(Bloomberg) —
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would visit Kyiv on Sunday. U.S. officials did not immediately comment on his remarks.
Russian forces resumed air attacks on the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol where the last of the port city’s defenders are holed up, and are trying to storm it, a Ukrainian official said, two days after President Vladimir Putin said there was no need to do so.
Zelenskiy said a Russian general’s remark that Moscow aims to take control of southern Ukraine confirmed his belief that it never intended to stop at the eastern Donbas region. Russia launched a missile strike on Odesa further along the Black Sea coast to the west, killing eight people and wounding 18, he said.
(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)
Key Developments
- U.S. Envoys Blinken, Austin to Visit Ukraine, Zelenskiy Says
- Turkey Closes Its Airspace to Russian Jets Flying to Syria’s War
- Ukraine Needs Nations to Follow Up on Aid to Fill $5 Billion Gap
- German Minister Flags Stagflation Risk as Ukraine Strains Build
- Zelenskiy Warns on Russian Ambitions After General’s Comments
All times CET:
Germany to Borrow Extra 40 Billion Euros to Cushion War Blow (11:41 p.m.)
Germany will increase borrowing plans by nearly 40 billion euros ($43 billion) this year to cushion the effect of the war in Ukraine, taking the total for net new debt to almost 140 billion euros, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The adjustment is needed to help finance a range of government measures designed to offset the economic impact of the war and surging energy prices on companies and consumers, said the people, speaking on condition of anonymity before the fiscal plan is presented to the cabinet on Wednesday.
The proposal by Finance Minister Christian Lindner will then be sent to parliament for approval.
Turkey Shuts Airspace to Russian Planes Carrying Troops to Syria (11:05 p.m.)
Turkey closed its airspace to Russian jets flying to Syria, a significant shift in Turkish policy aimed at increasing the cost of the war in Ukraine for Vladimir Putin.
Turkey barred all Russian aircraft, including civilian flights carrying troops, from its skies for the first time since Russia intervened in Syria’s civil war in 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Putin of his decision in a phone call, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was cited as saying by state broadcaster TRT. He didn’t specify when the call took place.
Zelenskiy Says Austin, Blinken Will Visit (6:40 p.m.)
Zelenskiy said Blinken and Austin would visit Kyiv on Sunday, adding that they would discuss more supplies of weapons for Ukraine’s military.
“We’ll be discussing the list of weapons we need and the pace of their delivery to Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said at a press conference in a Kyiv subway station. “I will emphasize again — the last week, the signals, the messages, the tone on weapon supplies — everything has improved.” Ukraine is waiting for the security situation to allow the U.S. president to visit, he said.
The U.S. National Security Council and the State Department did not immediately comment on Saturday afternoon. The visits, if confirmed, would be the first by top American officials to Ukraine’s capital since Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24.
Russian Missiles Strike Odesa Residential Building (6:12 p.m.)
Russian missiles struck a residential building in Odesa, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Saturday. A fire that broke out in the wake of the attack has been extinguished. An unspecified military target was also hit, authorities said, adding that the missiles were launched from TU-95 long-range bombers.
Russia struck a logistics terminal at a military airfield where a “large consignment” of weapons from the U.S. and European countries were being stored, Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
In an address to the nation, Zelenskiy said the missiles killed eight people including a three-month old child, and wounded 18. Odesa, a key Black Sea port and Ukraine’s third-largest city, has seen sporadic shelling from Russia over the two-month war.
Naftogaz CEO Says Some Gas Transit Via Ukraine at Risk (6:00 p.m.)
One-third of gas volumes shipped via Ukraine to Europe could be lost due to Russian forces in recently occupied territories, according to the head of state-owned Naftogaz Ukrainy.
Moscow’s troops are disrupting the operation of pumping stations, Chief Executive Officer Yuriy Vitrenko said on Twitter. Russia has continued to pay Kyiv to ship about a third of its supplies to Europe via Ukraine, despite the war.
West African Nations Struggle With Basics (5:17 p.m.)
Nations in West Africa have been hard-hit by the Russian war in Ukraine as they struggle to import basics like fertilizer and rice, finance ministers from the region said.
Gambia imports a large amount of its wheat and fertilizer from Ukraine, and has lost about 20% of its revenues trying to subsidize the price of fertilizer, Finance Minister Mambury Njie said during an online briefing hosted by the International Monetary Fund.
Liberia has started talks with rice importers in a bid to secure supplies, and Gambia is trying to become self sufficient in rice production. Malawi is also discouraging the excess use of cooking oil, and making plans to start producing more locally.
