Land lease for Ukraine and a new attempt to attack Kyiv: Highlights on war in Ukraine on April 7

Author

Diana Polunina

The 43rd day of the war against the Russian occupiers continues in Ukraine. has gathered news in the field of business, politics and economics, which will help to learn more about the situation in the country that has been fighting for its independence for more than a month.

The main events of April 7 were:

The US Senate unanimously passed a bill on land lease. This is a program from the Second World War. It will allow President Joe Biden to send weapons more efficiently and quickly and make other supplies to Ukraine due to the Russian invasion.
Oleksandr Gruzevych, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Land Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that after the regrouping of Russian troops, they would try to retake Kyiv.

'This will give them the opportunity to dictate their demands, to emerge victorious in the situation, because now Russia is like a hunted beast', he said.

Politics

President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Greek Parliament. In his speech, he spoke about Mariupol:

'Mariupol is almost destroyed. I'm sure each of you has already seen what the city looks like now. After he was approached by the Russian Federation. Just ruins. This is what Russia has done with our peaceful Mariupol. But also with your peaceful Mariupol. This city has always been home to a large Greek community. The Ukrainian Greek community is one of the largest in the world'.

The President also called for the creation of a new union of friends similar to Filiki Eteria, which was established in Odessa to save Ukrainians and Greeks from southern Ukraine, and reminded that Mariupol needed humanitarian aid and evacuation.

The G7 and the European Union warn Russia against any threat or use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. This is stated in a statement by the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the G7 and the High Representative of the European Union. It is published on the website of the British government.

'We warn against any threat or use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. We recall Russia’s obligations under international treaties of which it is a party, and which protect us all. Any use by Russia of such a weapon would be unacceptable and result in severe consequences', stated in a message.

Economy

Reuters, citing informed contacts, wrote that today, April 7, the EU should accept a total ban on imports of Russian coal, but the embargo will take effect in mid-August. Germany is on the postponement of the embargo. Instead, Britain will stop importing Russian coal and oil until the end of 2022 for now.
The Prosecutor General's Office has seized 17.8 thousand railway cars belonging to enterprises in Russia and Belarus. This happened as part of a criminal investigation into the intentional evasion of taxes in especially large amounts. Thus, the Prosecutor General's Office established that there are cars in Ukraine that were used during the commission of a crime in the sphere of economic activity and which were arrested by the court as instruments of crime. The arrested cars are planned to be confiscated in favor of the state.
The European Parliament, by a majority of 513 votes, voted in favor of a resolution calling for a full and immediate embargo on Russian energy imports. They also called for a plan on EU energy security and supply diversification. And also about creation of strategy of cancellation of sanctions against the Russian Federation in case of restoration by it of territorial integrity of Ukraine and withdrawal of troops. They are also developing plans to exclude the aggressor country from the G20 and other organizations, and so on.

Business

Spotify streaming service from April 11 completely stops working in Russia. Now Russian users will not be able to use the services either on the site or in the application. This was reported in Spotify Russia.
The American service for the development and placement of websites Squarespace — an analogue of the Russian website designer Tilda, has made free access for Ukrainian users until the end of 2023.
Yakaboo Bookstore is resuming retail sales from its website from April 15. The company also managed to transfer more than a million books from its warehouse near Kyiv to Western Ukraine, Yakaboo CEO Ivan Bohdan said on Facebook.