BRUSSELS/BEIJING, April 1 (Reuters) – EU and Chinese leaders met for their first summit in two years on Friday with Brussels pressing Beijing for assurances that it will neither supply Russia with arms nor help Moscow circumvent Western sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine.
In uncommonly open language, EU officials close to the summit preparations said any help given to Russia would damage China’s international reputation and jeopardise relations with its biggest trade partners — Europe and the United States.
The presidents of the European Commission and European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, along with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, began virtual talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. They were due later on Friday to speak with President Xi Jinping.
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An EU official said China’s stance towards Russia was the “million-dollar question” on Friday. Another pointed out that over a quarter of China’s global trade was with the bloc and the United States last year, against just 2.4% with Russia.
“Do we prolong this war or do we work together to end this war? That is the essential question for the summit,” the official said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterated China’s call for peace talks this week, adding the legitimate concerns of all sides should be accommodated.
Wang Yiwei, an expert on Europe at the Beijing’s Renmin University, said both China and the EU wanted the war to end.
“I imagine China would want to use this summit to discuss with the EU how to create the conditions acceptable to Putin for him to climb down from his current position,” he said.
China itself has concerns that European countries are taking harder-line foreign policy cues from the United States and has called for the EU to “exclude external interference” from its relations with China.
Relations were already strained before the Ukraine war.
The EU abruptly switched in 2019 from soft diplomatic language to call China a systemic rival, but sees it as a potential partner in fighting climate change or the pandemic.
Brussels and Beijing concluded an investment agreement at the end of 2020, designed to settle some EU concerns about reciprocal market access. However, it is now on hold after Brussels’ sanctions against Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region prompted Beijing to blacklist EU individuals and entities.
China has since also suspended imports from Lithuania after the Baltic EU nation allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in its capital, angering Beijing which regards the democratically ruled island as its own territory. read more
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Additional reporting by Robin Emmott; writing by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Sandra Maler, William Maclean
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April 1 (Reuters) – Two Ukrainian military helicopters struck a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod on Friday, a Russian official said, making the first accusation of a Ukrainian air strike on Russian soil since Moscow invaded its neighbour in late February.
Video images of the purported attack posted online showed what looked like several missiles being fired from low altitude, followed by an explosion. Reuters has not yet been able to verify the images.
The helicopters struck the facility in Belgorod, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) from the border with Ukraine, after entering Russia at low altitude, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on messaging app Telegram.
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The resulting blaze injured two workers, Gladkov added, while some areas of the city were being evacuated.
However, Russian oil firm Rosneft (ROSN.MM), which owns the fuel depot, said in a separate statement that no one was hurt in the fire, though it gave no information on its cause.
Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said the incident would not affect the region’s fuel supplies or prices for consumers.
The governor of the neighbouring Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said its fuel supplies were sufficient to last several weeks and called on the population not to stockpile fuel.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the general staff and the foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
An ammunition depot near Belgorod caught fire on Wednesday, causing a series of blasts. At the time, Gladkov said authorities were waiting for the Russian defence ministry to establish its cause.
Moscow calls its intervention in Ukraine “a special military operation”.
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Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Bradley Perrett
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Energy is Russia’s most powerful lever against West
Western nations reject currency switch in gas deals
Russia won’t export gas as ‘charity’, says Putin
Europe already struggling to find alternative supplies
BERLIN/LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin is demanding foreign buyers pay for Russian gas in roubles from Friday or else have their supplies cut, a move European capitals rejected and which Germany said amounted to “blackmail”.
Putin’s decree on Thursday leaves Europe facing the prospect of losing more than a third of its gas supply. Germany, the most heavily reliant on Russia, has already activated an emergency plan that could lead to rationing in Europe’s biggest economy.
Energy exports are Putin’s most powerful lever as he tries to hit back against sweeping Western sanctions imposed on Russian banks, companies, businessmen and associates of the Kremlin in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow calls its Ukraine action a “special military operation”.
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Putin said buyers of Russian gas “must open rouble accounts in Russian banks. It is from these accounts that payments will be made for gas delivered starting from tomorrow,” or April 1.
“If such payments are not made, we will consider this a default on the part of buyers, with all the ensuing consequences. Nobody sells us anything for free, and we are not going to do charity either – that is, existing contracts will be stopped,” he said in televised remarks.
