Live blog: European Union set to target Russian gold with new sanctions

Friday, July 15, 2022

EU to target Russian gold with new sanctions

The European Union is targeting Russian gold exports in an update to its sanctions' packages that will also tighten the screws on previous measures against Moscow.

The EU has so far approved six packages of sanctions on Russia. The last one passed in June imposed a ban on most Russian oil imports.

The EU will look into "ways we could slap a sanctions regime on gold, which is an important commodity for exports from Russia", Maros Sefcovic, deputy head of the European Commission, said in Prague.

Kiev: First M270 rocket systems arrive in Ukraine

Ukraine's defence minister has said the first M270 multiple rocket launch systems have arrived in Ukraine, without specifying the country which handed them over.

"They will be good company for HIMARS on the battlefield," minister Oleksii Reznikov wrote on Twitter, referring to the US-donated systems which Ukraine says it has used to hit Russian ammunition depots and barracks.

Ukraine says it has hit over 30 Russian "military logistics targets" in recent weeks, hurting Russia's assault capability.

Ukraine foreign fighter group says Urey was aid worker

British citizen Paul Urey, who died on July 10 while detained by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, was an aid worker, an international legion backing the Kiev government has said.

"We are saddened by the news of Mr Urey's death," the International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine said as quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. "He did not fight in Ukraine. He was an employee of a humanitarian organisation," the group added.

Pro-Kremlin separatists described Urey as a professional soldier who had taken part in conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Ukraine. A spokesperson for the separatists said Urey recruited and trained mercenaries before his capture in April.

UK summons Russian envoy over British aid worker's death

Britain's foreign office has summoned Russian Ambassador Andrei Kelin to express "deep concern" over the death of a British aid worker.

"I am shocked to hear reports of the death of British aid worker Paul Urey while in the custody of a Russian proxy in Ukraine. Russia must bear the full responsibility for this," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.

An official in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) announced Paul Urey's death earlier in the day.

Russia to block sale of foreign banks' Russian subsidiaries

Moscow will block the sale of foreign banks' Russian subsidiaries while Russian banks abroad cannot function normally, the Interfax news agency has cited Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev as saying.

"We discussed this at our subcommission, that we will not now, until the situation improves, give permission for the sale of foreign banks' subsidiaries and their assets in Russia," Interfax quoted Moiseev as saying.

Russia's central bank is resisting domestic calls to take over the running of foreign lenders' local businesses, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter have told Reuters news agency, concerned in part that this could prompt depositors to pull out funds.

Russia sanctions 384 Japanese lawmakers over Ukraine

Russia has banned 384 Japanese lawmakers from entering its territory in response to Tokyo aligning itself with international sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine.

The Russian foreign ministry blacklisted the parliamentarians, naming them on its website and accusing them of "adopting an unfriendly, anti-Russian position notably by expressing unfounded accusations against our country concerning the special military operation in Ukraine."

In May, the Russian foreign ministry said it had banned entry to several dozen Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, over Tokyo joining international sanctions against Moscow.

Russian opposition activist Pivovarov jailed 4 years - aides

Russian opposition activist Andrei Pivovarov has been sentenced to four years in prison for leading a banned pro-democracy group.

Pivovarov, 40, is the former executive director of Open Russia, a now disbanded pro-democracy group established by exiled tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

He is the latest critic of President Vladimir Putin to be sent to prison, with Moscow seeking to snuff out any last vestiges of dissent amid its offensive in Ukraine.

Western nations condemn Russia over Ukraine at G20 talks

Western finance chiefs have condemned Moscow's attacks on Ukraine at G20 talks in Bali, accusing Russia of sending a "shockwave" through the world economy.

"Russia is solely responsible for negative spillovers to the global economy," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Russian delegation in the opening session, according to a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland also told the Russian delegation that Moscow must take the blame for the impacts on the global economy caused by the attacks.

Russia eyes 'final document soon' on Ukraine grain exports

Russia's defence ministry has said that a "final document" designed to unblock grain exports from Ukrainian ports will be ready "soon", following negotiations with Kiev in Türkiye this week.

"Soon the work on creating a final document on the 'Black Sea initiative' will be completed," the defence ministry's spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, said on state television.

The Istanbul talks were held on Wednesday and involved UN and Turkish officials. They were the first direct talks between Moscow and Kiev since March designed to relieve a global food crisis.

EU commissioner: bloc to target Russian gold within sanctions

The European Union will target Russian gold exports in an update to its sanctions packages due to be announced on Friday, an EU commissioner said.

The EU has so far approved six packages of sanctions on Russia. The last one passed in June imposed a ban on most Russian oil imports.

The EU will look into "ways we could slap a sanction regime on gold, which is an important commodity for exports from Russia", Maros Sefcovic, deputy head of the European Commission, said in Prague.

UK: report of Briton's death in Donetsk alarming

The UK government has voiced concern after Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine said a captured British man had died in detention.

"They're clearly alarming reports and our thoughts are with his family and friends," a Downing Street spokesman said of the announcement about Paul Urey.

Search continues after deadly Russian strikes on Vinnytsia

Ukrainian rescuers have continued search operations in the central city of Vinnytsia, where Russian strikes killed at least 23 people, including children.

The charred remains of upturned cars surrounded by burnt debris were seen in images distributed by officials following the attack on Thursday on the city hundreds of kilometres from the front lines.

In his daily address to the nation late on Thursday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the toll was likely to rise. Dozens are still missing and many hospitalised in critical condition. 

Russia says building struck in Ukraine's Vinnytsia was military target

Russia's defence ministry has said cruise missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia was directed at a building where top officials from Ukraine's armed forces were meeting foreign arms suppliers.

Ukraine has denied any military target was hit, saying the attack killed at least 23 people and struck a cultural centre used by retired veterans.

"On July 14, Kalibr (cruise) missiles were launched at the House of Officers in Vinnytsia," Russia's defence ministry said in its daily update.

Briton captured by separatists in Donetsk dies in detention: official

Paul Urey, a British man captured by pro-Russian forces in Ukraine, has died in detention, Moscow-backed separatists said. 

"He died on July 10," Darya Morozova, a representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said on messaging app Telegram, adding that he had diabetes.

Non-governmental organisations describe Urey as a humanitarian who worked as an aid volunteer in Ukraine. 

North Korea slams Ukraine for cutting ties over recognition of breakaway regions

North Korea has slammed Ukraine for severing diplomatic ties between the two nations, after Pyongyang said it was formally recognising two self-proclaimed pro-Russian republics in the east of the war-torn country.

Ukraine said on Wednesday it was cutting its official relationship with the nuclear-armed state in response to Pyongyang recognising the so-called Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic.

The North's move came after another Russian ally, Syria, did the same last month. 

Sports court upholds football bans on Russian teams

Russia remains barred from Europe's leading football competitions including the Champions League after the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected appeals by the national football federation and four clubs. 

CAS upheld decisions by UEFA and FIFA which excluded Russian national teams and clubs following Russia’s offensive on Ukraine. 

Russia was already excluded from men's World Cup qualifying and the women's European Championship and its clubs now won't feature in competitions like the Champions League in 2022-23.

Ukraine conflict worsens hunger, undernourishment in Africa

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine could not have come at a worse time for economies in Africa that have yet to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, Vera Songwe, the executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said in a brief statement.

Since the beginning of the conflict in February this year, oil prices have reached their highest levels since 2008, wheat prices have soared to 14-year highs and fertilizer prices have surged by nearly 30 percent, Songwe said, noting that these macro trends have inflicted “high human costs” on the continent.

She pointed out that around 25 African countries depend on wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine.

For live updates from Thursday (July 14), click here