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Rabu, 04 Mei 2022

Ukraine war: EU plans Russian oil ban and war crimes sanctions - BBC

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The EU has proposed some of its toughest measures yet against Russia, including a total ban on oil imports and sanctions on war crimes suspects.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the package was aimed at maximising pressure on Russia while minimising damage to Europe.

Russian crude oil would be phased out within six months, she said.

Hungary has rejected the proposal as unacceptable and the Czech and Slovak governments want a transition period.

The EU has been focusing for weeks on how to wean itself off Russian oil and gas. It has already pledged to reduce gas imports by two-thirds by the end of 2022 and now plans to phase out crude oil over six months and refined products by the end of 2022.

"We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion," the Commission president said.

The package first has to be approved by EU ambassadors and is set to be signed off in the next few days.

But Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said his country would veto it in its current form: "They exactly know that what they are proposing is against Hungarian interests... and if we do that we are completely going to ruin the Hungarian economy."

Slovakia as well as Hungary currently relies on Russian oil and under the initial proposal would be given until the end of 2023 to find alternative suppliers. Slovakia's economy minister said his country wanted a three-year transition period and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said he would also seek a two-to-three year exemption to tackle problems with pipeline capacity.

Last year, Russia supplied the EU with a quarter of its oil imports, and the Netherlands and Germany were the biggest buyers.

The Dutch government has said it wants to halt all Russian fossil fuel imports by the end of this year and Germany has drastically reduced its reliance on Russian oil imports, down from 35% to 12%. The UK, which is no longer in the EU, is already phasing out Russian oil, which accounts for 8% of its imports.

How Germany is getting rid of Russian oil

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was working on various options in response to the planned embargo. Sanctions were a double-edged sword for the Europeans and others, he said, as the cost for European citizens would increase every day.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a video briefing on social media that the gradual EU ban on oil was "better than nothing". Any country that opposed the oil embargo was complicit in Russia's crimes in Ukraine, he said, whatever their arguments.

Targeting war crimes and propaganda

As well as seeking a ban on Russian oil, the EU Commission president announced that sanctions would be imposed on military officers involved in suspected war crimes in Bucha and Mariupol.

"This sends another important signal to all perpetrators of the Kremlin's war: We know who you are, and you will be held accountable," Ms von der Leyen told the European Parliament on Wednesday.

There are plans for a broad ban on three of the biggest Russian state-run broadcasters.

"We have identified these TV channels as mouthpieces that amplify Putin's lies and propaganda aggressively," Ms von der Leyen said. Although the three networks were not named, they are thought to include the widely watched Russian-language Rossiya and RTR Planeta channels of state-owned operator VGTRK. The EU has already suspended two networks, RT and Sputnik, that broadcast in English, German and Spanish.

A ban would also be imposed on providing European services to Russian companies through accountants, lawyers and spin-doctors, she said.

Earlier sanctions have already hit Russian banks but the biggest bank of all, Sberbank, has been left off the list because it was considered necessary for paying for Russian gas. Sberbank makes up over a third of Russia's banking sector and is now set to be removed from the SWIFT global financial messaging system. Two other Russian banks are included in the proposals.

Previous sanctions packages have also targeted a number of individuals linked to the Kremlin and the invasion, and unconfirmed reports suggested the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, would be on the latest list, along with the family of Dmitry Peskov.

War in Ukraine: More coverage

KYIV: Ukrainian villages haunted by the vanished
ENERGY: EU divided over how to step away from Russian energy
WATCH: The southern villages holding back the Russians
READ MORE: Full coverage of the crisis

'We want Ukraine to win'

The Commission president also gave details of plans to help Ukraine tackle the vast costs of the war and the impact on its economy.

Explaining Europe's "very special responsibility towards Ukraine", she said Ukraine needed to fund the dramatic fall in its economic output and wider reconstruction.

A recovery package would be drawn up that could tackle weaknesses in the Ukrainian economy and help fight corruption, she said.

