(Bloomberg) — The Biden administration will give Temporary Protected Status to people from Ukraine who are in the U.S. and halt deportation of Ukrainian nationals who do not have green cards or other documentation, according to the White House. The U.S. also said it would sanction eight wealthy Russians and their families, including Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, and limit the travel of 19 others and 47 of their relatives.
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Russia countered claims by U.S. and European officials that its attack on Ukraine is bogged down amid tough resistance, with Putin saying the military operation “is going according to plan.”
Putin remained undeterred, telling France’s Emmanuel Macron on Thursday that he plans to fulfill the goals of his invasion, including removing the government in Kyiv. Russian troops have advanced on the southeast city of Mariupol, although Ukraine still has control there, a senior U.S. defense official said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy again appealed to Putin to meet with him. “I have to talk to Putin, the world has to talk to Putin, because there is no other ways to stop this war,” he said.
Key Developments
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U.S. Sanctions Usmanov, Prigozhin, Tokarev, Other Russian Elites
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Biden’s Tough Sanctions Create Worry That Putin Lacks an Exit
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Russian Assault Shows No Letup as Putin’s War Enters Second Week
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What Russia Invasion, Sanctions Mean for Global Economy
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Russian Fleet Approach Has Ukraine’s Port City of Odesa Bracing
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Ukraine Sees $15 Billion in Aid Coming as War Wrecks Economy
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Russian Banker’s London Broker Faces Collapse on Russia Ties
All times CET:
Industrial Metals Extend Rally, Equities Struggle (11:50 p.m.)
Industrial metals extended a rally fueled by trade turmoil and the increasing economic isolation of Russia, with zinc reaching its highest since 2007 and aluminum surging to a record. Oil fell on signs that high-stakes talks to revive a nuclear deal with Iran might soon conclude — potentially raising supply as traders increasingly shun Russian crude.
Equities struggled to find direction throughout most of the session, with the S&P 500 finishing lower ahead of a key U.S. jobs report. The dollar advanced.
Russia had its credit score cut for the second time in a week by S&P Global Ratings as sweeping sanctions weaken the nation’s financial strength. The rating company on Thursday lowered Russia’s sovereign rating by eight levels to CCC-, according to a statement, just two steps above a default ranking. This comes mere days after it cut to the junk rating of BB+ late last Friday. The country remains on watch negative, according to S&P, which means it could be lowered further still.
U.S. Set to Give Protected Status to Ukrainians (11 p.m.)
The Department of Homeland Security will soon begin giving Temporary Protected Status to Ukrainians who are in the U.S.
The move by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas would be effective as of March 1, meaning that Ukrainian nationals would have to had been in the U.S. by then to be eligible. Members of Congress from both parties have pushed the Biden administration to grant the status, which would allow Ukrainians already in the country to remain for now.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has halted deportation flights to Ukraine.
Russian Military Nears Nuclear Power Plant (10:20 p.m.)
The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that the Russian military is battling now outside the gates of Europe’s and Ukraine’s biggest nuclear power plant.
In an urgent letter to the IAEA, the Ukraine regulatory authority said Russian infantry were moving directly toward the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and called the situation “critical.”
The IAEA called for an immediate halt to the use of force at Enerhodar and called on the military forces operating there to refrain from combat near the nuclear power plant.
Scholz Tells German Ex-Leader to Cut Russian Ties (9:58 p.m.)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on former leader Gerhard Schroeder to give up board seats on Russian energy companies. Schroeder, chairman of state-owned Russian oil giant Rosneft PJSC and of the shareholder committee of Nord Stream AG, has supported a Russia-to-Germany natural-gas pipeline that Scholz halted last month.
“My advice to Gerhard Schroeder is to withdraw from these posts,” Scholz told German broadcaster ZDF.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted Germany to realign its military and economic stance toward Moscow and Putin. Schroeder, who was German chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has kept up friendly ties with Putin after retiring from politics.
Pentagon Sets Up Emergency Channel to Russian Military (9:09 p.m.)
The U.S. military has established an emergency channel with the Russian military for rapid communications, according to a Pentagon statement.
“The United States retains a number of channels to discuss critical security issues with the Russians during a contingency or emergency,” the Pentagon said.
The Pentagon on March 1 set up what it calls the “deconfliction line” with the Russian Ministry of Defense to prevent the possibility of a misunderstanding that could escalate. The Pentagon said its first offer of such a channel was rejected.