It was not immediately clear whether in practice there might be a way for foreign firms to continue payment without using roubles, which the European Union and G7 have ruled out.
Italy said it was in contact with its European partners to give a firm response to Russia, adding its own gas reserves would allow economic activity to continue even in the event of disruptions. read more
Meantime, Germany’s energy firms said they were in close talks with Berlin about how to respond to possible supply disruptions and draw up a roadmap on what to do should Russia stop gas exports.
SEARCHING FOR ALTERNATIVES
Under the mechanism decreed by Putin, foreign buyers would use special accounts at Gazprombank to pay for the gas. Gazprombank would buy roubles on behalf of the gas buyer and transfer roubles to another account, the order said. read more
A source told Reuters that payments for gas delivered in April on some contracts started in the second half of April and May for others, suggesting the taps might not be turned off immediately. read more
Putin’s decision to enforce rouble payments has boosted the Russian currency, which fell to historic lows after the Feb. 24 invasion. The rouble has since recovered much lost ground.
“What sounded grandiose has turned into a storm in a teacup. By making it the main recipient of money for gas, it puts an extra shield against sanctions around Gazprombank,” said Jack Sharples of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
Western companies and governments have rejected any move to change their gas supply contracts to another payment currency. Most European buyers use euros. Executives say it would take months or longer to renegotiate terms.
Payment in roubles would also blunt the impact of Western curbs on Moscow’s access to its foreign exchange reserves.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the development of air transportation and aircraft manufacturing, via a video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia March 31, 2022. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS
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Meanwhile, European states have been racing to secure alternative supplies, but with the global market already tight, they have few options. The United States has offered more of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) but not enough to replace Russia.
“It is important for us not to give a signal that we will be blackmailed by Putin,” Germany Economy Minister Robert Habeck said, adding that Russia had not been able to divide Europe.
Payments would continue to be made in euros, Germany said.
French economy minister Bruno Le Maire said France and Germany were preparing for the possibility of Russian gas flows being halted. He declined to comment on technical details linked to latest Russian demands for rouble payment.
Putin said the switch to roubles would strengthen Russia’s sovereignty. He said the West was using the financial system as a weapon, and it made no sense for Russia to trade in dollars and euros when assets in those currencies were being frozen.
“What is actually happening, what has already happened? We have supplied European consumers with our resources, in this case gas. They received it, paid us in euros, which they then froze themselves. In this regard, there is every reason to believe that we delivered part of the gas provided to Europe practically free of charge,” he said.
“That, of course, cannot continue,” Putin said, although he said Russia still valued its business reputation and would continue to meet obligations in its gas and other contracts.
STAYING UNITED
European gas prices have rocketed higher on mounting tension with Russia raising the risk of recession. Companies, including makers of steel and chemicals, have been forced to curtail production. read more
British and Dutch gas prices , were up 4% to 5% after Putin’s announcement.
European companies had little or no immediate comment on the Russian announcement or on their contracts with Gazprom (GAZP.MM), which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline.
Poland’s PGNiG (PGN.WA) said it remained in contact with Gazprom with which it has a long-term contract that expires at the end of this year, but it said it would not discuss details.
Italian energy firm Eni (ENI.MI), another major European buyer of Russian gas, also had no comment. It bought around 22.5 bcm of Russian gas in 2020. Its contracts with Gazprom expire in 2035.
Danish energy firm Orsted (ORSTED.CO), which has a long-term take-or-pay contract with Gazprom, said it was waiting to hear from the Russian firm and declined to comment further.
Uniper (UN01.DE) and EnBW’s (EBKG.DE) VNG (VNG.UL), two major German buyers of Russian gas, declined to comment, while RWE (RWEG.DE) did not immediately respond.
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Reporting by Reuters correspondents including Stephen Jewkes in Milan, Vera Eckert, Joseph Nasr and Tassilo Hummel in Berlin, Nina Chestney in London, Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw and Christoph Steitz and John O’Donnell in Frankfurt; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Edmund Blair and Grant McCool
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 30, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
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Consumer spending rose less than expected in February
Energy sector heads toward its best quarter ever
Walgreens falls after earnings
NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks closed out the first quarter on a down note on Thursday with its biggest quarterly decline in two years as concerns persisted about the continuing conflict in Ukraine and its inflationary effect on prices and the Federal Reserve’s response.
