The United States banned the import of Ukrainian oil, one of the biggest economic weapons in its arsenal against Moscow for the war in Ukraine, where the opening of new humanitarian corridors for the exit of civilians fleeing bombed cities.
Russia has said it will open new routes in five Ukrainian cities facing intense attacks, but Kiev accused Moscow of reneging on its truce agreements by attacking one of the corridors on Tuesday.
“Such actions are nothing but genocide“, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense posted on Twitter.
Sanctions against Moscow escalated a new rung on Tuesday, when President Joe Biden decreed an embargo on US imports of Russian oil and gas, with the intention of “deliver another heavy blowto Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Britain has indicated it will also stop importing Russian oil and oil products by the end of 2022, while oil giants BP and Shell have announced an immediate halt to purchases of Russian oil and gas.
The European Union, in turn, said it would cut its purchases of Russian gas by two-thirds.
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The Russian invasion spawned Europe’s biggest war and continent’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II, and the West responded with sanctions that have hit the world economy.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky has claimed that he needs more air power to confront Moscow’s offensive. But Washington rejected on Tuesday an offer by Poland, a NATO country, to deliver its Mig-29 planes to Kiev through the United States.for fear that it will aggravate the conflict with Russia.
The invasion ordered by Putin on February 24 has pushed more than two million Ukrainians to neighboring countries, out of the 37 million that the country had before the conflict (not counting the separatist areas in the east) and has generated millions of internally displaced people.
Civilians flee bombs
Given this, Russia announced a new humanitarian truce for the evacuation of civilians in Ukraine for “humanitarian corridors“, starting at 7 am GMT (9 am local) this Wednesday from the capital Kiev, the beleaguered port of Mariupol and the cities of Kharkov, Sumy and Chernigov.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not clarify whether the corridors would lead to Russia or Belarus, a condition Ukraine has rejected in previous evacuation proposals. However, some evacuations could be carried out successfully at night.
At least 5,000 people left Sumy and others were able to leave Kiev, and in Mikolaiev, near Odessa (south), cars formed lines of several kilometers to flee from the approaching fighting, an ‘AFP’ journalist confirmed.
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In front of the city’s central hospital, Sabrina, 18, was waiting for her mother, carrying a cat, a dog and several bags.
“We’re going to leave as quickly as possible. Every day there are bombings, it’s terrifying“, said.
The latest balance from the United Nations puts the number of civilians killed by the invasion at 406, although that number is surely much lower than the real number.
“This situation is really apocalyptic for people and it’s getting worse,” said Ewan Watson, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Kyiv in the crosshairs
Meanwhile, Russian troops are slowly encircling Kiev despite intense resistance from Croatian forces, while advancing faster in the east and north of the country. In the suburb of Irpin, considered a critical point for the advance on the capital, civilians fled between the icy wind and snow, ‘AFP’ journalists confirmed.
People lined up to cross the Irpin River on makeshift walkways made of metal sheets after Ukrainians blew up the bridge leading to the capital to prevent the Russian advance.
We will fight to the end, at sea, in the air
Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine claiming to want to protect the Russian-speaking population of the separatist regions of the east, at war against Kiev since 2014. The Russian president demands the demilitarization of Ukraine, a neutral status for the country (now oriented towards the West) and guarantees that will never be part of NATO.
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Ukrainian President Zelensky told the US network ABC that he will no longer insist on joining NATO and that he is ready to make commitments on the status of the separatist territories, whose independence Putin recognized before launching the invasion.
However, speaking by videoconference before the English MPs, who received him with a standing ovation, he quoted Winston Churchill in 1940, during the Second World War, and stated: “We will fight to the end, at sea, in the air“.
Biden said that “Russia can continue to advance at a horrible price, but this much is already clear: Ukraine will never be a victory for Putin“.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that it had lost contact with the systems that remotely track nuclear material at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine, which suffered a serious accident in 1986.
The IAEA claimed that more than 200 technical officers and guards remain trapped at the plant, working 13 days in a row under Russian surveillance.
“I am very concerned about the difficult and stressful situation of the staff at the Chernobyl nuclear plant and the potential risk to nuclear safety,” Rafael Grossi, director of the agency, said in a statement.
The Russian economy cornered
Oil prices continued their unstoppable rise on Tuesday after the United States banned imports of Russian oil, a decision that also pushed nickel to an all-time high and rattled global stock markets.
The price of a barrel of North Sea Brent for May delivery closed 3.87% higher in London at $127.98. While in New York, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April gained 3.60% to 123.70 dollars. Western countries seek complete isolation from Russia, diplomatically, economically and financially.
Coca Cola, McDonald’s, and Starbucks, criticized for being slow to cut bridges with Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, finally bowed to public pressure and suspended their activities on Tuesday.
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Until now, the main target of economic measures has been the assets and operations of the Central Bank (BC) and the Russian banking system. The Russian BC suspended this Wednesday the sale of foreign currencies for six months. According to the financial rating agency Fitch, Russia is close to an “imminent default”.
AFP
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