(Bloomberg) — Ukraine’s foreign minister pleaded for urgent military assistance before it’s too late to make a difference in its fight against Russian forces.
The United Nations moved toward a vote Thursday on whether to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council. The U.S. announced a fresh set of sanctions as President Joe Biden accused Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s forces of committing “major war crimes” in Ukraine. The European Union, assembling its fifth package of sanctions, hit a snag as some member states said it was being excessively diluted.
On the ground, the Ukrainian military said Russian troops are preparing for a new offensive in the country’s east. Elsewhere, German intelligence picked up radio intercepts that reinforced indications that Russian troops carried out atrocities against civilians near Kyiv. Russia has denied the accusations.
(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)
Key Developments
- Russian Coal and Oil Paid for in Yuan to Start Flowing to China
- Shell to Write Down as Much as $5 Billion on Russia Exit
- Mocked as ‘Rubble’ by Biden, Russia’s Ruble Comes Roaring Back
- Sanctions Hobble the Airline Built by ‘Russia’s Elon Musk’
- Russia Piles Pressure on Companies as Unemployment Crisis Looms
- U.S. Satellites Spying on Russia’s War Tap Commercial Technology
All times CET:
Kuleba Says Ukraine Needs NATO’s Help Now (3:21 p.m.)
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his nation needs urgent military assistance before it’s too late to make a difference in its fight against Russian forces.
“Either you help us now — and I’m speaking about days not weeks — or your help will come too late,” he said after meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. He said he will be following up on specific timelines for his country’s request for more weapons to fight Russian forces. “I have no doubts that Ukraine will have weapons necessary to fight. The question is the timeline.”
“You provide us with everything that we need and we will fight for our security, but also for your security so that President Putin will have no chance to test Article 5,” he added, referring to a provision of the NATO treaty where countries pledge to defend all alliance members from attack.
EU Sanctions Debate Hits a Few Snags (12:15 p.m.)
Several European Union countries say the fifth package of sanctions against Russia is being watered down too much, according to people familiar with the matter.
EU ambassadors are meeting Thursday with the aim of approving the package, which contains a coal embargo. But Poland is resisting a change in the draft sanctions plan, sought by Germany, that extends the phase-in period for the ban by a month to four months. Poland also wants to remove all remaining exemptions to the already existing ban on the sale of weapons, as well as military-related technologies and components, to Russia, the people said.
Estonia, Finland to Rent Joint LNG Terminal Vessel (11:14 a.m.)
Estonia and Finland plan to jointly rent a liquefied natural gas terminal vessel as part of an effort to lower dependence on Russian gas.
The floating storage and regasification unit would have possible berths on both sides of the Gulf of Finland, according to statements from the countries, which are connected by the Balticconnector gas pipeline. The project’s timetable is “extremely urgent,” Finland’s economy ministry said.
Russia Coal, Oil Paid for in Yuan Heads to China (11:00 a.m.)
Several Chinese firms used local currency to buy Russian coal in March, and the first cargoes will arrive this month, Chinese consultancy Fenwei Energy Information Service Co. said.
These will be the first commodity shipments paid for in yuan since the U.S. and Europe penalized Russia and cut several of its banks off from the international financial system.
Hungary Still Opposes Sanctions on Russian Gas (10:56 a.m.)
Hungary reiterated that it can’t back sanctions against Russia that would threaten its natural gas supplies. Despite efforts at diversification Hungary “is still heavily dependent on Russian gas,” Dora Zombori, ambassador-at-large for energy and climate, said at an industry conference in Budapest. “We cannot change this situation overnight.”
Russian Railways Didn’t Repay $605M Bond (10:56 a.m.)
Russian Railways informed the issuer, RZD Capital Plc, that it’s applied for a license from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation in the U.K. for the purposes of facilitating payments on outstanding debt obligations issued before March 24, which “may require a number of weeks processing time,” according to a statement.
Russian Railways Coupon Miss Raises Debt Swaps Trigger Question
Commodity Markets Remain Volatile (10:20 a.m.)
Commodity markets continue to be whipsawed by disruptions sparked by Russia’s war in Ukraine and efforts to curb raw-material costs.
Russia slipped closer to a technical default after foreign banks declined to process about $650 million of dollar payments on its bonds, forcing it to offer rubles instead.
Equities markets are showing signs of stability after a selloff sparked by hawkish minutes from the Federal Reserve, with European markets mostly up and U.S. futures mixed.
EU Russian Coal Ban May be Pushed to Mid-August: Reuters (10:16 a.m.)
Envoys are poised to approve a ban on Russian coal that would become fully effective from mid-August, a month later than initially proposed, Reuters reported, citing a person in the EU familiar with the matter who it didn’t identify.
Shell Exit From Russia May Trigger $5 Billion Writedown (9:52 a.m.)
Shell Plc said its withdrawal from Russia will result in $4 billion to $5 billion of impairments, and warned investors that extreme energy price volatility in the first quarter could hit cash flow.