While optimism about a possible peace deal between Ukraine and Russia helped lift stocks earlier in the week, hopes quickly evaporated and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin threatened on Thursday to halt contracts supplying Europe with a third of its gas unless they are paid in rubles as Ukraine prepared for more attacks. read more
The United States imposed new Russia-related sanctions, and U.S. President Joe Biden launched the largest release ever from the country’s emergency oil reserve and challenged oil companies to drill more in a bid to lower gasoline prices that have soared during the war in Ukraine. read more
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Stock prices have been sensitive to any signs of progress toward a peace pact between Russia and Ukraine. Already-high U.S. inflation has intensified with surging commodity prices such as oil and metals since the war began.
As prices increase, the Fed becomes increasingly likely to become more aggressive in raising interest rates to combat inflation, potentially curbing economic growth.
Data on Thursday showed consumer prices barely rose in February as pricing pressures intensified, while personal consumption expenditures (PCE) excluding food and energy rose by 0.4%, in line with expectations. read more
“The PCE number came out today, which is the Fed’s preferred number, and although that was right on target, it was higher than it was last month, and the sense is it is going to continue to go higher, therefore you are seeing some weakness,” said Ken Polcari, managing partner at Kace Capital Advisors in Boca Raton, Florida.
“That only solidifies (Fed Chair) Jay Powell and the Fed’s position to be more aggressive so there are going to be multiple 50 basis point hikes.”
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 70.15 points, or 1.52%, to end at 4,532.30 points, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) lost 222.77 points, or 1.54%, to 14,219.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 535.80 points, or 1.52%, to 34,693.01.
While the S&P did suffer worst quarter since the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing in the United States in 2020, stocks have rebounded somewhat in March, notching a gain of more than 4%.
Investors will look toward Friday’s jobs report for more confirmation of labor market strength and insight into the possible path of monetary policy by the U.S. central bank.
Nearly all of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with financials (.SPSY) and communication services (.SPLRCL) among the weakest during the session.
Energy (.SPNY), easily the best performing sector so far this year with a gain of about 39%, slipped as oil prices dropped on Biden’s announcement while OPEC+ stuck to its existing output deal. The sector secured its biggest quarterly climb on record with the advance. read more
Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA.O) slumped after the company kept its 2022 forecast for low-single digit earnings growth unchanged. read more
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Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jonathan Oatis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
BUDAPEST, March 31 (Reuters) – After his third consecutive landslide victory in 2018, Hungary’s Viktor Orban said his strong new mandate allowed him to plan for 12 years ahead, aiming for an unbroken two-decade spell in power in the former communist Central European country.
On Sunday, Orban’s plan will be put to a stern test in a national election where polls suggest six opposition parties united against him for the first time are within a striking distance from unseating his nationalist Fidesz party.
read more
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Fidesz swept elections in 2018 on a fierce anti-immigration campaign that earned him praise from former U.S. President Donald Trump and Europe’s far right and set him on a collision course with Brussels.
Now, the 58-year-old leader, who has transformed Hungary into a self-styled “illiberal democracy” with a firm grip over media and loyalists in charge of top institutions, acknowledges this election will not be a walkover.
“The stakes of this election are, even for an old warhorse such as myself, much higher than I could have ever imagined,” Orban, who has evenly split the time in opposition and in power since post-communist Hungary’s first election in 1990, told pro-government channel HirTV on Monday.
Opinion polls give Orban’s party a narrow lead, but with about one-fifth of Hungary’s 8 million voters still declaring to be undecided, the April 3 vote could still go either way.
The vote will decide whether Brussels will continue to face resistance from Hungary and Poland over media freedoms, rule of law and minority rights or Warsaw will be left isolated in its standoff with European institutions.
Defence of conservative Christian family values against what he calls “gender madness” now sweeping Western Europe is part of Orban’s current campaign. On Sunday, Hungarians will also vote in a government referendum about sexual orientation workshops in schools, a vote which rights groups have condemned saying it fuelled prejudice against the LGBTQ community. read more
Orban holds lead before election
EAST OR WEST?
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban leaves the stage after delivering his annual state of the nation speech in Budapest, Hungary, February 10, 2019. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upset Orban’s script, casting his close relations with Moscow in a new light.
He responded by tapping into Hungarians wish for security, posing on campaign billboards as their protector and accusing opposition politicians of trying to drag Hungary into the war, a charge they have denied.