"We want Ukraine to win this war, but we also want to set the conditions for Ukraine's success in the aftermath of the war."

In a separate move, the EU also promised to increase military aid to neighbouring Moldova, which is under threat from Russian soldiers based in the breakaway Moldova region of Transnistria. "We will continue to deepen our partnership with you to bring your country closer to the EU," European Council President Charles Michel told Moldova's pro-EU president, Maia Sandu, in Chisinau.

What questions do you have about the war in Ukraine?

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2022-05-04 16:42:04Z
1405896528

Ukraine war: EU plans Russian oil ban and war crimes sanctions - BBC

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The EU has proposed some of its toughest measures yet against Russia, including a total ban on oil imports and sanctions on war crimes suspects.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the package was aimed at maximising pressure on Russia while minimising damage to Europe.

Russian crude oil would be phased out within six months, she said.

Military officers involved in suspected war crimes in Bucha and Mariupol would also face new sanctions.

"This sends another important signal to all perpetrators of the Kremlin's war: We know who you are, and you will be held accountable," Ms von der Leyen told the European Parliament on Wednesday.

"We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion," the Commission president said.

The package first has to be approved by EU ambassadors and is set to be signed off in the next few days.

Slovakia and Hungary, which currently rely on Russian oil, would be given an extra year to find alternative suppliers. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Budapest could not support the package in its current form, while Slovakia's economy minister said his country wanted a three-year transition period.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said he would also seek a two-to-three year exemption to tackle problems with pipeline capacity.

Slovakia imports nearly all of its crude oil from Russia and processes it here at its Slovnaft refinery

Last year, Russia supplied the EU with a quarter of its oil imports, and Germany was the biggest buyer. However, Germany has dramatically reduced its reliance on Russian oil imports, down from 35% to 12%. The UK, which is no longer in the EU, is already phasing out Russian oil, which accounts for 8% of its imports.

How Germany is getting rid of Russian oil

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was working on various options in response to the planned embargo. Sanctions were a double-edged sword for the Europeans and others, as the cost for European citizens would increase every day.

Targeting Russian banks and TV

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU suspended broadcasts of two networks, RT and Sputnik, that broadcast in English, German and Spanish. It has now targeted three of the biggest Russian state-run broadcasters, by cable, satellite, smartphone or online.

A ban would also be imposed on providing European services to Russian companies through accountants, lawyers and spin-doctors, she said.

War in Ukraine: More coverage

KYIV: Ukrainian villages haunted by the vanished
ENERGY: EU divided over how to step away from Russian energy
WATCH: The southern villages holding back the Russians
READ MORE: Full coverage of the crisis

'We want Ukraine to win'

The Commission president also gave details of plans to help Ukraine tackle the vast costs of the war and the impact on its economy.

Explaining Europe's "very special responsibility towards Ukraine", she said Ukraine needed to fund the dramatic fall in its economic output and wider reconstruction.

A recovery package would be drawn up that could tackle weaknesses in the Ukrainian economy and help fight corruption, she said.

"We want Ukraine to win this war, but we also want to set the conditions for Ukraine's success in the aftermath of the war."

What questions do you have about the war in Ukraine?

Send your questions to yourquestions@bbc.co.uk
WhatsApp us at +44 7756 165803
Tweet us @BBC_HaveYourSay

Or please use this form to ask your question:

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Ukraine war: EU plans Russian oil ban by the end of the year in new package of sanctions - Sky News

The European Union has announced plans to ban Russian oil by the end of the year as part of a sixth package of sanctions in response to the war in Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the bloc's parliament in Strasbourg that member states should cease to buy oil supplies within six months and associated products from Russia by the end of 2022.

The sanctions are yet to be formally approved by member states and will likely be voted down by those who are reliant on supplies from Russia, such as Hungary and Slovakia, without exemptions being agreed.

Ms von der Leyen proposed: "This will be a complete import ban on all Russian oil, seaborne and pipeline, crude and refined.

"It will not be easy. Some member states are strongly dependent on Russian oil. But we simply have to work on it."

