US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell urged faster and more decisive assistance to Ukraine as well as more military spending as the war reaches the one-year mark.
(Bloomberg) — US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell urged faster and more decisive assistance to Ukraine as well as more military spending as the war reaches the one-year mark.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy began a news conference as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has turned into the largest land war in Europe since World War II.
A 12-point Chinese blueprint for a possible cease-fire appeared designed to offer a reprieve to Moscow. Beijing “doesn’t have much credibility” on the issue, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said.
Russia’s War in Ukraine: Key Events and How It’s Unfolding
You can follow all our special coverage today of the one year mark for Russia’s invasion via our website, on Twitter and on Bloomberg Television, including live broadcasts from Kyiv. You can also read our biggest pieces from the past week on Flipboard.
(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)
Listen to our special conversations from this week, including our Twitter Space on the military strategies of the war, the impact on energy and the environment, and the effect of sanctions including on the wealth of Russia’s oligarchs. Tune in at 10am ET/3pm London today for a conversation about what the future holds for Ukrainian refugees. And listen via our website to our live blog with military experts about the trajectory of the conflict, hosted by Marc Champion, from 7am ET/midday London today.
Big Take Podcast: How Does Ukraine Continue to Beat Back Russia?
Key Developments
- Russia’s Richest Lose $67 Billion of Wealth After a Year of War
- China Cease-Fire Proposal for Ukraine Falls Flat With US, Allies
- Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: A Political Year in Photos
- G-7 Sanctions Will Target Key Industries Aiding Russia’s War
- US Sets Tariffs on Russian Metals Including Aluminum
- Russians’ Support for Putin’s War Hardens as His Crackdown Grows
On the Ground
Russia’s main efforts remain focused in the east, around Kupyansk, Lyman and Bakhmut. The Institute for the Study of War warned that the Kremlin may be planning a false-flag attack on Ukraine’s border with Belarus.
(All times CET)
McConnell Urges Speedier Ukraine Aid, More Defense Spending (3:50 p.m.)
The senator argued in a statement that a Ukrainian military failure would cost far more, and that China and Tehran are watching. He also added that most of what the US is sending is older equipment anyway to be replaced by more modern weapons for the US military.
“If Putin were given a green light to destabilize Europe, invading and killing at will, the long-term cost to the United States in both dollars and security risks would be astronomically higher than the miniscule fraction of our GDP that we have invested in Ukraine’s defense thus far,” he said. “The Biden Administration and our allies must act more decisively to ensure that both our collective assistance to Ukraine and the investments we each make in our own militaries take place at the speed of relevance.”
Sweden to Provide Leopard 2 Tanks (3:18 p.m.)
Sweden has decided to provide Ukraine with about 10 Leopard 2 tanks that will slot in to a battalion assembled by Germany, Defense Minister Pal Jonson said.
This will help the effort by a German-led group of countries to assemble 31 tanks needed to form one battalion of the most advanced Leopards.
Country Music Star Paisley Dedicates Song to Ukraine (2:50 p.m.)
US country musician Brad Paisley released a song titled “Same Here,” featuring a voice-over of a video chat he had with President Zelenskiy to mark one year of war in Ukraine.
Paisley, an honorary ambassador for the Ukrainian leader’s global fundraising platform United 24, will donate royalties to the platform to help rebuild homes destroyed in the Russian invasion, he told the Associated Press.
“On this one year anniversary of the invasion, I’m reminded of the ways we are all so similar,” Paisley said on his Instagram page. “We speak different languages in our lives, but I think we appreciate the same things — children, freedom, our flag, our soldiers, our people,” Zelenskiy is heard saying in the chat with Paisley.
Poland Sends Four Leopard Tanks to Ukraine (1:36 p.m.)
Poland delivered four of 14 Leopard 2 battle tanks it pledged to Ukraine, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters in Kyiv.
The country is also going to send “in the coming days” 60 modernized Soviet-era PT-91 tanks and other Leopards, he said. Poland is also ready to train Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighter jets, he added.
Global Financial Crime Watchdog Suspends Russia (1:32 p.m.)