Sanctioned Russians Have No Way Off List (8:57 p.m.)
There is currently nothing Russian oligarchs or officials could do to convince U.S. and European countries to remove them from the sanctions list, two senior officials said Thursday.
Instead, U.S. and EU task forces are hunting down the assets that belong to the tycoons and their families already announced for sanctions. The business leaders and others on the list are a part of the Russian regime and play an important role in the Russian state, a senior EU official said.
A senior Biden administration official said every ounce of the U.S. effort right now is devoted to holding the Russians to account. The U.S. government is working with Europe and the U.K. to identify, hunt down and seize assets, the U.S. official said.
Putin’s Spokesman Sanctioned Along With Wealthy Russians (8:04 p.m.)
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, was among those sanctioned by the Biden administration Thursday, as the U.S. and its allies seek to raise pressure on the elites around the Russian president.
The other sanctioned Russians include: Nikolay Tokarev and his wife and daughter; Boris Rotenberg and his wife and sons; Arkady Rotenberg and his sons and daughter; Sergey Chemezov and his wife, son and stepdaughter; Igor Shuvalov and his wife, son, daughter and companies connected to them; Yevgeny Prigozhin and his wife, daughter and son; and Alisher Usmanov, as well as his superyacht and private plane.
“The United States and governments all over the world will work to identify and freeze the assets Russian elites and their family members hold in our respective jurisdictions – their yachts, luxury apartments, money, and other ill-gotten gains,” the White House said in a statement.
Rally in Oil Eases; Gold and Dollar Advance (7:59 p.m.)
The rally in oil eased on Thursday, with crude experiencing an extraordinary run of volatility since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine unleashed a new wave of uncertainty into global markets. West Texas Intermediate topped $116 before pulling back. Stocks struggled to find direction, with investors weighing the economic impacts of the war in Ukraine. Both the dollar and gold advanced.
Italy’s Generali Winds Down Russian Business (7:54 p.m.)
Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali SpA is winding down its Europ Assistance operations in Russia, quitting the board of Ingosstrakh Insurance Co. and closing its Moscow representative office.
Generali owns a 38.5% stake in Ingosstrakh, a Russian-based insurer that has billionaire Oleg Deripaska as a shareholder. The insurer provides life and non-life products as well as mortgage loans and savings and retirement plans.
White House Rebuffs Call to Ban Russian Oil (7:36 p.m.)
The White House again rebuffed a call to ban Russian oil from the U.S., this time from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of President Joe Biden’s closest allies.
“We don’t have a strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy, and that would raise prices at the gas pump for the American people around the world, because it would reduce the supply available,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at a briefing Thursday. “That is certainly a big factor for the president.”
Russian oil made up only about 3% of all crude imports in the U.S. last year. “Ban it. Ban the oil coming from Russia,” Pelosi told reporters earlier Thursday, making her the highest-ranking Democrat to endorse the move.
Nike Pauses Operations in Russia; Halts Online Sales, Stores (7:32 p.m.)
Nike Inc. will pause operations in Russia, including halting e-commerce sales and temporarily closing company-owned and operated shops in the country. Store employees will continue to receive their paychecks during the closures.
“We are deeply troubled by the devastating crisis in Ukraine and our thoughts are with all those impacted, including our employees, partners and their families in the region,” Nike said in a statement, adding that it will donate $1 million to humanitarian relief efforts.
Earlier this week, Nike’s website in Russia began flashing a message telling customers it couldn’t guarantee the delivery of products.
Russian-Ukrainian Progress Seen on Humanitarian Corridors (7:20 p.m.)
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators agreed to hold a third round of talks after suggesting they made some progress on establishing humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians.
Russian negotiator Leonid Slutsky said the third round of talks will take place “in the nearest future,” while Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, lamented in a posting on Twitter that “we did not yet get the results that we hoped for.”
Slutsky said more meetings are necessary – and a deal may be ratified at the highest level. The two teams met at a location in the Bialowieza Forest on the Poland-Belarus border.
U.S. Says Quad Promises Humanitarian Aid (6:54 p.m.)
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with the other three leaders of the Quad — Australia, India and Japan — and agreed to set up a new line of communication to deliver humanitarian help to Ukraine, according to a White House statement.
Garland Vows ‘No Stone Unturned’ on Crimes Against Ukraine (6:50 p.m.)
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department and international allies “will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to investigate, arrest and prosecute those whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue its unjust war against Ukraine.”
