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Turkey has opposed sanctions on Russia

Ukrainian embassy in Ankara appeals Turkey for help by preventing Black Sea waterways to Russian ships.

Later Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “heavy blow to regional peace and stability”.

Turkey has opposed sanctions on Russia, and has been calling for NATO and Russia to tone down their rhetoric. Erdogan said last month Turkey was “ready to do whatever is necessary” to avoid a war, but Ankara has also described Russian steps against Ukraine as unacceptable.

While building close cooperation with Russia on defence and energy, Turkey has also invested in the Ukrainian defence industry. It has also sold sophisticated drones to Ukraine and signed a deal to co-produce more, angering Moscow.

Earlier this month, six Russian warships and a submarine transited the Dardanelles and Bosphorus Straits to the Black Sea for what Moscow called naval drills near Ukraine waters.

Under the 1936 accord, Turkey has control over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles and the power to regulate the transit of naval warships. It also guarantees the free passage of civilian vessels in peacetime and restricts the passage of ships not belonging to countries bordering the Black Sea.

In wartime, or when it is threatened by aggression, Turkey is authorised to close the straits to all foreign warships. It can also refuse transit for merchant ships from countries at war with Turkey and to fortify the straits in case of conflict.

All non-Black Sea countries wishing to send vessels must notify Turkey 15 days in advance, while Black Sea nations must give eight days notification.

Passage is limited to nine warships of a specific aggregate tonnage at any one time, with no ship above 10,000 tonnes allowed to pass. A non-Black Sea country’s ships cannot exceed a total of 30,000 tonnes at any time, and the vessels are allowed to stay in the region no more than 21 days. Black Sea states may transit ships of any tonnage.

Black Sea countries can send submarines through the straits with prior notice, as long as they have been built or bought by them or sent for repair outside the Black Sea.

Civil aircraft can be transited along routes authorised by the Turkish government. The accord does not contain restrictions on the passage of aircraft carriers, but Ankara says it has control over that as well.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Kremlin today in his first face-to-face talks since the start of a special military operation in eastern Ukraine and the two leaders are expected review the entire array of bilateral ties including energy cooperation besides exchanging views on major regional and international issues.

Imran Khan, who arrived in Russia on Wednesday on a two-day visit – the first by a Pakistani premier in over two decades – began his engagements in Moscow by laying a wreath at ‘Tomb of the Unknown Soldier’, hours after the Russian President ordered a special military operation in eastern Ukraine, ignoring last-minute appeals and warnings from the West.

President Putin is holding a meeting with Prime Minister Khan in the Kremlin, state-run TASS news agency reported.

“These are the first face-to-face talks of the Russian leader since the start of a special military operation to protect Donbass,” the agency said.

Earlier, the Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Digital Media, Dr Arslan Khalid, said that his visit to Russia “continues as per plan”, dismissing reports in a section of media that Imran Khan has cut short his visit to Moscow in the wake of the latest developments.

The meeting between Imran Khan and Vladimir Putin to discuss issues including economic cooperation came hours after US President Joe Biden and other Western governments imposed tough economic sanctions on Russia for sending its military into parts of eastern Ukraine.

Imran Khan was expected to push for the construction of a long-delayed, multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline to be built in collaboration with Russian companies, the Pakistani media reported.

In Washington, Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price said that the US has communicated its position to Islamabad on Russia’s “renewed invasion” of Ukraine and it was the “responsibility” of every country to voice objection to Vladimir Putin’s actions.

“Well, we’re certainly aware of the trip,” Mr Price said. “We’ve communicated to Pakistan our position regarding Russia’s further renewed invasion of Ukraine, and we have briefed them on our efforts to pursue diplomacy over war.”

“We believe it’s the responsibility of every responsible country around the world to voice concern, to voice objection to what Putin appears to have in mind for Ukraine,” he said in response to a question on Wednesday.

In an interview to Russia’s state-run RT television network ahead of his trip, Imran Khan, 69, had voiced concern about the situation in Ukraine and the possibility of new sanctions and their impact on Islamabad’s growing cooperation with Moscow.

Imran Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, is the first Pakistani premier to visit Russia in 23 years after former premier Nawaz Sharif travelled to Moscow in 1999.

Pakistan’s ties with Russia have moved past the bitter Cold War hostilities in recent years and the chill in the relations between Pakistan and the US has further pushed the country towards Russia and China.

