"Russia has not yet countered, and Moscow's response has not yet come out." The Russian Foreign Ministry said on the 9th that counter-sanctions measures against Western sanctions are being prepared. Russian officials also made it clear that the Russian response would be "swift, comprehensive and visible." At the same time, half of the Russian federation is mobilizing in response to sanctions pressure and the withdrawal of Western companies. Since the escalation of the crisis in Ukraine, the United States and the West have frequently sanctioned Russia, and the latest big move is the energy import ban of the United States and Britain. This time, however, Germany, France and the European Union did not follow. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on the 9th that China resolutely opposes unilateral sanctions without a basis in international law, and often wields the big stick of sanctions in exchange for peace and security, which will only cause serious difficulties to the economy and people's livelihood of relevant countries, bring about a lose-lose situation or lose more, and further aggravate division and confrontation.
U.S.-UK oil ban 'limited'
On the 8th local time, the US government officially announced that it would ban the import of oil, natural gas, coal and other energy from Russia, and Biden signed relevant executive orders on the same day. Britain quickly followed, saying it would gradually stop importing Russian oil and corresponding products before the end of the year. In this regard, the German foreign minister said that he did not intend to emulate the United States and Britain. France said it must coordinate with the EU before any further measures could be taken. However, the European Union announced new sanctions on the 9th - decided to exclude 3 banks in Belarus from SWIFT (Global Bank financial telecommunication Association), imposing sanctions on 160 Russian oligarchs and politicians. The EU will also ban the export of maritime-related technology to Russia.
Some media noted that the white house issued a briefing on sanctions against Russian energy did not mention Russian uranium. About half of the uranium at U.S. nuclear power plants depends on supplies from Russia and its allies Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Britain's ban leaves time for homegrown companies to find alternative sources of imports, and the ban does not include natural gas.
The U.S. "Quartz" website said that unlike other sanctions jointly imposed by multiple countries, the oil ban is only supported by the United States and Britain, which limits its effectiveness. Still, oil accounts for about 3 percent of the global economy, meaning any price increase will ripple through everything from gasoline to fertilizer to clothing.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 8 percent of U.S. imports of oil and refined products last year came from Russia. The United States also imports small amounts of coal from Russia. As of Tuesday, the average U.S. price of regular gasoline had surged 55 cents over the past week to $4.17/gallon, breaking the record of $4.11/gallon set in the summer of 2008.
Biden expects energy prices to rise further as a result of "Putin's war," Reuters said, and he pledged to do everything in his power to minimize the impact on the American people. He also warned U.S. gas companies not to take advantage of the opportunity to make huge profits. U.S. Senator Chris, a Democrat, told the U.S. media: We will see the price of natural gas in the United States rise, and the price of natural gas in Europe will rise sharply. This is the price of defending freedom and standing with the Ukrainian people. ”
Biden Infographic
In fact, the White House was hesitant to sanction Russian energy for fear that already high inflation in the United States would be pushed up further. That's why Biden emphasized that the ban was supported by both parties, especially the Republican Party. Interestingly, after Biden issued the relevant ban, the Republican Party expressed support and quickly turned to blame Biden for causing the gas price to rise. "Republicans think Biden can do both, NBC wrote.
"Russia warns the West"
McDonald's announced on the 8th that it will temporarily close 850 stores in Russia, which also attracted attention. There are also similar actions in Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Parkson and so on. Agence France-Presse said on the 9th that these companies are a symbol of the cultural influence of the United States in the world, and several of them have previously become the object of boycott calls on social media. According to a team at Yale University, about 290 companies have announced their withdrawal from Russia, and about 30 multinationals are still on the list of russia with which they do a lot of business.
At noon on the 9th, the Global Times reporter in Moscow visited a local McDonald's restaurant and found that it was still open, and services such as window ordering, car ordering, and takeaway were also carried out normally. For the closure plan, the staff said that they were not aware of it. Some Russian media said that a screenshot of the information released by a McDonald's employee showed that the McDonald's restaurant in Russia is expected to suspend business for three months from March 14.