A veteran prosecutor for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, Andrew Adams, has been tapped to lead a new task force targeting the assets of wealthy Russians who violate U.S. sanctions, Garland said in a speech before a lawyer’s conference on Thursday.
Putin Says Ukraine Operation ‘Is Going Strictly on Schedule’ (6:30 p.m.)
“All the goals that have been set are being attained,” Putin told top officials in televised comments to a meeting of his Security Council. Reiterating his view that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people,” Putin claimed his forces are fighting “neo-Nazis” and forces from outside Ukraine.
Ukraine, which has committed its army to the battle, and its allies have charged Russia with targeting cities and civilians.
Zelenskiy said Thursday he feared Putin had broader goals than Ukraine. If “God forbid, Russia takes Ukraine,” then next will be Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Georgia, and Poland, he told foreign reporters in Kyiv. “And they won’t stop until they reach Berlin,” he said.
Oil Company Lukoil Calls for Diplomatic End to ‘Conflict’ (6:15 p.m.)
Lukoil PJSC, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, called for the “fast resolution of the military conflict” in Ukraine by diplomatic means, saying in a statement on its website “we fully support its resolution through negotiations.”
Lukoil’s statement follows an exodus of international companies from Russia, including the departure of energy giants BP and Shell from joint ventures with Russian state-run oil companies.
BOE Won’t Publish Data on Russian Ruble Exchange Rate (6:00 p.m.)
The Bank of England has joined the European Central Bank in stopping publication of data on ruble exchange rates against the dollar and the pound.
U.S. Readies New Sanctions on Russian Tycoons (5:22 p.m.)
The sanctions will be in keeping with measures the European Union imposed earlier, said people familiar with the plans, but will be broader, prohibiting travel to the U.S. and targeting their families to prevent them from transferring assets to spouses or children.
EU Seeks to Suspend Russia’s Most-Favored Nation WTO Status (4:31 p.m.)
The EU is seeking to remove Russia’s most-favored nation status at the World Trade Organization, a move that could further hit 95 billion euros ($105 billion) of Moscow’s exports to the bloc with tariffs. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is discussing the possibility with member states, according to commission spokeswoman Miriam Garcia Ferrer.
Latvia, Lithuania Have Seen Surge in Cyber Attacks in Last Week (4:20 p.m.)
Cyber attacks targeting state institutions, critical infrastructure and service providers have picked up since the middle of last week, Baiba Kaskina, director of Latvia’s cyber security unit said in an interview with Latvian TV. Some of the attacks have been successful but without serious consequences, Kaskina said.
Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys told a press conference that there’s been a “a substantial increase” of cyber attacks on the country’s energy industry. Estonia’s cyber defense unit said state institutions saw an increase in scanning of their internet systems.
Ruble Sinks to Another Record Low (3:44 p.m.)
The ruble sank to a record low against the dollar in Moscow trading, dropping for a fourth day after ratings services lowered Russia’s credit score deep into junk territory. Russia’s equity and bond markets are still closed, and currency trading is going ahead in a shortened daily session.
The ruble was down almost 10% at 117.2275 per dollar in Moscow, to reach its longest run of declines since August and the weakest intraday level since at least 2003 in Moscow. In offshore trading the ruble was 2.3% lower at 104.6355.
EU Ministers Dampen Expectations for Economic Aid Package (3:30 p.m.)
There may be little political appetite to fund a new economic aid program for Europe, Finnish Finance Minister Annika Saarikko and Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe signaled after meeting in Helsinki, even as the European Commission is working on a contingency package to cushion the impact of sanctions and the ongoing war on EU economy.
“Now is not yet the time to talk about how to mitigate the economic impacts of sanctions on member states, but it’s time to send a message that we are, if needed, ready for even stronger sanctions,” Saarikko told reporters in Helsinki.
Putin Tells Macron Russia Will Fulfill Goals in Ukraine (3:30 p.m.)
Putin told Macron he planned to fulfill his goals on Ukraine, Interfax reported, citing the Kremlin’s press service.
Macron spoke to Putin at the Russian leader’s request, according to an official in Macron’s office. Putin told him that everything was going according to his plan in Ukraine and that things will get worse. Putin also denied Russia had bombed Kyiv or hurt civilians, while Macron condemned his actions, the official said.
Estonian Vessel Sinks Off Ukrainian Coast (2:40 p.m.)