The two countries are not just exploring options to deepen economic ties, but Russia is also keen to sell arms to Pakistan, something it avoided in the past because of India’s opposition.

The two countries have already been holding regular joint military exercises since 2016 in another sign of deepening ties between Moscow and Islamabad. Besides, the two countries also share the same view on key regional and international issues including Afghanistan.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Russian air strikes hit military facilities across the country and ground forces moved in from the north, south and east, triggering condemnation from Western leaders and warnings of massive sanctions.

The attack came on the first day of an invasion of Ukraine that President Vladimir Putin launchedKyiv: 

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, killing dozens and forcing hundreds to flee for their lives in the pro-Western neighbour.

Russian air strikes hit military facilities across the country and ground forces moved in from the north, south and east, triggering condemnation from Western leaders and warnings of massive sanctions.

Weeks of intense diplomacy failed to deter Putin, who massed over 150,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders in what the West said was the biggest military build-up in Europe since the Second World War.

“I have decided to proceed with a special military operation,” Putin said in a television announcement in the early hours of Thursday.

Shortly afterwards, the first bombardments were heard in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and several other cities, according to AFP correspondents.

As many as 40 Ukranian soldiers and around 10 civilians have been killed by Russian shelling, a Reuters report quoting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy adviser, said on Thursday. The AFP, meanwhile reported that Ukraine said it killed ‘around 50 Russian occupiers’ without providing details. The casualties are the latest in a series of fast-paced developments that began when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine early Thursday. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s ambassador to India urged PM Narendra Modi to contact Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr to mediate the crisis.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday said that the country has severed diplomatic relations with Russia after Moscow launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two and confirmation of the worst fears of the West. Zelenskiy has declared martial law in the country and Ukrainian foreign minister vowed to fight and defeat Russia.

An AFP reporter in the northern part of the city saw several low-flying helicopters overhead amid reports that an airfield was under attack.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said a “full-scale invasion” was underway.

China ready to soften Russian economic blow from Ukraine sanctions

China is ready to throw Russia an economic lifeline as Vladimir Putin’s ties with the west deteriorate and Moscow is hit by snowballing sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.

Putin ordered the start of a military invasion of Ukraine on Thursday and demanded Kyiv’s army lay down its weapons, just a day after the west imposed new sanctions on Russia.

US president Joe Biden said he would meet G7 counterparts on Thursday morning and would reveal further measures to punish Russia for the invasion.

Financial analysts and geopolitical experts believe China will probably help Russia weather those sanctions, mostly through resource deals and lending by several state-owned banks, while seeking to avoid damage to its own economic and financial interests.

“The level of Chinese support for Russian actions could be an influential factor in shaping an evolving crisis,” said Tom Rafferty, a Beijing-based analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Since Russia concentrated 190,000 troops near the Ukraine border, Beijing has tried to strike a balance between Chinese president Xi Jinping’s backing of Putin and Beijing’s self-interest in the region’s stability.

In response to the latest sanctions on Russia, Beijing reaffirmed its opposition to “all illegal unilateral sanctions”.

“Since 2011, the US has imposed more than 100 sanctions on Russia,” Hua Chunying, a foreign ministry spokesperson, told reporters in Beijing.

“However, have the US sanctions solved any problem? Is the world a better place because of those sanctions? Will the Ukraine issue resolve itself thanks to the US sanctions on Russia? Will European security be better guaranteed thanks to the US sanctions on Russia?”

Hua also labelled the US as the “culprit” in the Ukraine crisis, “heightening tensions, creating panic and even hyping up the possibility of warfare”.

Beijing has a record of providing economic support to Moscow during Putin’s stand-offs with the west, including in the wake of the Russian annexation of Crimea in early 2014.

“Unless the west puts a really tangible cost on China, China will still help Russia behind the scenes,” said Jakub Jakobowski, a senior fellow with the China programme at the Eastern Studies Centre in Warsaw. China’s big policy banks, which are distinct from its state-backed commercial lenders, are expected to be critical conduits for economic support.

Russia is by far Beijing’s biggest recipient of loans from official sector institutions, totalling as much as $151bn between 2000 and 2017, according to AidData, an international research lab at the College of William & Mary in Virginia.

That included $86bn of non-concessional and semi-concessional debt from China’s state-owned policy banks and commercial banks — mostly loans collateralised against future receipts from oil exports.