Top Kremlin Official Visited Donetsk, Tass Says (4:21 p.m.)
President Vladimir Putin’s First Deputy Chief of Staff visited Donetsk to meet with the leaders of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, Russia’s state-run Tass reported, citing a person it didn’t identify.
Sergei Kiriyenko, who curates domestic policy at the Kremlin, has already returned to Moscow, Tass said.
Curfews in Lviv, Elsewhere for Orthodox Easter (2:20 p.m.)
Regional governors, including from the far western Lviv region, urged people to stay at home as much as possible during the Orthodox Easter, citing information on possible Russian air strikes.
Curfews will typically run from 11 p.m. Saturday night until 5 a.m. Sunday. Lviv’s regional governor cited new intelligence for the directive. In Mykolaiv, a curfew was announced starting at 7 p.m.
Europe Must Sustain Sanctions Long-Term: Germany (2:05 p.m.)
Europe needs to be prepared to sustain sanctions against Russia “for months, maybe for many years, and with some probability, maybe permanently,” Germany’s finance minister said.
Christian Lindner said “the danger of stagflation is real” for Germany as it grapples with the potential for an embargo against Russian oil that many in Europe favor. “This is a danger of impoverishment for many people.”
His comments came a day after Germany’s central bank warned the nation is in danger of recession this year if an embargo on Russian coal, oil and gas leads to restrictions on power providers and industry.
Read more: Germany Faces Recession If Ukraine War Leads to Energy Ban
Poland Plans Anti-Russia Media Campaign in Western Europe (12:52 p.m.)
Poland will rent out billboards in western Europe in a bid to strengthen public support for further sanctions against Russia.
The “Stop Russia Now” campaign, which will also extend to social media, will be a “scream from those, who were brutally murdered” across Ukraine, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters in Warsaw. He singled out Germany, Italy, Austria and France as countries that can do more to support Ukraine.
Almost 3 million Ukrainians have crossed into Poland since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24. In recent days more have returned. Poland’s border service showed 17,700 travelers cleared for entry on Friday, against 23,800 who left Poland for Ukraine.
Ukraine Says Fighting Continues in Mariupol (12:25 p.m.)
Russian forces resumed airstrikes in their latest attempt to dislodge Ukrainian fighters holed up at Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Oleksiy Arestovych said in video statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Russia had captured the city, and ordered the steelworks sealed off — but that the complex shouldn’t be stormed. There was “no need to get into those catacombs and crawl there under ground,” Putin said.
Even so, the U.K. Defense Ministry says heavy fighting continues. Some 2,000 Ukrainians troops and many civilians continue to shelter in the Azovstal complex. Civilian evacuations from the mostly destroyed city were scheduled to resume.
Ukrainian Officials Meet with IMF’s Georgieva (10:42 a.m.)
Ukrainian officials including Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko met with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Washington on Friday to discuss further short-term aid and long-term renewal.
Read more: Ukraine Sees Rebuild Costing $600 Billion as It Seeks Global Aid
Ukraine to Try More Mariupol Evacuations (10:05 a.m.)
Ukraine will attempt again to evacuate woman, children and elderly people from in and around Mariupol around noon local time, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
The planned movement of vulnerable civilians out of the heavily-bombed city has been scrapped several times because of the inability to guarantee safe passage. “Corridors have been broken so many times. But you and I should try as many times as necessary until it works,” Vereshchuk said Friday on Telegram.
Some 2,000 Ukrainians troops, plus civilians including children, remain holed up in city’s Azovstal steel works, which Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to be sealed off.
World Cooking Oil Supplies Under Threat (8:35 a.m.)
Indonesia is set to ban exports of cooking oil in the face of a local shortage, adding to shortages that have followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a key supplier of sunflower oil.
The BBC reported Friday that some U.K. supermarkets are limiting how much cooking oil customers can buy as supplies run short.
Zelenskiy Says Russia’s Invasion ‘Only a Beginning’ (8:05 a.m.)
The war on Ukraine was just the start, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late Friday after comments by a Russian commander that Moscow wants control of all of southern Ukraine.
“This only confirms what I have said many times: the Russian invasion of Ukraine was intended only as a beginning, then they want to capture other countries,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. “Who is next?”
On Friday, a Russian general said the Kremlin aims to secure control of the entire south of Ukraine, create a land bridge to Transnistria, a pro-Russian region of Moldova, and assume control of key Black Sea ports.
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