Situation around Ukraine: Latest major events and reports

Author

Valery Moiseev

has prepared a selection of the latest major world events and messages related to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

The United States, following the European Union, imposed sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin. The restrictions also include Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. US Treasury sanctions include freezing assets in US jurisdiction, as well as a ban on transactions with them for Americans.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the imposition of sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. Ottawa advocated disconnecting Russia from SWIFT.

French President Emmanuel Macron supported Russia's disconnection from SWIFT and sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Roscosmos is withdrawing its employees from the Kourou space center in French Guiana and suspending Soyuz rocket launches from this site. This decision was made in response to EU sanctions.

The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London announced canceling the tour of the Bolshoi Theater artists. The theater clarified that the summer tour of the Bolshoi Ballet "was at the final stage of planning."

The US authorities are seriously considering disconnecting Russia from SWIFT, Bloomberg reports citing sources. According to them, representatives of the administration of US President Joe Biden are discussing the possibility of putting pressure on the EU leadership to do this together.

Facebook banned the monetization of Russian state media. They will not be able to advertise on the platform.

Roskomnadzor has been slowing down Facebook traffic since February 26 due to restrictions imposed on Russian media.

US President Joe Biden issued a memorandum on providing military assistance to Ukraine for $600 million.

The S&P rating agency downgraded Russia's foreign currency sovereign credit rating from BBB- to BB+ with a negative outlook. Ukraine's rating has been downgraded from B to B- with a negative outlook.

Fitch downgraded Ukraine's rating from B to CCC. Moody's has put the long-term ratings of Russia Baa3 and Ukraine B3 on review with the possibility of downgrading.

A representative of the Hungarian government reported that his country is ready to become a platform for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. However, Ukraine has offered Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to become a mediator in the negotiations.

The head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry outlined five theses of Beijing on the situation around Ukraine. China stands up for the sovereignty of all countries, but calls for Russia's demands for security guarantees to be taken into account.

The European Union has banned Russians and Russian companies from keeping more than 100,000 euros on deposits in European banks. It also banned the sale of euro-denominated securities issued after 12 April.

The EU has adopted unprecedented sanctions against the Russian aviation industry that in practice deprive Russian airlines of the opportunity to use European aircraft. New supplies, as well as maintenance and insurance of all aircraft are prohibited, and aircraft already leased under old contracts must be returned to the lessor within a month. Taking into account the likely similar measures by the United States, the Russian market may lose more than half of all civil aircraft.

The American company Dell has temporarily stopped selling computers in Russia and Ukraine. It reported it was monitoring the situation to determine "next steps."

Recall that on February 24 at 04:50 Russian President Vladimir Putin actually declared war on Ukraine, and Russian troops began to invade the territory of our country.

Since then, has been following the situation and regularly informs about the most important events.