"(Vladimir) Putin must pay a price, a high price, for his brutal aggression," she said to applause across the parliament's chamber.

The move follows a similar measure announced by Britain in early March but the country secures far less oil and oil products from Russia than many EU member states.

Hungary and Slovakia had already threatened to veto any outright ban before the announcement.

While the EU relies on Russia for around 26% of its supplies, Slovakia secures over 90% of its oil from Russia.

A majority of Hungary's oil is also sourced from Russia.

Germany, which had been initially reluctant to support such measures, has managed to bring its share of Russian oil imports down to 25% and signalled it could now cope with an embargo.

The EU's announcement was credited with sending Brent crude prices higher on Wednesday morning - up more than 2% at $107 a barrel.

There was no announcement from the Commission on any measures targeting gas imports.

But Ms von der Leyen said there would be new sanctions to outlaw three Russian broadcasters and target banks, including Sberbank.

She said Russia's largest lender and two others would be added to the list of those excluded from the SWIFT messaging system.

More high-ranking Russian military officials were to face asset freezes and travel bans, she said, without divulging the names.

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2022-05-04 07:35:41Z
1405896528

Selasa, 03 Mei 2022

Mario Draghi urges EU to deepen economic integration in response to war - Financial Times

Mario Draghi has urged the EU to streamline its decision-making and deepen economic integration as the union seeks to respond to the upheaval triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Italian prime minister told the European parliament on Tuesday that the EU needed to embrace “pragmatic federalism” in multiple policy areas including defence, foreign policy and economic burden-sharing given the crisis unfolding to its east. If the reforms required the EU to reopen its treaties then it should be prepared to do so, he added.

“The institutions set up by our predecessors over the past decades have served Europe’s citizens well, but they are inadequate given the reality that confronts us today,” he said in Strasbourg. “We need a pragmatic federalism: one that encompasses all the areas affected by the transformations taking place — from the economy, to energy, to security.”

The EU responded rapidly to the Ukraine crisis, unleashing multiple rounds of sanctions on Moscow and offering generous terms to Ukrainian refugees. However, the crisis is prompting some policymakers to call for bolder reforms given the threat from Russia.

Among Draghi’s proposals are a call for the EU to abandon the requirement for most common foreign and security policy decisions to be adopted only by unanimity among member states. This comes as they debate this week whether to impose new sanctions on Russia, including an oil embargo — a proposal that has encountered resistance from EU capitals including Budapest.

“We must overcome this principle of unanimity, which leads to a logic of crossed vetoes, and move towards decisions taken by a qualified majority,” said Draghi. “A Europe capable of making timely decisions is a Europe [that] is more credible vis-à-vis its citizens and vis-à-vis the world.”

Among Draghi’s other proposals are improved joint mechanisms to handle migration, and greater co-ordination on defence. While the combined defence spending of EU member states is about three times that of Russia, he said the EU operated a total of 146 defence systems — compared with just 34 in the US.

Such fragmented defence spending, he said, was “a profoundly inefficient distribution of resources, which hinders the construction of a true European defence”. To tackle this problem, he urged the EU to convene a conference on rationalising and optimising defence spending by member states.

Draghi also revived calls for the EU to build on its joint response to the Covid-19 crisis, including in the realm of common borrowing.

This could involve extending a joint EU unemployment insurance programme to permit lending to member states needing help to mitigate rising energy costs, he said.

In addition, he argued that the EU should build on its €800bn NextGenerationEU economic reconstruction plan to support investments in defence and industrial security.

Meanwhile, Draghi reiterated Rome’s strong support for Ukraine, and its accession to the EU, although he said that Italy hoped for a truce that would pave the way for negotiations.

“In a war of aggression there can be no equivalence between those who invade and those who resist,” he added. “Protecting Ukraine means protecting ourselves and the project of security and democracy that we have built together over 70 years.”