China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China, in particular, are believed to be insulated from western penalties by a lack of US business interests.

“They have less exposure to the dollar system and more options to finance things in different or innovative ways which are less vulnerable to sanctions measures,” said Rafferty.

“For the commercial banks . . . they would still be very mindful of the impact it could have on their operations in other markets and their access to the US dollar system.”

Chinese policy banks’ main lending activities are in the “global south”, Jakobowski said. “They have less worry about getting hit for violating US sanctions,” he said. “China will likely again lend money to Russia following the state-to-state sanctions-proof model.”

Since the Crimean annexation, Beijing’s ability to soften the blow from sanctions has been strengthened as the two countries have steadily reduced the use of the dollar in their bilateral trade. Sino-Russian economic ties have also firmed with bilateral trade expected to have hit a record $140bn in 2021, reflecting consistent double-digit annual growth.

The success of Russian efforts to take the sting out of sanctions by boosting settlements in other currencies is highlighted by a series of recent energy deals with China. These arrangements skirt the dollar-based financial system with loans and credit in renminbi.

When Putin met Xi in Beijing this month, Russia’s Gazprom and China’s CNPC signed a 25-year deal on a new gas supply route, the Power of Siberia pipeline, launched in 2019 that is expected to reach full capacity in 2025.

And Rosneft, Russia’s top crude producer and its top oil exporter to China, accounting for 7 per cent of the country’s total annual demand, agreed with CNPC to supply 100mn tonnes of oil to China through Kazakhstan over 10 years. Russia and China are also working on a third gas pipeline project to run via Mongolia. Some analysts said a deal could be signed by the end of this year.

Last week, Gazprom Neft announced it was switching all settlement for fuelling Russian planes in China to renminbi, the first Russian company to do so.

Despite those deals, experts note there is still a sizeable chunk of Russian trade in the conventional dollar system. During the first nine months of 2021, Russia and China conducted 8.7 per cent of their trade in roubles and 7.1 per cent in other currencies, according to the Russian central bank data. Dollars and euros accounted for 36.6 per cent and 47.6 per cent of Russia-China trade, respectively.

The US is also exploring the use of export controls to cut off computer chip supplies to Russia, in a similar way to how it targeted Huawei, the Chinese technology group, according to government officials in Taiwan and Japan, and US diplomats in Asia. The move could cripple Russia’s supply of components vital for industries ranging from telecoms to oil exploration.

“We have been in discussions with the US about export controls,” said a senior Taiwanese government official, “and we have put together an inventory of potential products that might be relevant in the context of export controls here, including military and dual-use products, basic infrastructure, technology and strategic supplies.” (Agencies)

Russians Troops move into Ukraine.

The President of Belarus gave orders to his army to integrate and cooperate with the Russian army in the invasion of Ukraine.

Further details awaited.

The President of Belarus gave orders to his army to integrate and cooperate with the Russian army in the invasion of Ukraine https://t.co/Lk3d9nnxot via @AlArabiya_Brk #Belarus

— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) February 24, 2022

India Today

Amid the threat of an invasion and assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke directly to the people of Russia and made an emotional appeal. He warned them of what could “become the start of a big war on the European continent.” In a video address, Zelensky told the people that the Kremlin had approved the movement of nearly 2,00,000 forces into the border area.

“The whole world is saying this can happen any day now. The trigger can appear any minute. You are being told this fire will free the Ukrainian people. But Ukrainian people are free,” he said in his address in Russian. He added, “Ukraine in your news and Ukraine, in reality, are two different countries. Their main difference between them is that ours is real.”

He said, “I believe that Russia should be among those countries that provide clear security guarantees. I have many times suggested that the President of Russia sit down at the negotiating table and speak.”

Rejecting accusations that Ukrainians were neo-Nazis and hated Russian culture, he said, “You are being told we are Nazis. How can a nation that gave 8 million lives to combat Nazism support it? How can I be a Nazi? Tell my grandpa about that.”

“You are being told we hate the Russian culture? How can someone hate culture? Any culture? Neighbours always enrich one another culturally, but that does not make them one, does not dissolve us in you. We are different. But it is not a reason to be enemies,” he said.

He concluded his appeal by saying, “We want to determine our history by ourselves. In peace, calm and honesty.”

With inputs from India Today

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)