The Financial Action Task Force, a global financial watchdog, suspended Russia’s membership over its “illegal, unprovoked and unjustified full-scale military invasion of Ukraine.”
Iran Says Russia Military Ties Aren’t Against Ukraine (1:24 p.m.)
Iran’s military and defense relationship with Russia is “not against any third country,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in an interview with Sputnik.
The Islamic Republic’s ties with Ukraine have deteriorated over the past year due to “the Ukrainian government’s susceptibility” to Western countries, he said.
German President Urges China to Speak With Kyiv (12 p.m.)
China should consult Ukraine and not just Russia if it’s serious about a proposal to bring an end to Moscow’s invasion, said German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Weak Peace Settlement Unacceptable, Latvia’s President Says (11:30 a.m.)
China’s cease-fire proposal won’t be acceptable to Ukraine and is unlikely to lead to an end to Russia’s invasion, Latvian President Egils Levits said on Bloomberg TV.
“There is now no possibility for a weak peace negotiation because Russia is ready to continue the war,” Levits said. China’s peace plan contains “nothing that Ukraine could accept,” he added.
Black Sea Corridor Called Essential for Global Food Security (11:25 a.m.)
Keeping the Black Sea grain corridor open for Ukrainian grain shipments and expanding its capacity is the only way to preserve global food security, Yevhen Osypov, CEO of the grain exporter Kernel, said on Bloomberg TV.
Kyiv is seeking an extension of the safe-transit deal with UN, Turkey and Russia reached over the summer and needs to export the double amount of grain it’s been shipping so far to clear stocks from storage ahead of the next harvest, he said.
Japan PM Kishida Mulls Ukraine Visit (11:17 a.m.)
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering a visit to Ukraine, he told reporters in Tokyo, but nothing’s been finalized. Japan is the only Group of Seven country that hasn’t sent its leader to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.
Kishida earlier this week pledged $5.5 billion in additional financial assistance for Ukraine. This will take the form of loan guarantees, the Asahi newspaper reported, with Japan only required to provide funds if Ukraine is late with repayments.
DTEK, Naftogas Each Lost More Than $1 Billion From Attacks (10:45 a.m.)
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power producer, has invested more than $200 million to repair damaged facilities after losing over $1 billion because of the war, its CEO Maxim Timchenko told Bloomberg TV. Kremlin forces have focused on attacking Ukraine’s key infrastructure since early October.
“We are now in equilibrium in terms of generation and consumption”, Timchenko said, adding that Ukraine’s energy future will pivot to renewables, decentralization and implementing of new technologies.
Missile attacks have caused more than $1 billion in damage to the national energy company Maxim Timchenko, CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov said, adding that the company’s resilience in keeping the heat on in the face of the damage has been “extraordinary.”
China Lacks Credibility on Cease-Fire Proposal, NATO Chief Says (10:19 a.m.)
China has a responsibility to uphold the UN charter as it concerns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Beijing “doesn’t have much credibility” because of its failure to condemn the war, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Tallinn, Estonia.
Speaking alongside Stoltenberg, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would study China’s principles in the context of Beijing’s pledge to an unlimited partnership with Moscow before the start of the war. She added that the EU’s sanctions against Russia were sharply eroding its economic base.
China was one of 32 nations that abstained from a UN non-binding resolution on Thursday calling on Russia to end its war. India, South Africa and Iran were among the abstentions.
UK PM Will Push for Longer-Range Weapons (9:11 a.m.)
Rishi Sunak will use Friday’s G-7 leaders call to make the case for longer-range weapons to be sent to Ukraine, rejecting the “incremental approach” taken over the past year.
“For Ukraine to win this war – and to accelerate that day – they must gain a decisive advantage on the battlefield. That is what it will take to shift Putin’s mindset. This must be our priority now,” Sunak said in remarks emailed by Downing Street. “We need to move faster on artillery, armor, and air defense.”
UK Offers to Backfill Jet Stocks: Wallace (9 a.m.)
