Beijing claims that restrictions will not solve problems in Ukraine
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it opposes the use of unilateral sanctions to resolve the crisis in Ukraine after Russia’s decision to launch an attack on the country with the stated goal to “demilitarize” it. Western powers have announced a raft of punitive measures, including on the Russian economy and its banking sector.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular news briefing that sanctions will not solve problems but will create new ones. He claimed that sanctions will interfere with the process of reaching a ceasefire and political agreement to end the conflict.
“China does not support the use of sanctions to solve the problem and is even more opposed to unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law,” Wang stated.
On Friday, China denied that it was somehow “stained by association” for failing to denounce Russia over its massive assault on neighboring Ukraine.
Ministry spokesman Wang told reporters at a daily briefing in Beijing that it was countries that interfered in the domestic affairs of others that would see their reputations stained, refuting US President Joe Biden’s comments on the issue from a day prior.
The West has introduced wide-ranging sanctions on Russia, sending the ruble into freefall. NATO powers have agreed to cut a number of Russian banks from the SWIFT financial system for international payments. On Thursday, Russia launched a full-scale military attack against Ukraine.
The move came after Moscow formally recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk breakaway republics in the Donbass, accusing Kiev of failing in its obligations under the Minsk agreements struck in 2014 and 2015 to resolve conflict between separatists and the Ukrainian government.
Johannesburg, Feb 28 (IPS) – A crucial two-day meeting of Parliamentarians from the Asian, Arab and African regions will put human-rights-based legislative frameworks under the spotlight as the regions work to implement the ICPD Programme of Action.
NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with Professor Scheherazade Rehman of George Washington University, about the international banking messaging system known as SWIFT.
The bloc’s top diplomat said lethal aid will be delivered through Poland
The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell has revealed that a 450 million Euro package of “lethal aid” for Ukraine will include fighter jets, with all weapons delivered through Poland. Borrell also said that around half of the Russian Central Bank’s reserves would be frozen.
Speaking hours after EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the bloc would “finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment” for Ukraine, Borrell revealed that the EU’s “lethal aid” package would amount to 450 million euros ($501 million), with another 50 million euros ($55,744) going toward non-lethal aid, including fuel and medical supplies.
“Certainly, we are going to supply arms…we are even going to provide fighting jets,” Borrell told reporters. “We are not just talking about ammunition.”
Borrell added that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had requested fighter jets that Ukrainian pilots could operate, and that such jets could be procured from certain EU countries. The Ukrainian Air Force uses Soviet-designed MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-24, Su-25, and Su-27 jets in combat roles, and with the Su-25 used by Bulgaria and the MiG-29 used by Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia, the jets will likely be sourced from these countries.
Borrell said that military aid will be delivered to Ukraine via Poland, though he did not specify whether the jets would be flown into Ukraine or driven across the border.
The EU’s top diplomat also announced that financial sanctions would freeze “about half of the financial reserves of the Russian central bank.” Half of Russia’s reserves are in banks in G7 countries, Borrell stated, explaining that the EU can not block the other half located in Russia or elsewhere.
While individual EU nations, as well as the UK and US, have promised caches of military aid to Ukraine in recent days, the bloc’s move is an unprecedented one.
It comes four days into Russia’s military offensive on Ukraine, which was launched after months of negotiations with the west over Kiev’s aspirations of NATO membership failed. Russia has long considered the idea of Ukraine joining the alliance an unacceptable security risk, yet leaders in Kiev, Washington, and Brussels refused to rule out membership for Ukraine in the Cold War-era pact.
Delegations from Ukraine and Russia plan to meet in Belarus on Monday for tentative negotiations.
