While you were asleep: Biden calls for a united front and kicking Russia out of the G20

US President Joe Biden called for the G20 group of leading nations to eject Russia from its membership after he meet with world leaders in Brussels that included a day packed with diplomacy as NATO, the European Union and the G7 all met for individual summits.

“The single most important thing is for us to stay unified and the world to continue to focus on what a brute this guy [Russian President Vladimir Putin] is and all the innocent people’s lives that will be lost and ruined and what’s going on,” said Biden in a press conference.

Biden said he had also warned Chinese President Xi Jinping that there would be “significant jeopardy” if China were to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the US said it would allow up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees to travel to the country to flee the Russian invasion. The US will also contribute an additional $1 billion in humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian capital city Kyiv’s defence.

The UN general assembly on Thursday voted overwhelmingly in favour of isolating Russia once again and demanded aid access and civilian protection in Ukraine, criticising Russia for creating a dire humanitarian crisis.

The humanitarian resolution received 140 votes in favour and five votes against it – Russia, Syria, North Korea, Eritrea and Belarus – while 38 countries, including China, abstained.

South Africa proposed a different resolution that focused on the humanitarian situation and failed to make any mention of Russia. The Russians argued for support of the South African text saying the other draft proposal had been politicised by Ukraine and its allies.

The general assembly decided not to act on the South African proposal based on a procedural rule relating to draft resolutions before the body on the same issue.

Earlier on Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa defended South Africa’s stance on the war in Ukraine, saying that a neutral stance better placed the country to help play a mediator role in ending the conflict.

“Neutrality can cost and fortunately we’re not alone in all this, there are many others that have chosen the same path,” Ramaphosa said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday on the side lines of an investment summit in Johannesburg. “The benefit in all this is that we can talk to both sides.”

Ramaphosa has almost reached his goal of R1.2 trillion of investment in South Africa after a positive day at the fourth annual investment summit on Thursday with investment pledges made and kept over the past three years now totalling R1.14 trillion.

In the markets, the rand is firmly on the front foot with the dollar a touch softer this morning. The local unit is currently trading just about the R14.50/$ level, which is a key marker if it is to trade even lower today. “The rand has moved very sharply this week and might look for some consolidation around this handle,” comments TreasuryONE.

On the commodity front, levels have remained stable overnight with gold currently at just below $1,960, platinum at $1,026 and palladium at $2,530. Brent crude has dipped slightly from yesterday and is trading at $118.77 at the moment.