities would re-engage and progress discussions on long term LNG supplies from Qatar to Germany,” according to the statement.
Chernobyl Shift Change After Almost Four Weeks (10:15 p.m.)
Russia allowed a shift change at the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant for the first time since its forces took control of the site on Feb. 24 at the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s nuclear regulator informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that about half of the staff were allowed to rotate out and return home, and were replaced by fresh personnel, IAEA Director Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement.
Scientists at the site of the 1986 explosion, which destroyed one of the plant’s reactors and spewed radiation over much of Europe, perform tasks such as radiation monitoring.
Ukraine Says 7,295 Evacuated From Cities (10:10 p.m.)
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 7,295 people were evacuated on Sunday from cities under attack. Four of seven so-called humanitarian corridors in the country were open on the day, she said.
Russia Delivers Ultimatum to Surrender Mariupol (9:40 p.m.)
The Russian military delivered an ultimatum for the surrender of Mariupol, the besieged city in southern Ukraine, according to the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation as cited by Tass.
Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev said all armed units of Ukraine must leave Mariupol from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. local time on Monday, according to Tass, after which any fighters remaining would face a military tribunal. It said humanitarian convoys would deliver food, medicine and other essentials to the city.
The Russian statement demanded a response from Ukraine’s government by 4 a.m. Kyiv time. Ukraine’s government didn’t immediately respond.
Zelenskiy Asks Israel to Do More to Help Ukraine (6:09 p.m.)
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called out Israel for its hesitancy to provide military aid to Ukraine and join in international sanctions against Moscow even as Russian bombs destroy Holocaust sites.
“Indifference kills,” Zelenskiy said in a video address to Israel’s parliament on Sunday. Drawing parallels between what he called “our war for survival” and World War II, Zelenskiy, who is Jewish, said Russia was seeking to destroy his country, its people and culture.
Zelenskiy has pulled no punches in several addresses to parliaments in different countries, most recently telling German lawmakers that Berlin’s support for economic ties with Russia had helped to erect a new wall in Europe and was financing the invasion.
China Will Work to De-Escalate War, Envoy Says (5:29 p.m.)
China’s top envoy to Washington pledged his country “will do everything” to de-escalate the war in Ukraine and said its relationship with Russia is “not part of the problem.”
“There’s disinformation about China providing military assistance to Russia,” Ambassador Qin Gang said on CBS. “We will do everything to deescalate the crisis.”
Russian Hypersonics Aren’t Game Changer, U.S. Says (4:45 p.m.)
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Putin may be deploying hypersonic missiles to regain the upper hand in the invasion of Ukraine as Russia’s ground effort falters.
“I would not see it as a game changer,” Austin said on CBS on Sunday. “The reason that he’s resorting to using these types of weapons is because he’s trying to reestablish some momentum.”
Separately, Biden has “no plans to travel into Ukraine” during his trip this week to meet European and NATO leaders, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Twitter.
Thousands of Ukrainians Rally in Occupied Towns (4:28 p.m.)
At least 1,500 people rallied in Energodar, a satellite town of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that’s now controlled by Russia. Locals demanded the release of deputy mayor Ivan Samoydyuk, who was kidnapped last week, Energodar mayor Dmytro Orlov said on his Telegram channel. Residents of Kherson and Kakhovka also rallied under Ukrainian flags.
In Kyiv, a missile hit near an apartment building, blowing out windows and injuring five people. About 38 Russian artillery and mortar strikes have been reported in the Kharkiv region in the past day.
Turkey’s Cavusoglu See Convergence in Talks (2:43 p.m.)
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Russia and Ukraine were moving closer in negotiations to achieve a cease-fire and a diplomatic solution to stop the war.
“They almost agreed on the first four articles,” he told Hurriyet newspaper in an interview. These include the issues of Ukraine’s neutrality and agreement not to pursue NATO membership, but the future status of Crimea and the Donbass region will need to be taken up by Zelenskiy and Putin, it said.
Turkey is among the countries seeking a mediating role in the war. Cavusoglu met separately last week with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts. There was no immediate response from Moscow or Kyiv.
Zelenskiy Renews Call for Settlement With Putin (2:40 p.m.)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy renewed his offer to negotiate with Vladimir Putin, saying even a “1% chance of success” of a negotiated settlement must be seized.
“I am ready for negotiations with him,” Zelenskiy told CNN correspondent Fareed Zakaria in an interview broadcast Sunday. “We have to use any format, any chance, in order to have the possibility of negotiating, the possibility of talking to Putin. But if these attempts fail that would mean that this is a Third World War.”
U.S. Envoy Says Biden-Xi Call Was Unusually Frank (2:30 p.m.)
Friday’s call between the U.S. and Chinese presidents, during which Biden warned Xi Jinping of “consequences” should China support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was “extraordinarily frank,” according to the U.S. envoy to the United Nations.
“We made our position clear to the Chinese,” Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on CNN on Sunday. “They’re in an uncomfortable position.”
On CBS, Qin Gang, China’s ambassador to the U.S., described the call as “candid, deep and constructive.”
U.N. Says 10 Million Have Fled Homes in Ukraine (1:25 p.m.)
Ten million people have fled their homes in Ukraine, including those who’ve left the country and others displaced within the nation’s borders, said Filippo Grandi, the top U.N. refugee official.
The majority of Ukrainian refugees have crossed first into Poland, some 2.08 million people so far. Another 40,100 Ukrainians crossed on Saturday and 6,900 early Sunday morning, Polish border authorities said.
Separately, Germany has tripled its expectation for the number of Ukrainian refugees the country may accommodate, to about 1 million from 340,000, Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported.
Ukraine Aide Says Russia Strikes Cities With ‘Kinzhal’ Missiles (12:40 p.m.)
Russia is using “more destructive artillery” including “Kinzhal” hypersonic missiles, against Ukrainian cities, said a top aide in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office.
Mykhailo Podolyak’s tweet was the first official Ukrainian response to Russian claims that it had used the powerful weapons twice, including Sunday to target a fuel depot in the Mykolaiv region.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
With assistance from Bloomberg