The UK has offered to give its fighter jets to eastern European allies to help backfill their stocks if they choose to give Soviet-era jets to Ukraine, said Defense Secretary Ben Wallace. Britain won’t send its own typhoon jets to Ukraine in the short-term though, he said.
“If a country wants to give a Russian or a Soviet model like a MiG-29, and there are some countries in NATO that have them, then Britain will do its very best to either backfill with our own jets or provide some form of air policing to cover their loss of capability,” he told Sky News.
China’s Cease-Fire Proposal for Ukraine Gets Quick Dismissal (8:40 a.m.)
Beijing’s 12-point proposal for ending the war that appears to offer some reprieve to Moscow has little chance of winning broad support. Several of the measures outlined in a position paper issued Friday would, if carried out, offer clear benefits to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including a proposal to immediately end all sanctions not endorsed by the UN Security Council, where Russia holds veto power.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said China’s proposal should have ended after the first bullet point, which calls for “respecting the sovereignty of all countries.”
Biden’s $300 Billion Sanctions Shock Is Failing to Stop Russia (8:30 a.m.)
The move in the early days of the war to freeze some $300 billion of Russian central bank assets held abroad saw Russia’s currency tank, prices soar, and people lining up at banks to pull out whatever cash they could, leaving some US officials briefly worried that they’d gone too far.
With a year’s hindsight, it’s clear that the economic punishment imposed on Russia by the US and allies didn’t overshoot. As Daniel Flatley writes, sanctions have inflicted damage but they haven’t induced Putin to stop the war — raising wider questions about a tool that’s become increasingly central to US foreign policy.
Biden’s $300 Billion Sanctions Shock Is Failing to Stop Russia
Zelenskiy Vows Victory, Lauds Ukraine’s Spirit (8:10 a.m.)
Ukraine will do its utmost to celebrate victory over Russia this year, President Zelenskiy said as the war in his country crossed one-year mark.
“This was a year of invincibility. This was a February of invincibility. Its main result is that we have withstood Russia’s invasion, we haven’t been defeated,” Zelenskiy said in a statement. “And we will do our best to get victory this year.”
He praised the spirit of every Ukrainian as well as the efficiency of Ukrainian and foreign weapons, and thanked Western allies for their help.
Arming Ukraine ‘Not Prolonging War’: Scholz (8 a.m.)
Germany’s leader pushed back against an accusation by nations including China that supplying Ukraine with weapons is fanning the hostilities triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion one year ago.
“The opposite is true,” Olaf Scholz said in a video address to mark the war’s one-year mark.
“The sooner Russia’s president realizes that he will not achieve his imperialist goal, the greater the chance of an early end to the war,” he said. “Putin has it in his hands. He can end this war.”
Russia Switching Tactics Again, UK Ministry Says (6 a.m.)
Russia in recent weeks “has likely changed its approach again,” the UK defense ministry said, after its initial, failed full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago was refocused on expanding and formalizing its rule over Ukraine’s Donbas and the south.
“Its campaign now likely primarily seeks to degrade the Ukrainian military, rather than being focused on seizing substantial new territory,” the ministry said on Twitter.
US Think-Tank Warns of Possible Russian False-Flag Ops (5 a.m.)
The Kremlin appears to be preparing to stage “false flag operations” in Ukraine’s Chernihiv oblast, which borders both Russia and Belarus, and in the occupied Moldovan region of Transnistria, the Institute for the Study of War said Friday, citing the Ukrainian military.
Russia may be stage a false-flag attacks to coerce Belarus into the war, following Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s statement on Feb. 16 that Belarus would only enter the war if attacked by Ukraine, the US-based military analysts said.
Brazil’s President Pushes Mediation Proposal (2:30 a.m.)
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is intensifying a campaign to mediate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine as he seeks to reinsert Brazil on the global political stage. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin was quoted by Russia’s Tass news agency as saying Moscow was studying Lula’s proposal.
Lula’s plan is to create of a group of countries, possibly including India, China and Indonesia, to mediate peace talks. China, Turkey and numerous other nations have also sought to mediate negotiations during the course of the conflict.
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