Yet the opposition leader Peter Marki-Zay seized the opportunity, telling voters they faced a choice between the West and East, criticising Orban’s close relations with Russia and what he said was an erosion of democratic rights.
Campaigning in what used to be called Moscow square in Budapest, an opposition stronghold, Marki-Zay said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was rebuilding the Soviet empire and Orban “still cannot decide how to keep an equal distance from the killers and the victims.”
Addressing cheering supporters, the conservative small-town mayor and a Catholic father of seven, brought up the Hungarian uprising crushed by Soviet tanks almost 66 years ago while taking a swipe at Orban.
“After 1956 there is still a Hungarian politician, who cannot state that we always must stand up against the aggressor,” he said.
Marki-Zay leads a coalition of six parties across Hungary’s political spectrum that joined forces, galvanized by the possibility of ousting Orban.
Its members, from leftist Democratic Coalition, to liberal Momentum and Jobbik, a far-right party turned moderate, have put most of their disputes aside for the campaign but policy differences may pose a challenge if Marki-Zay wins on Sunday.
He has promised to clamp down on corruption, gain access to European Union funds frozen by Brussels over the rule of law fight, and introduce the euro.
“What will decide this election is that the majority has had enough of these 12 years,” said Sandor Laszlo, who attended Marki-Zay’s rally in the capital.
According to the latest poll by Zavecz Research, Fidesz led the opposition by three percentage points with 39% support. Tibor Zavecz, director of the think tank, said Fidesz appeared to have a better chance to win but a lot would depend on a last-minute mobilisation of voters.
He said around 8% of the electorate, around 600,000 people, said they would cast a vote but still had no preferred choice.
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Reporting by Krisztina Than
Editing by Tomasz Janowski
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
LONDON/NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. and European equities rally paused on Wednesday as investors took stock of economic and geopolitical risks, while oil prices jumped back around $4 on the prospect of more Russian sanctions.
The broad Euro STOXX 600 (.STOXX) fell 0.6% after three positive sessions that had taken the index back to levels reached before Russia invaded Ukraine.
By late morning, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) had lost 0.18%, to 35,229.04, the S&P 500 (.SPX) was down 0.25%, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) was little changed.
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The MSCI world equity index (.MIWD00000PUS), which tracks shares in 50 countries, was also little changed.
The relative cheer among stock investors contrasted with the circumspection in the bond market, where some investors are betting aggressive tightening of policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve could harm the world’s biggest economy over the longer term.
“I’m very worried that U.S. equities do not price any risk of slowdown in the U.S. economy – that is extremely worrying,” said Ludovic Colin, a senior portfolio manager at Swiss asset manager Vontobel.
The widely tracked U.S. 2-year-10-year Treasury yield curve briefly inverted on Tuesday for the first time since September 2019.
Longer-dated yields falling below shorter ones indicate a lack of faith in future growth, with 10-year yields falling beneath 2-year rates widely viewed as a harbinger of recession.
Sebastien Galy, senior macro strategist at Nordea Asset Management, said fixed income and equity markets were diverging.
“Equity markets are overly optimistic and the fixed income markets are probably being overly pessimistic.”
An inverted Treasury curve has in recent decades been followed by a recession within two years, including the 2020 downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Benchmark indexes in Frankfurt (.GDAXI) and Paris (.FCHI) lost 1.5% and 1.1% respectively, with London shares (.FTSE) up a touch at 0.19%.
U.S. yield curve inverts
A day after rising above 0% for the first time since 2014, Germany’s two-year bond yield was up six basis points at 0.01% – keeping the previous day’s highs in sight.
Shares rallied in Asia overnight after Ukraine proposed on Tuesday it adopt neutral status, a move seen by investors as a sign of progress in face-to-face peace negotiations. read more
On the ground, however, reports of attacks continued and Ukraine reacted with scepticism to Russia’s promise in negotiations to scale down military operations around Kyiv.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) jumped 1.46% to its highest in nearly a month, with most Asian stock markets in positive territory.
JAPAN IN FOCUS
The benchmark U.S. 10-year yield was last at 2.3762% , having risen as high as 2.557% on Monday for its highest since April 2019, as traders positioned themselves for quick-fire increases to U.S. interest rates.
The impact of rising U.S. yields played out elsewhere, dragging Japanese government bond yields in their wake in a threat to Japan’s ultra-loose monetary policy.