While western energy companies leaving Russia are likely to take massive financial hits, they are attempting to minimize the reputational damage of investing in Moscow-backed projects following the war on Ukraine.
Germany Overhears Russian Soldiers Discussing Bucha: Spiegel (9:52 a.m.)
Germany’s foreign intelligence service intercepted communications between Russian soldiers discussing the killing of civilians in the town of Bucha, Der Spiegel reported, without saying how it obtained the information.
The radio communications, which appear to place Russian soldiers at locations where bodies were found, contradict Moscow’s denial that its troops were involved. In one of the messages, a soldier can be heard describing how he shot a person on a bicycle. Another appears to provide evidence of a strategy to stop and question civilians before shooting them, according to the report.
The material also shows that mercenaries, including the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group, appeared to have played a major role in the killings, according to Der Spiegel.
Finland’s NATO-Backing Party Rises in Poll (9:19 a.m.)
Finland’s National Coalition, the only large party in the Nordic country to openly support joining NATO, soared 3.5 percentage points in the latest poll. The party’s benefiting from a historic shift in Finnish attitudes to potential membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The gain, almost twice the margin of error, gives it 26.1% backing, its highest in polls by YLE.
Finland’s government is slated to send a white paper to parliament next week on its changed security environment.
Australia Imposes New Sanctions on Russia Over Bucha (9:15 a.m.)
Australia placed new sanctions on 67 Russian individuals, including military figures accused of human rights abuses, bringing the total number of people sanctioned by Canberra since the beginning of the Ukraine war to almost 600.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement that the move was in response to “the emergence of evidence of war crimes committed by Russia in Bucha and other towns around Kyiv.”
Russian Unemployment Crisis Looms (9:09 a.m.)
The next economic jolt to Russia will likely arrive by way of the labor market, building in intensity over the coming months and bringing new hardships for a nation already waylaid by a series of shocks.
Joblessness this year is set to more than double from the first quarter and exceed 9% for the first time in more than a decade, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts in March.
German Minister Says Open to Coal Embargo (8:33 a.m.)
Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Germany has already cut its reliance on Russian coal by at least half in the past month and won’t stand in the way if the European Union decides to ban on imports of the fuel from Moscow.
Habeck said it would be “foolish” to name an exact date for when purchases of Russian coal could end. The sanctions being considered would allow some deliveries to be completed, he added.
Austria Expels Four Russian Diplomats (8:24 a.m.)
Austria expelled four Russian diplomats for illegal activities, the Foreign Ministry in Vienna said in a statement.
While several other nations who have announced similar measures in recent days, it’s a rare step for Austria, which houses several international organizations and has sought a diplomatic role in bridging Europe’s east and west. Russia has almost 300 diplomats stationed in Austria.
Ukraine Says Russian Troops Readying for Eastern Offensive (8:02 a.m)
Russian troops are focusing on preparations for their next offensive in Ukraine’s east, the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said on its Facebook page. Shelling of towns in the Luhansk region started on Wednesday night and continued through morning, with significant damage to residential buildings and infrastructure.
The entire Kharkiv and Donetsk regions were under artillery fire overnight and so was the occupied Kherson region in Ukraine’s south. Civilians are attempting to evacuate from occupied areas of Kherson region.
Ukraine’s government has urged people living in the regions of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk to leave the areas “while the opportunity still exists” in advance of Russia’s expected new assault.
EU Ministers Set To Discuss Oil Embargo, Borrell Says (8:11 a.m.)
European Union foreign affairs ministers are likely to discuss imposing an oil embargo on Russia when they meet early next week, said Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief.
Borrell told reporters in Brussels that an oil embargo is not in a fifth sanctions package on the agenda for Thursday, but that he expects the ministers will tackle it on Monday “and sooner or later, I hope sooner, it will happen.”
He said he hopes the fifth package, which would ban coal imports among other steps, “will be finally approved by the ambassadors” later Thursday.
Germany Too Slow To Move on Weapons, Kuleba Says (7:47 a.m.)
Germany is taking too long to decide on supplying more weapons to Kyiv, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. “While Berlin has time, Kyiv doesn’t,” Kuleba said of Germany’s “length of procedures and decision-making” as he arrived for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
Kuleba said Germany had made “a revolutionary step” in agreeing several weeks ago to supply weapons to Ukraine. “However, it is clear that Germany can do more given its reserves and capacity.”
In a tweet describing his talks with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, Kuleba said he had come to Brussels to “discuss three most important things: weapons, weapons, and weapons.”
U.S. Shares Intelligence With Foreign Banks, FT Says (6:02 a.m.)
U.S. federal agencies are sharing intelligence with foreign banks to bolster defenses against potential cyberattacks in retaliation for the economic sanctions imposed on Russia, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the briefings.
(An earlier version corrected the 8:02 subhead to show Russia preparing for eastern offensive.)
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