An Estonian-owned cargo ship, the Helt, sank off the Ukrainian coast near the port city of Odesa, the Foreign Ministry in Tallinn confirmed. It now appears that all six crew members, none of whom were Estonian citizens, were rescued.
The Helt went off-radar at 12:18 p.m. local time after it was fired upon and was breeched below the water line, according to a Facebook post by the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority.
U.S. Oil Refiners Would Back Russian Import Ban (3:22 p.m.)
U.S. lawmakers seeking a ban on Russian oil imports have found an unlikely ally in American refiners, who say they support the idea as long as it doesn’t ensnare cargoes now in en route.
The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers “fully supports the suspension of all future purchases of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia,” the trade group said in a letter to lawmakers. The declaration could buttress congressional efforts to outlaw Russian oil imports, which made up about 3% of the foreign crude brought into the U.S. last year.
Germany Mulls More Coal Use to End Russian Energy Reliance
Ukraine Plans Another Auction of War Bonds (3:10 p.m.)
Ukraine plans a second auction of war bonds to help fund resistance to Russia’s invasion, according to a person familiar with the matter. The government will use its regular Tuesday auction slot, and the proceeds will go to “priority humanitarian aid needs,” which include clothes and footwear, blankets, and hospital beds, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News. They’ll also fund protective gear such as helmets and bulletproof vests.
Ukraine raised 8.1 billion hryvnia ($277 million) in the first such sale earlier this week. That event drew global attention as people other than professional investors sought to buy the debt to show support for the country.
Poland Plans to Raise Defense Spending to 3% of GDP (2:26 p.m.)
Poland wants to raise its defense spending to 3% of economic output in 2023 and will start a “very expensive” program to expand and re-arm its military over the next five years, the country’s de facto leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski told parliament in Warsaw.
The nation’s $600 billion economy is already spending more on defense than the NATO’s target of 2% of GDP. The program will include the creation of a voluntary military force that would increase army personnel to about 300,000, Kaczynski said.
Russia Seeks to Weaken Ukraine Morale: Intelligence Report (2:26 p.m.)
Moscow has drawn up plans for ways to break morale in order to discourage Ukrainian from fighting back as and when cities fall under the Kremlin’s control, a European intelligence official said.
That strategy includes crackdowns on protests, detention of opponents, and potentially carrying out public executions, the official said on the condition of anonymity. So far civilians in Ukraine as well as its military have put up strong resistance, including arming themselves as volunteer forces.
Oil, Gas Prices Swing Wildly; Aluminum, Wheat Soar (2:10 p.m.)
Oil extended a period of extreme volatility, with international Brent nearing $120 a barrel at one point, while European natural gas retreated after hitting a record high. Aluminum powered through to unprecedented levels and wheat extended its rally to the highest since 2008.
Russia’s growing isolation is choking a major global source of energy, metals and crops, sparking fears of prolonged shortages and sharper global inflation. While there are no sanctions on energy, traders and shippers are increasingly reluctant to deal with Russian supply or with its companies.
Sanctioned Billionaire Says ‘Iron Curtain’ Has Fallen (2:05 p.m.)
An “Iron Curtain” has fallen on Russia and the country faces a severe crisis for at least three years, billionaire Oleg Deripaska said at the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum on Thursday.
Deripaska, who’s been sanctioned by the U.S. since 2018, said the first step to getting out of the current crisis is peace.
Russia’s economic outlook has grown increasingly dire in the last week, as the ruble crashed, inflation and interest rates jumped and foreign companies vowed to stop doing business in the country.
Biden Asks Congress for $10 Billion in Ukraine Funding (1:20 p.m.)
The White House asked Congress for about $10 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine, to be used to address the mounting humanitarian crisis as well as assist its defense against Russia. Of that, $4.8 billion would go to the Pentagon and $5 billion to the State Department.
The funds were part of a $32.5 billion funding request; the balance would be for domestic coronavirus efforts. Negotiations continue on how to operate the federal government past March 11, when current funding is set to lapse.
More Than 1 Million People Have Fled Ukraine: UNHCR (8:36 a.m.)
Russia’s invasion has forced 1,002,860 people to flee Ukraine to neighboring countries, the UN refugee agency said Thursday, in what is poised to become the biggest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II.
It said more than half a million people had fled to Poland, while 139,686 had gone to Hungary, 97,827 to Moldova and 72,200 to Slovakia. Romania had taken in 51,261 the UNHCR said, while 47,800 people had departed for Russia.
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