The Bank of Japan increased efforts to defend its key yield cap on Wednesday, offering to ramp up buying of government bonds across the curve, including unscheduled emergency market operations. read more
The widening gap between U.S. and Japanese yields has caused the yen to weaken sharply, but it managed to regain some lost ground on Wednesday.
The Japanese currency rose 0.9% to 121.80 per dollar , compared with Monday’s low of 124.3, amid concerns Japanese authorities might step in to bolster the yen.
Elsewhere in currency markets, the euro rose 0.6% to $1.1157, its highest in four weeks, supported by the Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
In energy markets, oil prices jumped around $4 on supply tightness and the growing prospect of new Western sanctions against Russia even as Moscow and Kyiv held peace talks.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures were up $3.96, or 3.6%, at $114.19, while U.S. crude rose 3.66% to $108.05 per barrel.
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Reporting by Tom Wilson in London, additional reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe and Alun John in Hong Kong
Editing by Bernadette Baum and Mark Potter
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
UK says some Russian units leave Ukraine to regroup
Reporters see ruins and bodies in retaken villages
Ukraine says Russia regrouping for offensive in east
‘Ukrainians are not naive’ says Zelenskiy
Berlin warns gas supply threatened after Moscow demands roubles
MALA ROHAN/NEAR IRPIN, Ukraine, March 30 (Reuters) – Russian forces bombarded the outskirts of Kyiv and a besieged city in northern Ukraine on Wednesday, a day after promising to scale down operations there in what the West dismissed as a ploy to regroup by invaders suffering heavy losses.
Nearly five weeks into an invasion in which it has failed to capture any major cities, Russia had said on Tuesday it would curtail operations near Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv “to increase mutual trust” for peace talks.
“It’s not true,” Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a video address to EU regional officials. “The whole night we listened to sirens, to rocket attacks and we listened to huge explosions east of Kyiv and north of Kyiv. There are immense battles there, people died, still die.”
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Intensified bombardment could be heard in Kyiv on Wednesday morning from suburbs where Ukrainian forces have regained territory in recent days. The capital itself was not hit, but windows rattled from the relentless artillery on its outskirts.
Reuters journalists southeast of Irpin, a Kyiv suburb which has seen intense fighting for weeks, heard frequent shelling and ordnance exploding on the ground and in the air. Ukrainians evacuating spoke of heavy shelling north of Irpin, shells landing in Irpin itself and dead bodies in the streets.
Ukraine and Western leaders had cautioned that Moscow’s apparent peace gesture at Tuesday’s talks in Istanbul was a cover for reorganizing forces that had failed to take Kyiv.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday its forces were regrouping near Kyiv and Chernihiv to focus on the “liberation” of the breakaway eastern Donbas region.
‘RUSSIA ALWAYS LIES’
Chernihiv’s Mayor Vladyslav Astroshenko said Russian bombardment of that city had intensified over the past 24 hours, with more than 100,000 people trapped inside with just enough food and medical supplies to last about another week.
“This is yet another confirmation that Russia always lies,” he told CNN, adding that 25 civilians had been injured in a “colossal mortar attack” in the city centre.
Reuters could not verify the situation in Chernihiv. Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Irpin itself was recaptured by Ukrainian forces this week. Reuters journalists who entered on Tuesday saw Ukrainian troops patrolling an abandoned ghost town of ruined buildings, with the body of an old man and a woman lying on the streets.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made clear he took nothing Moscow said at face value.
“Ukrainians are not naive people,” he said in an overnight address. “The only thing they can trust is a concrete result.”
Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said Ukraine’s armed forces had observed some movements of Russian forces away from the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions but did not consider this to be a mass withdrawal by Moscow.
A view shows an armoured convoy of pro-Russian troops in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict on a road leading to the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 28, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
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“It is preparing to resume offensive operations,” he said.
Around a quarter of Ukrainians have been driven from their homes by the biggest attack on a European country since World War Two. The United Nations said on Wednesday that the number who have fled the country had risen above 4 million. More than half of those refugees are children and the rest mostly women.
Over the past week, Ukrainian forces have recaptured towns and villages on the outskirts of Kyiv, broken the siege of the eastern city of Sumy and pushed back Russian forces in the southwest.
In the village of Mala Rohan in the eastern Kharkiv region, two burned-out tanks with their turrets ripped off stood near damaged houses. Maksym, a Ukrainian soldier, said the Russians were being pushed back “slowly but steadily”.