Draghi also affirmed Italy’s support for the EU to move swiftly on expanding to include other members, with the immediate opening of accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia, giving new impetus to talks with Serbia and Montenegro, and paying more attention to “the legitimate expectations” of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo.

“We are in favour of the entry of all these countries,” he said. “We must follow the entry path we have drawn but we must move as quickly as possible.”

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2022-05-03 16:12:30Z
1411762269

Roe v Wade: US Supreme Court may overturn abortion rights, leak suggests - BBC

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Millions of women across the US could soon lose their legal right to abortion, according to a leaked Supreme Court document.

The document, published by Politico, suggests the country's top court is poised to overturn the 1973 decision that legalised abortion nationwide.

If the court strikes down the Roe v Wade ruling, individual states would be allowed to ban abortion if they wish.

It is expected abortion could then be banned in almost half of US states.

The Supreme Court's justices are expected to issue a ruling in late June or early July.

Roe v Wade is in the court's sights because Mississippi is asking for it to be overturned. The justices heard that case in December.

Thirteen states have already passed so-called trigger laws that will automatically ban abortion if Roe is overruled this summer. A number of others would be likely to pass laws quickly.

Some 36 million women could then lose abortion access, according to research from Planned Parenthood, a healthcare organisation which provides abortions.

"If the court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation's elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman's right to choose," President Joe Biden said in a statement on Tuesday.

"We will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law," he said.

Anti-abortion groups such as the Susan B. Anthony List have welcomed the news. "If Roe is indeed overturned, our job will be to build consensus for the strongest protections possible for unborn children," it said.

The leaked document - labelled "1st Draft" - appears to reflect the majority opinion of the court, and Politico reports that it was written by Justice Samuel Alito and circulated within the court on 10 February.

But it is unclear if it represents a final opinion, as justices have previously changed their views during the drafting process. The Supreme Court and the White House have not yet commented.

Its publication on Monday night sparked an immediate outcry from Democrats, as well as protests by both pro-choice and anti-abortion campaigners outside the court in Washington DC.

Leading Democratic politicians Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer said jointly that if the report was accurate, the Supreme Court was "poised to inflict the greatest restriction of rights in the past 50 years".

An unprecedented leak

Analysis box by Anthony Zurcher, North America reporter

Assume for a moment that this draft opinion becomes the law of the land. In an instant - because of statutes already on the books and "trigger" laws designed for such an occasion - abortion would be illegal in 22 states.

The legality of the procedure would become a vicious political battleground in the midst of an election year.

This is the significance of what may be unfolding in the Supreme Court.

Draft opinions, however, are just that - drafts. And there have been accounts of justices shifting their views as the opinion-drafting process unfolds within the cloistered court chambers. This unprecedented leak short-circuits all that.

For most of US history, the Supreme Court has operated like Mount Olympus, handing down opinions from on high. That opacity has been shattered perhaps for good, as the leaking spreads.

What it will mean for the legitimacy of the judicial process in the US remains to be seen, but within the institution itself it seems safe to assume that all trust between the judges, a collegial group once referred to as "the brethren", is gone.

In an era when political norms have been broken like pottery in an earthquake, another big piece has fallen.

Democratic governors of several states including California, New Mexico and Michigan announced plans to enshrine abortion rights within their constitutions even if the court overturned Roe v Wade.

"I promise you this: I will fight like hell to make sure abortion remains safe, legal and accessible in our state," Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer tweeted.

News outlet Politico published the leaked document in full, quoting Justice Alito as saying: "Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences.

"And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, [it has] enflamed debate and deepened division."

Rival groups of protesters continued demonstrations outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday, with anti-abortion activists chanting "Roe v Wade has got to go" and abortion rights supporters shouting "abortion is healthcare".

"They are not going to get away with this," pro-choice campaigner Reverend Wendy Hamilton told Reuters news agency. "There is more of us than there is of them, and we are going to fight."

"This is just tearing apart everything that we've worked for," another demonstrator said.

One anti-abortion supporter, Emma Heussner, said: "I'm very passionate about being pro-life. It's a big deal to see Roe v Wade potentially overturned."

