Financial Times Ukraine news

2022-05-09 22:31:36 ‘We are now living in a totally new era’, said the former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger at the FT Weekend Festival in DC. The cold war strategist discussed the nuclear threat, China’s influence and the war in Ukraine. Read the full interview here: https://on.ft.com/395f904

France’s president Emmanuel Macron proposes a new and broader European community of democracies. Such an organisation could include non-EU nations such as Ukraine and the post-Brexit UK. https://on.ft.com/38aUS9B

The EU has dropped its plans to ban shipping Russian crude. However, Brussels still aims to ban European companies from insuring tankers carrying Russian oil. https://on.ft.com/39PlQUA Open / Comment

2022-05-06 20:38:15 There is a widespread assault taking place in the Russian cyberspace, as the nation’s companies and government bodies are swarmed by hordes of pro-Ukrainian hackers, many of them new and previously unknown players to cyber-security experts. Free-to-read https://on.ft.com/3kLwIou

As the US and its allies’ fears over the threat of a Russian nuclear strike have dissipated somewhat, they have increased lethal assistance to Kyiv with less fear of retribution from Moscow, sending heavier weaponry to Ukraine in recent weeks. https://on.ft.com/3LWd3hU

‘Bad history can kill. Those who butcher the truth may end up butchering people. Every day, the news from Ukraine says as much,’ writes Simon Schama in an analysis about when history is weaponised for war. https://on.ft.com/3kLCLtc

We’ll be back on Monday with the latest news. Open / Comment

2022-05-05 12:12:08 Sweden faces a security dilemma ahead of its decision to join Nato alongside Finland as a Russian military plane that entered Sweden’s airspace briefly on Friday was interpreted as an unsubtle warning to the country. (Free to read) https://on.ft.com/3sdOWn3

Military briefing: Much about the war is still hard to read. What seems clear is that even with a vastly circumscribed set of military objectives, Russia, a would-be military equal of Washington, is still faltering. https://on.ft.com/3vL7X2k

EU leaders’ plans to impose a bloc-wide embargo on Russian oil carry political heft. But some analysts believe it will not deliver the intended blow to Russia’s economy. https://on.ft.com/37l0oG8 Open / Comment

2022-05-04 22:28:22 Europe is arguably less safe today than at any point since 1945. The continent has more weapons and soldiers at a state of high alert than it has seen for decades but without the guard rails that provided reassurance during the cold war. Will the military build-up make Europe safer?
https://on.ft.com/382YdY5

British accountants and PR firms have been told to cut ties with Russian clients as part of a government ban on professional services exports to the country. Russian companies and oligarchs have long relied on London-based advisers to represent them in the west.
https://on.ft.com/3vHAju8

Opinion: Global Britain cannot continue to overwhelm refugees from Ukraine with off-putting bureaucratic hurdles. Refugees can be a welcome boost for companies seeking talent. Here are four reasons why
https://on.ft.com/3kDDDAn Open / Comment

2022-05-04 11:21:14 Just in: The EU will propose a phased-in ban on imports of all Russian oil as member states prepare to discuss a sixth package of penalties against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. https://on.ft.com/3s70Qik Open / Comment

2022-05-03 16:26:09 Will the war in Ukraine make its way to Moldova? Inside Transnistria, a post-Soviet breakaway site recognised as part of Moldova, some fear Russia will advance, after the de facto capital Tiraspol experienced explosions in the past week including a rocket attack on a government building. (Free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3kBEbXb

What would an EU embargo on Russian oil mean? Our Energy Source newsletter breaks down the potential complications, impact, and after effects of the embargo, which will be discussed by officials in Brussels this week.
https://on.ft.com/3w0F2Gj

UK prime minister Boris Johnson said the west ‘collectively failed’ in its response to Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014 and pledged to supply Ukraine with more ‘weapons, funding and humanitarian aid,’ at a virtual address to the Ukrainian parliament.
https://on.ft.com/3F7Asu5 Open / Comment

2022-05-02 17:28:38 Homesick Ukrainians have returned in droves to Kyiv since Russia withdrew its forces from the capital. Of the 5mn Ukrainians who fled their war-torn country, more than 1mn have returned. (Free-to-read)
https://on.ft.com/3kv3gmT

Last week Russia unexpectedly said that it would make $649mn of bond payments in a last-gasp attempt to stave off a sovereign default. But it might have blinked too late to actually prevent one.
https://on.ft.com/37TVYq6

More than 100 people were evacuated from a steelworks in Mariupol. The steel plant has become the last holdout of Ukrainian resistance to Russian forces in the besieged port city, where about 1,000 civilians are said to have sought refuge.
https://on.ft.com/3kvvRbt Open / Comment

2022-04-29 18:33:13 / Two months into the war, the conflict has divided family and friends on either side of the Russia-Ukraine border. Relationships have frayed even among Russians themselves. (Free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3vteuhQ

Opinion: Europe doesn’t trust Russian energy any more and doesn’t want it. While cutting the energy cord with Russia will be hard, it’s not impossible. In fact, a ban on Russian crude imports is already on the EU agenda.
https://on.ft.com/39vnIln

As Ukrainian refugees begin to arrive in the UK, FT reporters and editors have created a guide to help would-be hosts and their refugee guests navigate the complexities of moving to Britain and settling in:
https://on.ft.com/3rWZvdJ Open / Comment

2022-04-28 19:20:56 Breaking news: Joe Biden has asked Congress for $33bn in additional aid for Ukraine, a sweeping request suggesting Washington is braced for the possibility of a long conflict. https://on.ft.com/3KxgQ3K Open / Comment

2022-04-28 16:48:18 Russia has exported €63bn worth of fossil fuels since the invasion of Ukraine with most going to the EU, new research shows. Despite widespread sanctions, Moscow has continued to bring in revenue from some of the very nations seeking to isolate it. (Free to read)
https://on.ft.com/38uksWI

EU officials have warned European energy companies that if they comply with President Vladimir Putin’s March 31 decree to pay for gas in roubles, they will be in violation of sanctions against Russia. Several companies had been planning to comply prior to the warning.
https://on.ft.com/3vWupV8

Opinion: Vladimir Putin’s willingness to threaten nuclear war might actually be a good sign that Russia is losing the war in Ukraine. But it is also potentially a catastrophic one.
https://on.ft.com/3vkSbLb Open / Comment