Russia's "Businessman" said on the 9th that in the context of increasing sanctions pressure and large-scale withdrawal of Western enterprises, half of the Russian federal entities are mobilizing. At the federal level, the headquarters of "anti-sanctions" was established on March 1. Some local leaders have banned their subordinates from taking leave, while others are considering adjusting the current budget and making recommendations to the federal government. Vinogradov, head of the St. Petersburg Political Foundation, said regions are working to reduce social anxiety, monitor problems and help solve the most pressing problems.
On the 8th, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order on taking special measures in the field of foreign economic activities to ensure Russia's security. Putin instructed that special economic measures be implemented before the end of the year to ban the import and export of some products and raw materials, and the relevant list will be determined by the government. Putin also instructed the government to establish a list of countries with prohibited exports within two days. On the 9th, Russian Prime Minister Mishustin said that the government has formulated an action plan to stabilize the economy in the case of increased sanctions.
Putin infographic
"Russia warns the West: Our sanctions will hurt you." Reuters said that Bilychevsky, director of the Department of Economic Cooperation of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on the 9th that all areas of Russia are formulating response measures, and will also formulate targeted retaliatory trade and financial restrictions against the West. "Work on economic countermeasures is taking place on all fronts, and the drafting phase is mostly of a closed nature. But no one should doubt that Russia's response will be swift, comprehensive and visible. ”
"Of course the United States has declared war on Russia, and they are waging this war." Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov used "economic warfare" to describe U.S. measures on the 9th. To defeat the United States, he said, Russia must do everything in its own interest. On the same day, on the proposal to seriously consider the nationalization of production of foreign enterprises withdrawing from the Russian market, Peskov said that there was no comment for the time being, there was no clear position on this issue, and the government was urgently studying and formulating various plans.
Warsaw catches Washington off guard
Regarding the situation in Russia and Ukraine, on the evening of the 8th, Ukrainian President Zelenskiy once again called for negotiations in a video speech. On the evening of the 7th, he said in an interview with the ABC that he would no longer insist on joining NATO and was ready to hold dialogue with the Russian side on issues such as collective security guarantees, the "future" of the Donbass region and Crimea, but he stressed that he would not compromise with Russia. On the 9th, Putin and German Chancellor Scholz discussed the situation in Ukraine on the phone. According to reports, Khyovkova, deputy director of the Office of the Ukrainian President, said that Kiev was communicating with Scholz and asking him to help organize the highest-level talks between Ukraine and Russia.
Zelenskiy infographic
Over the past dozen days, Zelenskiy has repeatedly called for the West to set up a "no-fly zone" to provide ukrainian pilots with fighter jets. On the evening of the 8th, Poland said it could hand over all its MiG-29 fighters "immediately and freely" to the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany for the United States to supply to Ukraine. Poland has also called on other NATO allies with MiG-29 fighter jets to take similar action. According to statistics, there are 28 MiG-29 fighters in Poland, 14 in Slovakia and 11 in Bulgaria.
But Poland's offer was quickly rejected by the United States. A Pentagon spokesman called the proposal "too risky" and "untenable" and stressed that both the U.S. and NATO would avoid an all-out conflict with Russia. US Deputy Secretary of State Nuland was even more "surprised", saying that Poland did not communicate with the US side in advance. Multiple sources told CNN that the Biden administration was caught off guard by Poland's proposal.
On the 9th, Zelenskiy urged the West to make a decision on the Polish proposal. "We can see from the media that the United States and Poland are discussing. However, we feel that the Polish proposal has not received support. He said. On the same day, Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki said that the decision is in the hands of the United States and NATO, "we do not agree to provide aircraft independently, because this should be the decision of the entire NATO." A spokesman for the German Foreign Office said all decisions had to be taken into account not allowing the conflict to spread to NATO.
On the 9th, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova warned that Russia has issued a notice to several countries through the Russian embassy in the host country that they will take responsibility for providing military assistance, weapons and sending mercenaries to Ukraine.
Source: Global Times-Global Network/Sui Xin Liu Yupeng Ren Zhong
Column Editor-in-Chief: Zhang Wu Text Editor: Lu Xiaochuan Caption Source: Xinhua News Agency Photo Editor: Cao Liyuan
Source: Author: Global Times Sui Xin Liu Yupeng Ren Zhong