Russia launched an attack on Ukraine early Thursday, with President Vladimir Putin warning other countries not to intervene and Ukraine’s Western allies pledging their support and new rounds of strong sanctions as they condemned the Russian assault.
Moscow’s long-feared attack on Ukraine began early on February 24, with missiles being fired at airports and military infrastructure in at least seven cities after Russia President Vladimir Putin ordered a “special” operation to “demilitarize” its neighbor and rival.
В день промови Путіна, російські фондові біржі обвалилися в масштабах, небачених із часів світової фінансової кризи 2008 року
How the West Can Still Protect Kyiv
Russian President Vladimir Putin appears poised to launch a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. He has amassed troops near the border, spurned Western attempts at a diplomatic resolution, and most recently recognized the independence of the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, with Russian troops and weapons entering the region soon after. U.S. President Joe Biden has called Russia’s move into the Donbas an “undeniable invasion,” and announced a set of sanctions on Russian financial institutions, sovereign debt, and individuals. These were interim steps; Biden warned that more sanctions will follow should Russia continue to escalate the crisis. Berlin has also halted the certification of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline linking Russian natural gas to Germany, marking a major shift in its policy toward Russia and sounding a warning to Putin that his aggression is alienating the country, along with others in Europe.
One would think that Russia was busy with other matters, but on February 20, 2022 – at the height of the Ukraine Crisis – the Sudanese Foreign Ministry announced that the Vice Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti” would travel to Moscow at the end of the week and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov.[1] It is the first visit by a senior Sudanese official to Russia since the October 25, 2021 military coup in Sudan which removed the civilian part of the Sudanese government under Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok.
The approval follows the signing of EOs by President Putin on the recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics.
The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation has approved President Vladimir Putin’s request for the use of armed forces abroad.
As the media-saturated hubbub over Ukraine drags on, the avid but illegal party-goer–“Covid lockdown rules be damned”–Boris “BoJo” Johnson has been trying to save his job by sounding combative towards Russia (among other things).
Alas for the charlatan BoJo, Vladimir Putin must be taking this in with a cynical smile.
On 2 August 1990, Saddam Hussein ordered the Iraqi army to invade and occupy Kuwait in an operation that led to Iraq’s defeat in war, rebellions crushed in blood, 13 years of UN sanctions, defeat in a second war, foreign occupation, and two decades of civil conflict that is only now drawing to an end.
The global clout of OPEC, never one of the world’s most admired institutions, reached a nadir in April when a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia triggered a price war just as global oil demand was collapsing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Four years ago, at a Track II dialogue between German and American diplomats and analysts, a German colleague of mine explained his firm belief that his country—and, by extension, Europe as a whole—could use geoeconomic tools to regulate and blunt Russia’s geopolitical ambitions.
Europe’s need for natural gas, he said, was balanced by Russia’s need to sell. A European strategy of energy diversification would therefore give the West leverage over Moscow, which would not want to risk its access to European markets by making bold political plays.