(Bloomberg) — U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan started talks on Monday with China’s top diplomat, Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi, according to people familiar with the meeting, the first high-level in-person talks since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The discussions in Rome come as the Biden administration seeks to enlist Beijing’s help in exerting influence on President Vladimir Putin to end the war after a weekend in which his forces stepped up their bombardment of areas close to the Polish border.
Negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials entered their fourth round on Monday, with Ukraine’s main negotiator saying the two sides were working on a potential cease-fire, though the discussion was “hard.”
Key Developments
- Kyiv’s Metro System Is Still Running Trains as Thousands Shelter
- Companies Leaving Russia Don’t Know If and When They’ll Return
- The West Needs an Off-Ramp From Sanctions, Too: John Authers
- How War in Ukraine Is Tearing Apart the Global Food System
All times CET:
Citi to Expand Russian Exit Beyond Consumer-Banking (2:45 p.m.)
Citigroup, the U.S. bank with the largest presence in Russia, will broaden its withdrawal beyond previously announced plans to dispose of consumer operations there, said Edward Skyler, executive vice president of global public affairs.
He said Citigroup will stop soliciting any new business or clients in the country, while providing assistance to multinational corporations unwinding their operations there. Citigroup has roughly 3,000 employees in Russia.
U.S. Pares Gains as Chinese Stocks Plunge (2:20 p.m.)
Contracts on the S&P 500 pared gains, while those on the Nasdaq 100 dropped as panic selling of Chinese tech stocks dented sentiment. Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong had their worst day since the global financial crisis amid concerns over Beijing’s close relationship with Russia.
The rout follows a report citing U.S. officials that Russia has asked China for military assistance for its war in Ukraine. Even after China denied the report, traders worry that any potential overture by Beijing toward Vladimir Putin could bring a global backlash against Chinese firms, even sanctions. Meanwhile, a drop in crude oil dragged shares of energy companies lower in U.S. pre-market trading.
Borrell Says ‘Barbaric’ Russia Is Targeting Civilians (1:45 p.m.)
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned “barbaric aggression” by President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine and said Russia’s army was carrying out air, missile, and artillery strikes against civilians, including against food warehouses, hospitals and schools.
The UN has reported over 1,600 civilian casualties since Russia’s invasion began, although it said the figures are probably “considerably higher” in government-controlled areas amid intense fighting in recent days. The Kremlin has denied targeting civilians.
Russia Says It Didn’t Ask for Chinese Help (12:35 p.m.)
Russia hasn’t asked China for military assistance in what it calls a “special operation” in Ukraine and has all the resources it needs to complete the mission as planned, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.
“Russia has the independent capacity to continue the operation,” Peskov told a conference call. “As we said, it’s going according to plan and will be completed in full.”
Rejecting assertions by U.S. and European officials that the campaign is proceeding more slowly than Moscow expected, Peskov said it will be completed on schedule. He declined to comment on when the war is expected to end.
Singapore Imposes Targeted Sanctions on Russia (12:35 p.m.)
Singapore’s central bank unveiled details of targeted financial measures against Russia, part of the city-state’s broader package of unilateral sanctions induced by the war in Ukraine.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore said the measures apply to all financial institutions in the island republic, including banks, finance companies, insurers, capital market intermediaries, securities exchanges and payment service providers.
Germany Creating Sanctions Taskforce (12:20 p.m.)
Germany is setting up a dedicated taskforce to ensure that European Union sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus are implemented effectively.
The taskforce will be overseen jointly by the finance and economy ministries and will start work this week, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesman, Wolfgang Buechner, said at a regular government news conference in Berlin.
Israel Says Won’t Be Sanctions Loophole (11:53 a.m.)
Israel won’t be a route to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and other nations, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Monday.
“There is no justification for violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and there is no justification for attacks on a civilian population,” Lapid said after meeting Slovak Foreign & European Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok in Bratislava.
EU Holds Off Rule-of-Law Plan On Ukraine (11:52 a.m.)
The European Union will likely hold off on immediately triggering its powerful new rule-of-law mechanism that allows the bloc to withhold budget payments to countries accused of democratic backsliding, particularly Poland and Hungary.
The punitive measures would be risky given the legal hurdles required to use the powers and at a time when member states are struggling to deal with higher energy costs, the prospect of further economic fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and an influx of refugees, according to people familiar with the discussions.
EU to Hold Back on Rule-of-Law Budget Fight Amid War in Ukraine
Ukraine War Rewires Europe’s Power Grid: BNEF (11:33 a.m.)
