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Post by Admin on Mar 14, 2022 17:47:30 GMT
Russia is threatening to pay foreign debts in rubles after a number of Moscow’s top banks were sanctioned in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian government is scheduled to pay $117 million on Wednesday for a pair of its dollar-denominated bonds, according to Reuters.
The Russian foreign ministry has accepted a temporary course of action that gives banks the ability to pay back debts, but it is now warning that whether or not those payments withstand depends on the sanctions, according to the news wire.
A number of Moscow’s top banks have been sanctioned as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last month, the Treasury Department banned financial dealings with the Bank of Russia and the Russian foreign investment fund, and the White House announced that the U.S. and its allies would oust certain Russian banks from the SWIFT international banking system.
If the payments cannot go through, the finance ministry said it would repay Eurobonds in rubles, according to Reuters, which has plummeted to record lows since Russia’s invasion.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov wrote in a statement on Monday that Moscow has “the necessary funds to service our obligations.”
“Claims that Russia cannot fulfil its sovereign debt obligations are untrue,” he added, according to Reuters.
Siluanov also said “the freezing of the central bank and government's foreign currency accounts can be seen as a desire from several Western countries to organise an artificial default,” according to Reuters.
Moscow's threat comes in the third week of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has triggered sanctions from Western allies — penalties that are sparking economic turmoil in Russia.
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Post by Admin on Mar 16, 2022 17:36:09 GMT
Ukrainian President Zelensky appeals to US President Biden in historic Congress address - BBC News 2,566 views Mar 17, 2022 Ukrainian President Zelensky appealed to US President Joe Biden to be the “leader of peace” in a historic address to Congress via a video link.
He asked US lawmakers for more military aid and tougher economic sanctions on Russia.
He also compared the Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities to Pearl Harbour and 9/11.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday invoked the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 terror strikes on America as he pleaded directly with the U.S. Congress to send more aid to his embattled country to fight against Russia’s invasion.
Zelenskyy, who was greeted with at least three standing ovations from an audience of lawmakers, asked the U.S. to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine to stem the Russian attacks, which have led to the deaths of thousands of people.
“This is a terror that Europe has not seen, has not seen for 80 years and we are asking for a reply, for an answer to this terror from the whole world,” said Zelenskyy, who during his speech played a video showing the bombing of Ukraine and wounded and dead civilians.
“Is this a lot to ask for, to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine to save people? Is this too much to ask?” he said via video link from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Zelenskyy acknowledged that Western leaders have resisted the idea of a no-fly zone, which would require NATO to take over the air and shoot down enemies to protect civilians on the ground. It’s been repeatedly rejected out of fears of triggering another world war.
“If this is too much to ask, we offer an alternative,” he said.
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Post by Admin on Mar 17, 2022 1:40:49 GMT
Hopes for diplomatic progress to end the war rose after Zelenskyy acknowledged Tuesday in the most explicit terms yet that Ukraine is unlikely to realize its goal of joining NATO. Putin has long depicted Ukraine’s NATO aspirations as a threat to Russia. Lavrov welcomed Zelenskyy’s comment and said “the businesslike spirit” starting to surface in the talks “gives hope that we can agree on this issue.” “A neutral status is being seriously discussed in connection with security guarantees,” Lavrov said on Russian TV. “There are concrete formulations that in my view are close to being agreed.” Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said the sides were discussing a possible compromise for a Ukraine with a smaller, non-aligned military. Prospects for a diplomatic breakthrough were highly uncertain, however, given the gulf between Ukraine’s demand that the invading forces withdraw completely and Russia’s suspected aim of replacing Kyiv’s Westward-looking government with a pro-Moscow regime. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denied Russian claims that Ukraine was open to adopting a model of neutrality comparable to Sweden or Austria. Podolyak said Ukraine needs powerful allies and “clearly defined security guarantees” to keep it safe. Another source of dispute is Crimea, which was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014, and the separatist-held Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, which Russia recognizes as independent. Ukraine considers both part of its territory.
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Post by Admin on Mar 17, 2022 6:56:04 GMT
A peace deal under which Ukraine abandons its Nato aspirations in return for Russian withdrawal and western security guarantees appeared to inch closer on Wednesday even as Vladimir Putin’s troops were accused of killing people queueing for bread in a northern Ukrainian city. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, suggested talks were making progress despite continued bloodshed and fears from some EU leaders that the Kremlin was toying with Kyiv. “The negotiations are not easy for obvious reasons,” Lavrov told RBC News. “But nevertheless, there is some hope of reaching a compromise. “Neutral status is now being seriously discussed seriously along, of course, with security guarantees. This is what is now being discussed at the talks. There are absolutely specific wordings and, in my view, the sides are close to agreeing on them.” Lavrov’s comments risked being undermined by a less than conciliatory televised appearance by Putin with his ministers later on Wednesday in which the Russian president insulted domestic opponents of his war and condemned the west for seeking to destroy his country. “Any people, and especially the Russian people, will always be able to distinguish the true patriots from the scum and the traitors, and to spit them out like a midge that accidentally flew into their mouths,” he said. “I am convinced that this natural and necessary self-cleansing of society will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion and readiness to meet any challenge. “If the west thinks that Russia will step back, it does not understand Russia,” he said. In a video address in the early hours of Wednesday, Zelenskiy had also suggested that there was room for compromise, with Russia taking up “more realistic” positions. “Any war ends with an agreement,” he said. Janša, who had travelled by train to Kyiv with the prime ministers of Poland and the Czech Republic, said he feared Russia was merely seeking to “put the focus on a side theatre, and pictures from the negotiations, not the pictures from the killing grounds”. “An old trick”, he said. But he outlined what he believed was the Ukrainian leader’s approach to the ongoing peace negotiations following their talks and said it offered some hope for lasting peace if a Russian ceasefire could be won as a first step. “Zelenskiy is speaking about making some concessions”, he said. “There is an article in the constitution of Ukraine where Ukrainians are seeking Nato and European membership. “If you are listening to President Zelenskiy, he is prepared to abandon seeking the Nato membership, if there is EU membership guaranteed – not only promised but guaranteed – and if there are some security guarantees on the table.”
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Post by Admin on Mar 17, 2022 17:16:27 GMT
WATCH LIVE: Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds briefing amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine 97 waiting Scheduled for Mar 18, 2022
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