Protesters react outside the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has been reshaped by three appointments under former President Donald Trump, and has been called the most conservative-leaning in modern US history.

Six of the nine current justices were appointed by Republican presidents. The other three were picked by Democratic presidents. The court needs a majority to set a ruling.

Politico reports that Justice Alito and four other Republican-appointed justices - Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett - are in favour of the move against Roe v Wade but it is not clear how Chief Justice John Roberts will vote.

According to the BBC's US partner CBS News, the leak itself will also cause tremendous damage to one of America's most respected institutions and likely see a full-blown investigation, involving the FBI, to unmask the source.

Roe v Wade in 1973 gave women in the US an absolute right to an abortion in the first three months of pregnancy, and limited rights in the second trimester.

But in the decades since, anti-abortion rulings have gradually pared back access in more than a dozen states.

In 2021 alone, nearly 600 abortion restrictions were introduced nationwide, with 90 enacted into law. That is more than in any year since Roe.

Limiting abortion access will most intensely affect poor women, researchers say, and they are already more likely to seek an abortion in the first place.

Women in their 20s account for the majority of abortions - in 2019 about 57% were in this age group. Black Americans get abortions at the highest rate - 27 per 1,000 women aged 15-44.

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2022-05-03 14:18:34Z
1403969587

Live news: Eurozone unemployment hits record low - Financial Times

Boris Johnson has conceded that the west “collectively failed” in its response to Russia’s invasion of Crimea eight years ago and pledged to supply Ukraine with more “weapons, funding and humanitarian aid”.

The UK prime minister in a virtual address to the Ukrainian parliament condemned President Vladimir Putin’s “grotesque and illegal campaign” in Ukraine, adding that the UK would hold the Russian leader to account for war crimes.

The conflict in Ukraine had “no moral ambiguities” or “grey areas”, Johnson added.

“It is about Ukrainian democracy against Putin’s tyranny; it is about freedom versus oppression; it is about right versus wrong; it is about good versus evil,” he told parliamentarians in the Verkhovna Rada. Western leaders should not repeat the mistakes of 2014, when President Putin invaded Crimea, the prime minister added.

“The truth is that we were too slow to grasp what was really happening and we collectively failed to impose the sanctions then that we should have put on Vladimir Putin,” he said.

Johnson praised the bravery of Ukrainians, saying they fought “with the energy and courage of lions”.

“Your children and grandchildren will say that Ukrainians taught the world that the brute force of an aggressor counts for nothing against the moral force of a people determined to be free,” he said. “I believe that Ukraine will win.”

Johnson unveiled a £300mn military package of support, with weapons to Ukraine including Brimstone anti-ship missiles and Stormer anti-aircraft systems. Melinda Simmons, UK ambassador to Ukraine, would return to Kyiv to reopen the UK’s embassy, he added.

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2022-05-03 12:12:42Z
1405796817

Russia renews attack on Azovstal steelworks as civilians flee - The Times

Russia has resumed its assault on a steel plant in Mariupol shortly after the first civilians were evacuated from within the last bastion of the city’s defence.

Civilians are said to remain in the Azovstal metalworks alongside the Ukrainian soldiers making a final stand in the battle for the strategic port city. Russia said it was using artillery and aircraft to target “firing positions” taken by Ukrainian troops.

It comes two weeks after President Putin called off a planned storming of the plant, ordering his forces to instead surround it so that “not even a fly” could escape.

A UN official said 101 people had been evacuated, most of them to the city of Zaporizhzhia. Survivors described desperate conditions in the underground bunkers beneath the

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2022-05-03 13:40:00Z
1402967704

Rabu, 04 Mei 2022

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Targeting war crimes and propaganda

War in Ukraine: More coverage

'We want Ukraine to win'

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Targeting Russian banks and TV

War in Ukraine: More coverage

'We want Ukraine to win'

Selasa, 03 Mei 2022

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An unprecedented leak

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