Oil prices jump $10 a barrel amid Russia-Ukraine conflict; Biden administration to request $10B in aid to Ukraine: Live updates
Oil prices jump $10 a barrel amid Russia-Ukraine conflict; Biden administration to request $10B in aid to Ukraine: Live updates
March 07, 2022
Hawaii
NATO countries supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion have a “green light” to send fighter jets as part of their military aid, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday.
The push for more air support comes as Russia battered a string of southern cities in Ukraine, throttling evacuation efforts and leading to rising numbers of civilian deaths and displacement. Ukraine’s military has used fighter jets, drones and anti-aircraft systems largely supplied by NATO to down the Russian aircraft bombing the area.
“We’re talking with our Polish friends right now about what we might be able to do to backfill their needs if, in fact, they choose to provide these fighter jets to the Ukrainians,” Blinken said during an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call for a no-fly zone over his country continues to draw no support. Zelenskyy said in a video address on Sunday that “the world is strong enough to close our skies.” He also appealed for stronger sanctions on Russia.
NATO countries have ruled out policing a no-fly zone, which would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow would consider any third-party declaration of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as “participation” in the armed conflict.
Blinken also said the U.S. and its allies are in talks to ban Russian oil imports, a move that would require successful efforts to provide an “appropriate supply of oil on world markets.” Russia supplies about 30% of Europe’s oil and 40% of its natural gas.
Over the weekend, the Russian military continued seeking to isolate Ukraine’s major cities, including Kyiv, a senior Defense Department official said Sunday. But forces attacking near Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv in northern and eastern Ukraine are facing strong resistance, the official said.
The airspace over Ukraine remained contested, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence findings.
Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook
Latest developments:
►Netflix said Sunday it’s suspending service in Russia, joining the growing list of companies shunning the country. Earlier in the day, TikTok and American Express said they would suspend operations in the country. TikTok also said it will start labeling content from accounts used by state-controlled media.
►The State Department is urging Americans to leave Russia immediately, citing the “unprovoked and unjustified attack” against Ukraine and the potential for harassment of U.S. citizens by Russian government security forces.
►Gas in the U.S. has topped $4 a gallon for the first time in over a decade as the price continues to soar in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The national average of a regular gallon of gas is $4.009, according to AAA, up 8 cents from Saturday and up 40 cents from last week.
►Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett returned from a surprise trip to Russia where he discussed the war with Putin. The trip was “in coordination and with the blessing” of the Biden administration, the latest attempt at diplomacy in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Israel is one of few countries that has good working relations with both Russia and Ukraine.
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Biden administration to request $10B in aid to Ukraine
The Biden administration has requested $10 billion in humanitarian, military, and economic support for Ukraine, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced in a news release Sunday evening.
Biden has strongly affirmed that he will not send U.S. troops to fight in Ukraine, but the funds, which will be part of the federal government’s omnibus funding legislation, will likely provide military equipment and support U.S. allies who are supplying airplanes to Ukraine, Pelosi’s release said.
She also said the U.S. House of Representatives is exploring “strong legislation” that would ban the import of Russian oil and energy products into the U.S., repeal normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, and take the first step in denying Russia access to the World Trade Organization.
— Celina Tebor
Visa and Mastercard said they will drop any cards issued by Russian banks off their networks and not allow their cards issued outside of Russia to work with Russian vendors or ATMs.
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More than 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine
Over 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine into neighboring nations, the U.N. refugee agency said, making it the worst such crisis in Europe since World War II. The Polish prime minister’s office said 922,400 people had crossed its border alone since fighting began 11 days ago. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Moldova to discuss security and humanitarian assistance for the refugees, said officials have seen “very credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians” that could constitute war crimes.
Blinken said the U.S. is investigating and documenting the reported attacks to determine whether war crimes are being committed.
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Radio Free Europe suspends operations in Russia
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is suspending operations in Russia because of government pressures since the start of the war in Ukraine.
RFE/RL, which describes itself as an editorially independent media company supported by a grant from Congress and the U.S. Agency for Global Media, issued a statement late Saturday saying it had stopped operating in Russia “after local tax authorities initiated bankruptcy proceedings against RFE/RL’s Russian entity on March 4 and police intensified pressure on its journalists.”
The media entity also referenced a law signed Friday by Russian President Vladimir Putin that could subject journalists to prison sentences if they deviate from Kremlin-approved descriptions of the war. It said RFE/RL journalists would “continue to tell the truth about Russia’s catastrophic invasion of its neighbor,” reporting on developments from outside Russia.
“This is not a decision that RFE/RL has taken of its own accord, but one that has been forced upon us by the Putin regime’s assault on the truth,” President and CEO Jamie Fly said.
Russia’s federal communications agency announced Friday that it would block the websites of RFE/RL, the BBC, Voice of America and other foreign outlets for spreading what it termed “fake” information.
RFE/RL, which has maintained a physical presence in Russia since 1991, said nine of its Russian language websites have been blocked in the last week after it refused to comply with demands to delete information about the invasion of Ukraine.