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been the catalyst for a rewiring of Europe’s electricity grid. A new connection between Ukraine and continental Europe could power up any day now, and would help Ukraine to receive emergency power as its generation fleet continues to be besieged by Russian forces.
Synchronization would add stability and resilience to the Ukrainian power system, while having a direct impact on carbon and electricity markets. Geopolitics have previously been a key blockade to synchronizing Ukraine’s grid with that of Europe, but now political relations are driving it forward.
Ukraine War to Trigger Rewiring of Europe’s Power Grid: BNEF
Instagram Now Blocked in Russia (11:13 a.m.)
Instagram is now fully blocked in Russia, according to GlobalCheck, a service that studies Internet restrictions in former Soviet states.
Russian prosecutors last week asked a court to declare Meta Platforms an “extremist” organization and ban its operations after Facebook temporarily relaxed its policies so that Ukrainian users could post threats of violence against the Russian military.
Russia has already blocked Twitter and Facebook in recent weeks. Many Russian Instagram users – including small businesses, influencers and opposition figures – posted goodbye messages over the weekend and asked their followers to move to Telegram. The decision will cut 80 million people in Russia off from the platform, its head Adam Mosseri said.
Bayer Suspends Russia Investment (11:10 a.m.)
Bayer AG, the agriculture giant, suspended advertising and investments in Russia and said crop supplies for the 2023 growing season will depend on the country “returning to a path of international diplomacy and peace.”
The German company, which also sells prescription medicines, said it had to separate between non-essential products and life-saving ones that it will keep providing.
“Withholding essential health and agriculture products from the civilian populations — like cancer or cardiovascular treatments, health products for pregnant women and children as well as seeds to grow food — would only multiply the war’s ongoing toll on human life,” Bayer said Monday in a statement on its website.
EU Mulls Russia Export Ban on Luxury Cars (10:17 a.m.)
The EU is discussing a ban on exports of luxury vehicles worth more than 50,000 euros to Russia as part of its latest sanctions package, according to two diplomats familiar with the proposal.
The proposed ban, which is set to be approved as early as Monday and could still change, could apply to models from several European car brands, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari and Porsche. The EU measure would also include boats and planes, as well as chairlifts and motorbikes worth more than 5,000 euros.
India Considers Discounted Russian Oil (9:47 a.m.)
India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-ruble transaction, Reuters reported citing two unidentified Indian officials.
The officials didn’t tell Reuters how much oil was on offer and what the discount was. The report comes after it emerged last week that India was working out a mechanism to facilitate trade with Russia using local currencies.
India is Said to Consider Rupee Payments for Trade With Russia
China Rejects Report Russia Sought Help (9:29 a.m.)
China rejected on Monday reports that Russia had sought its military assistance for the invasion of Ukraine, dismissing the accusations as U.S. “disinformation.”
“The top priority now is that all parties should exercise restraint to deescalate and cool down the situation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. “We should promote a diplomatic settlement rather than further escalating the tension.”
Beijing has sought to present itself as neutral on the war. Still, Zhao repeated Russian claims that the U.S. is operating biolabs in Ukraine, despite the UN Security Council saying Friday it was “not aware” of any such biological weapons programs, underscoring its support for Moscow in countering U.S. narratives.
Chechen Leader Claims He’s Near Kyiv (8:51 a.m.)
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s Chechnya region, said he joined his forces near Kyiv as part of the Russian invasion.
He posted a video on his Telegram account that showed him meeting with Chechen soldiers in a dark room and said it was taken in Hostomel, about 20 kilometers from the Ukrainian capital, where Russian troops been attempting to capture an airport.
The video’s authenticity could not be confirmed. Units of the Chechen leader’s private militia have been taking part in the fighting, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Ukraine Says 10 Humanitarian Corridors Agreed (8:40 a.m.)
Ten humanitarian corridors were agreed Monday to help civilians flee areas of heavy shelling, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in video statement. There was no immediate confirmation from Moscow.
Ukraine will make another attempt on Monday to unblock movement of humanitarian aid to the southeastern port of Mariupol, she said.
Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov remains held by Russian forces. The fate of Dniprorudne mayor Yevhen Matveyev is still unknown, she added.
U.S. Says Russia Asked China for Help (9 p.m.)
U.S. officials say Russia has asked China for military assistance for its war in Ukraine, a sign that the Biden administration is increasingly concerned about the role Vladimir Putin’s most powerful diplomatic partner could play in the conflict.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss delicate matters, did not specify what kind of equipment Moscow had requested. The official declined to say how the administration knows these details. Another U.S. official said the request is not new, and was made just after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion. White House spokespeople declined to comment.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