“I think their morale dropped. Most of them already understood that they made a huge mistake when they came here. Therefore, I think they have no chance here, we will win.”
ROUBLES ONLY
Russia says it is carrying out a “special operation” to disarm and “denazify” its neighbour. Western countries say Moscow’s invasion was entirely unprovoked.
The Donbas region, where Russia says it will now focus its efforts, includes Mariupol, where heavy fighting was again reported on Wednesday. read more The port city, which had a pre-war population of 400,000 people, has been laid waste after a month of Russian siege and the United Nations says thousands of people may have died.
Russian forces were shelling nearly all cities along the region’s frontline on Wednesday, said the governor of Donetsk, which is part of the Donbas.
Britain’s defence ministry said Moscow’s announcement about focusing on the Donbas was likely “a tacit admission that it is struggling to sustain more than one significant axis of advance”.
At Tuesday’s talks in Istanbul, Ukraine signalled it would accept neutral status, along with international guarantees to protect it from future attack. Its proposal also called for a ceasefire and would postpone discussion of Russia’s territorial demands.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday it was good to have the Ukrainian proposal in writing but there was no indication of a breakthrough. read more
Western sanctions have largely isolated Russia from world trade but Moscow is still the biggest supplier of oil and gas to Europe. Facing a sharp decline in its currency, Moscow has told Western buyers they will have to pay with roubles, something Western countries say breaks their contracts.
Germany, Russia’s biggest gas customer, declared an “early warning” on Wednesday of a possible emergency if Russia were to cut off supplies. read more
Economy Minister Robert Habeck urged consumers and companies to reduce consumption, saying “every kilowatt-hour counts”.
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Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets, Pavel Polityuk, Gleb Garanich and Reuters bureaux
Writing by Peter Graff and Philippa Fletcher
Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Gareth Jones
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Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via a video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia March 24, 2022. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS/File Photo
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WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin was misled by advisers who were too scared to tell him how poorly the war in Ukraine is going and how damaging Western sanctions have been, a U.S. official said on Wednesday, citing declassified intelligence.
Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of its southern neighbor has been halted on most fronts by stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces who have recaptured territory even as civilians are trapped in besieged cities.
“We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military,” leading him to mistrust the military leadership, the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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“Putin didn’t even know his military was using and losing conscripts in Ukraine, showing a clear breakdown in the flow of accurate information to the Russian president,” the official said.
The official did not provide the intelligence report, but said the information had been declassified.
The Kremlin made no immediate comment after the end of the working day in Moscow, and the Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Military analysts say Russia has reframed its war goals in Ukraine in a way that may make it easier for Putin to claim a face-saving victory despite a woeful campaign in which his army has suffered humiliating setbacks. read more
Russian forces bombarded the capital Kyiv and northern Chernihiv on Wednesday, a day after Russia promised to scale down military operations in both cities. read more
“We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions, because his senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth,” the official said.
Russia says it is carrying out a “special operation” to disarm and “denazify” its neighbor. Western countries say Moscow launched an unprovoked invasion.
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Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis
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A general view shows insids the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) at Central, in Hong Kong, China September 18, 2015. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
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LONDON/HONG KONG, March 30 (Reuters) – Two senior British judges, including the president of the UK Supreme Court, resigned from Hong Kong’s highest court on Wednesday because of a sweeping national security law imposed by China cracking down on dissent in the former British colony.
Robert Reed, who heads Britain’s top judicial body, said that he and colleague Patrick Hodge would relinquish their roles with immediate effect as non-permanent judges on the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (CFA).
“I have concluded, in agreement with the government, that the judges of the Supreme Court cannot continue to sit in Hong Kong without appearing to endorse an administration which has departed from values of political freedom, and freedom of expression,” Reed said in a statement.
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Britain, which handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, has said the security law that punishes offences like subversion with up to life imprisonment has been used to curb dissent and freedoms. London also says the law is a breach of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration that paved the way for the handover.
Many of the city’s democratic campaigners have been arrested, detained or forced into exile, civil society groups shuttered and liberal media outlets forced to close under a security crackdown since the law was enacted in June 2020.
Beijing says the law has brought stability to Hong Kong, rocked by months of sometimes violent anti-government street protests in 2019, and that it includes human rights safeguards.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam expressed “regret and disappointment” over the move.
