Western countries are preparing to tighten sanctions against Russia in an effort to paralyze it financially, in response to its ongoing war on Ukraine, and at a time when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirms on Sunday his openness to dialogue with Moscow outside Belarus, the UN Security Council is voting to discuss the crisis in the United Nations General Assembly.
The United States, the European Commission, Britain and Canada announced - in a joint statement - their intention to impose new sanctions on Russia, including the expulsion of some Russian banks from the international financial transfer system "SWIFT", and measures to paralyze the activities of the Russian Central Bank.
This measure will ensure that these Russian banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally, the statement said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that her organization will paralyze the ability of Russian President Vladimir Putin to finance his war machine, explaining that the assets of the Russian Central Bank will be frozen in order to prevent it from accessing its foreign currency reserves, which amount to 630 billion dollars, making it impossible Him monetize his balances and use them to finance love over Ukraine.
In contrast, the Russian Central Bank said today that it has enough resources to support the stability of the financial sector in Russia and secure its operations.
standardization of resolution
On Sunday, European foreign ministers will discuss unifying the decision on closing the Swift system to Russia, and simultaneously the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (USA, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan) will hold an emergency session on Ukraine.
The German government also said it was looking at how to limit collateral damage from Russia's exclusion from the SWIFT system.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said today that the sanctions imposed on Russia are very strong, but their impact will require some time, and considered that what is happening may be "the beginning of the end" for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She expressed her fear that this conflict would be very bloody, and called for preparations for the possibility of Russia using worse weapons in Ukraine.
The United States and the European Union had approved a package of sanctions against Russia, which was described as the most severe to date, and includes the financial sector, energy, transportation, technology, civil and military fields, and announced the addition of new entities and individuals to the sanctions lists, which now include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavov and Defense Sergei Shoigu. .
In a television interview, US President Joe Biden said that the sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe on Russia are the largest in history at the economic and political levels, threatening Moscow to pay a heavy price for its invasion of Ukrainian territory.
Swift system
Meanwhile, the board of directors of the international association that manages the international bank transfer system known as "SWIFT" said it was engaged in discussions with European authorities to clarify the details of the Russian entities that will be subject to the new financial sanctions.
The council added - in a statement - that it is making preparations to comply with the legal instructions related to these penalties.
And the network, "NBC" (NBC), quoted a US official, describing it as a high-ranking US official, that Russian banks that were suspended from the Swift system will have to use phones or fax machines to transfer funds internationally.
The US official explained that most banks around the world will stop dealing completely with Russian banks that have been suspended from the SWIFT system.
4 cities for dialogue
Politically, the Kremlin announced today, Sunday, that a Russian delegation comprising officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Presidential Administration has arrived in Belarus, and that it is ready to negotiate with Ukraine in the Belarusian city of Gomel, noting that the Ukrainian side chose the Belarusian city of Gomel as a venue for negotiations.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed today on Ukrainian television that talks in Belarus could have been held if Russia had not attacked Ukraine from Belarusian territory.
Zelensky said he was open to dialogue in other places that were not aggressive towards Ukraine, and suggested negotiating with Russia in Istanbul, Warsaw, Baku or Budapest instead of Belarus.
He added that the world should deny Russia the right to vote in the UN Security Council, and said that Russia's "crimes" against Ukrainians bore signs of genocide.
For his part, the Ukrainian president's advisor said that the Russian delegation that arrived in Belarus knows that going there is without purpose.
Yesterday, Saturday, Kiev rejected the conditions set by Moscow to negotiate with it, foremost of which is the surrender of Ukrainian forces, describing them as unenforceable, as Western leaders described these conditions as unacceptable.
Hungary has offered to host peace talks between Kiev and Moscow.
In the context, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Ukraine called on Kiev to negotiate with Russia if it wanted to preserve its entity as a state, and also demanded that it not seek to acquire nuclear weapons and agree to Russia's conditions.
In the same context, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) called for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine, the same position expressed by Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaqoub.
Lithuanian troops completed their logistical operation before midnight, delivering weapons, ammunition, helmets & armoured vests.
In total, 13 NATO countries have already sent military assistance to Ukraine in the form of weapons, ammunition and anti-aircraft & anti-tank missiles.
pic.twitter.com/fG682bOTGS
— Arvydas Anušauskas (@a_anusauskas) February 27, 2022
military aid
On the other hand, US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said that President Biden has authorized the provision of additional military aid to Ukraine worth $350 million from the Pentagon's military stockpile.
Kirby added that the additional aid includes anti-armor, light weapons, ammunition and armor for personnel, noting that the additional aid brings the total value of the United States provided to Ukraine in one year in military support to one billion dollars.
Simultaneously, US President Joe Biden stressed the need to continue supporting Ukraine with defense weapons and economic aid.
Despite the possibility of Russian forces targeting any military supplies entering across the border, Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvidas Anosuskas announced that his country’s forces had completed last night a logistical operation to transfer weapons, ammunition and other military equipment to Ukraine.
And Anosuskas said - in a tweet on Twitter - that 13 countries from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have sent military support to Ukraine, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons.
In turn, the Portuguese Ministry of Defense announced today, Sunday, that it will send military aid to Ukraine at the request of Kiev. Providing Ukraine with weapons and military vehicles, which is the first time that the German authorities have taken a similar step since World War II.
On Saturday, Germany decided to supply Ukraine with weapons and military vehicles, the first time it had taken a similar step since World War II.
UN Security Council session on developments in Ukraine (Anadolu Agency)
Transfer the crisis to the General Assembly
Meanwhile, the United States and Albania called for a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Sunday.
Diplomatic sources at the United Nations told Al Jazeera that the invitation aims to hold a meeting in order to vote on a draft procedural resolution calling for an emergency meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, which includes 193 members, on Ukraine within 24 hours.
The draft resolution, a copy of which was obtained by Al Jazeera, calls for an emergency special session of the Assembly, given that the lack of consensus in the Security Council precludes the exercise of its responsibility to maintain international peace and security.
The vote of the 15-member council is procedural, so none of the council's five permanent members - Russia, China, France, Britain and the US - can veto it.
Diplomats said the move would need nine votes to pass, and that it was likely to happen.
The request for the hearing on Ukraine comes after Russia on Friday vetoed a draft Security Council resolution that would have condemned the invasion of Moscow.
China, India and the UAE abstained, while the remaining 11 members voted in favor of the resolution.
Diplomats said that the General Assembly is expected to vote on a similar resolution after issuing statements for days on countries in the emergency special session, knowing that General Assembly resolutions are not binding but have political weight.