Lam said in a statement that foreign judges had made a valuable contribution to Hong Kong for 25 years but “we must vehemently refute any unfounded allegations that the judges’ resignations have anything to do with…the national security law”.
Hong Kong Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said in a statement that he noted with “regret” the resignations of Reed and Hodge, saying the judiciary was committed to the rule of law.
PRESSURE ON OTHER FOREIGN JUDGES
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Hong Kong had witnessed “a systematic erosion of liberty and democracy”.
“The situation has reached a tipping point where it is no longer tenable for British judges to sit on Hong Kong’s leading court, and (this) would risk legitimising oppression,” she added.
Truss this month criticised Hong Kong authorities for accusing a British-based human rights groups of colluding with foreign forces in a “likely” violation of the security law. read more
In a report on Hong Kong last December, she said that while judicial independence was increasingly finely balanced, she believed British judges could still “play a positive role in supporting this judicial independence”.
The presence of foreign judges in Hong Kong is enshrined in the Basic Law, the mini-constitution that guarantees the global financial hub’s freedoms and extensive autonomy under Chinese rule, including the continuation of Hong Kong’s common law traditions forged during the colonial era.
Reed has previously said he would not serve on the HKCFA in the event the judiciary in the city was undermined.
Local lawyers said the resignations would likely put pressure on the 10 other foreign Court of Final Appeal judges to quit. Six of these are British.
Those judges, also from Canada and Australia, are mostly retired senior jurists in their home countries, unlike Reed and Hodge, who were still serving.
Two other foreign judges, Britain’s Brenda Hale and Australia’s James Spigelman, have also stepped down from the city’s highest court since 2020.
“It is a big blow to the local fraternity and the grand tradition of Hong Kong’s rule of law,” one veteran barrister told Reuters. “For all the pressures ahead, we really needed them and I fear what comes next.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Hong Kong Law Society president Chan Chak Ming urged Reed and Hodge to reconsider their moves, expressing “deep regret” and saying that the decision “disappointingly falls short” of the support among the public and legal community for the continued role of overseas judges.
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Reporting by Michael Holden and William James in London and Greg Torode and James Pomfret in Hong Kong; Editing by Kate Holton, Barbara Lewis, John Stonestreet and Nick Macfie
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
HANOI/SAN FRANCISCO, March 29 (Reuters) – Vietnam’s automaker VinFast said on Tuesday it has signed a preliminary deal to initially invest $2 billion to build a factory in North Carolinato make electric buses, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) along with batteries for EVs.
The unit of Vietnam’s biggest conglomerate Vingroup (VIC.HM), said it plans to have a total investment of $4 billion in its first U.S. factory complex.
Construction should begin this year as soon as the company gets necessary permits, and is expected to finish by July 2024. The plant’s initial capacity will be 150,000 units per year, Vinfast said.
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“With a manufacturing facility right in the U.S. market, VinFast can stabilize prices and shorten product delivery time, making our EVs more accessible to customers,” said Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, Vingroup vice chair and VinFast Global CEO.
VinFast has begun taking pre-orders globally for two electric SUVs with a goal to begin delivering them in the fourth quarter.
U.S. President Joe Biden said the VinFast investment, which will create more than 7,000 jobs, is “the latest example of my economic strategy at work.”
“It builds on recent announcements from companies like GM, Ford, and Siemens to invest in America again and create jobs, said Biden, who set an ambitious goal for half of new car sales to be electric by 2030.
This will be North Carolina’s first car plant and it is the largest economic development announcement in the state’s history, the governor’s office said in a statement.
VinFast said prices for its VF8 sport SUV started from $41,000 in the United States. By comparison, a Tesla SUV sells for around $63,000. VinFast is targeting global electric vehicle sales of 42,000 this year.
PRODUCTION IS HARD
VinFast is betting big on the U.S. market, where it hopes to compete with legacy automakers and startups with affordable electric SUVs and a battery leasing model.
Other electric vehicle startups like Rivian and Lucid have slashed their production targets this year due to supply chain disruptions caused by coronavirus, which hit their share prices. read more
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last year, “It’s insanely difficult to reach volume production at affordable unit cost.”
VinFast, which became Vietnam’s first fully fledged domestic car manufacturer in 2019, plans to transition to all-electric vehicle production from late 2022.
Outside of North America, the company is looking for a plant in Germany, it said in January.
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Reporting by Phuong Nguyen in Vietnam and Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
