Financial Times Ukraine news

2022-05-20 20:26:40 Petro Poroshenko is a man of many hats – former Ukrainian president, chocolate factory owner, military strategist. But when it comes to Russia's Vladimir Putin, he has just one opinion: ‘Don’t trust Putin, he never keeps his word…He’s a pathological liar.’ (Free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3NwURvH

Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea has all but halted the export of 20mn tonnes of grain stuck in Ukraine, suffocating its main export industry and driving global food prices to record highs.
https://on.ft.com/3Lxc5aL

Sweden’s historic bid to join Nato has run into trouble over the long dispute between Turkey and Kurdish militants, with Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatening to block Stockholm's accession to the 30-member group if it does not meet his demands.
https://on.ft.com/39Fm7tg

Italy’s transport unions are observing a one-day strike to protest against the government’s military support for Ukraine and have called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict. For more updates, bookmark our live blog.
https://on.ft.com/39Fm9kS Open / Comment

2022-05-19 16:18:28 How are Ukrainian refugees in Russia leaving the country? A network of Russian volunteers, among them antiwar activists and general volunteers, are operating largely through word of mouth and the Telegram messaging app to help thousands of Ukrainian refugees get out of Russia. (Free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3LrJYtl

The UK government has introduced new sanctions against Russia’s largest air carrier, Aeroflot, along with Rossiya and Ural Airlines. The move will prevent the companies from selling their unused landing slots at UK airports, and cashing in on up to £50mn. (Free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3lw3B93

Google’s Russian unit plans to file for bankruptcy after authorities in the country seized its bank account. Should Russian Google users worry?
https://on.ft.com/37ZCb8H Open / Comment

2022-05-18 15:51:29 Gerhard Schröder, Germany’s former chancellor and a close friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin, has been stripped of his parliamentary privileges, as anger grows over his refusal to distance himself from the Kremlin despite the war in Ukraine. (Free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3NiIC5G

The FT View: With Nato allies unwilling to go to war with a nuclear-armed Russia, Ukraine is having to fight alone. It will need all the international support it can muster to deal with the long-term economic devastation. Read more here. https://on.ft.com/3Mtykzz

How is the war in Ukraine unfolding? Check out our visual guide here.
https://on.ft.com/3FU1aGM Open / Comment

2022-05-18 15:29:26 Breaking news: Turkey has forced Nato to postpone its initial decision to process Finland and Sweden’s request to join the military alliance, throwing into doubt the hopes for a quick accession of the two Nordic countries. https://on.ft.com/3wCxVEe Open / Comment

2022-05-17 16:54:36 Can the west force Russia to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction? (Free-to-read) https://on.ft.com/3PCjDfI

Snake Island — barely more than an outcrop of rock — remains at the centre of a bitter fight as Ukraine and Russia vie for control of the Black Sea and the conflict’s broader propaganda battle. Here’s why the 0.2 sq km island is so important for the war: https://on.ft.com/3yIByeG

Russia will probably be permanently shut out of the global energy market once Europe weans itself off the country’s oil and gas, experts say. The US and Australia may benefit from it: https://on.ft.com/39wrhHW Open / Comment

2022-05-16 22:46:38 Vladimir Putin has signalled Russia will tolerate Finland and Sweden joining Nato, but warned the Kremlin would respond if the alliance installed military bases or equipment in either country. (Free-to-read) https://on.ft.com/3lhchAk

Ukraine said on Monday that its troops had reached the border with Russia near Kharkiv after weeks of successful counterattack that pushed Moscow’s invading forces back from the country’s second-largest city. https://on.ft.com/3FRirjR

Russia has learned a hard lesson about the folly of war: Vladimir Putin presided over a decade-long military build-up and then launched a war to reassert Russia’s status as a great power. Instead, Russia is likely to emerge from the war in Ukraine poorer, weaker and greatly diminished, says our foreign affairs commentator Gideon Rachman. https://on.ft.com/3wiapgM Open / Comment

2022-05-13 19:15:05 / The UK targeted seven of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s family members and five Russian financiers with travel bans and asset freezes on Friday, in hope of preventing associates of the Russian government from travelling to the UK, accessing UK-based assets or doing business through British companies. (Free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3L8B9EJ

Russia’s Caribbean ally, Cuba, is experiencing food and medicine shortages, blackouts, a collapse in tourism, increased petrol and diesel prices, and triple-digit inflation as a result of the war in Ukraine. And some residents worry the worst is yet to come.
https://on.ft.com/3Mc3POz

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has come out against allowing Sweden and Finland to join Nato. The move risks jeopardising Turkey’s efforts to strengthen its ties with the US and Europe in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
https://on.ft.com/37INge1 Open / Comment

2022-05-12 16:18:46 Finland’s president and prime minister have vowed to join Nato, and ‘must apply’ for membership within a few days. The move will redraw Europe’s geopolitical map and push neighbouring Sweden to apply for membership in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Free to read)
https://on.ft.com/39eSHSg

Ukraine has accused Russia of trying to destroy its agriculture sector by stealing valuable grain stocks and machinery, deliberately bombing farms and warehouses, and blockading its Black Sea ports.
https://on.ft.com/3FCkY1s

How have influencers been helping Ukrainian refugees? Well, in Martina Kojić Reiter’s case, she used the 6,000 Instagram followers from her fashion blog to meet up with other like-minded women and created a refugee network to place Ukrainians fleeing the war in homes and hostels across Europe.
https://on.ft.com/3w5Ov05 Open / Comment

2022-05-11 19:28:08 Local officials installed by Moscow in Kherson, a southern Ukrainian province, say they intend to ask President Vladimir Putin for the region to join Russia. This is the clearest sign yet that the Kremlin plans to annex the province. (Free to read)
https://on.ft.com/3PdEW71

Russian occupying forces in Ukraine illegally siphoned the flow of Russian gas to Europe, according to Ukraine’s gas grid operator, GTSOU. As a result, the operator asked Russian gas company Gazprom to reroute supplies to avoid Russian-held areas.
https://on.ft.com/3PeAyVb

Opinion: When the time comes, we must prepare to help Ukraine in negotiation talks with Russia. But we must not repeat the mistakes of the 2014 Minsk agreement; we need to consider a new structure for the negotiations.
https://on.ft.com/3wjZnqi Open / Comment

2022-05-10 17:14:40 The number of Ukrainians internally displaced by Russia’s war has surpassed 8mn, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration, representing a 24% increase since March.
https://on.ft.com/3MhyYjP

A Russian cyber war may have been ‘overhyped’, according to a UK spy chief. But Jeremy Fleming said the threat from Russia remains real (Free to read) https://on.ft.com/3NlRZ4L

/ Republican senator Steve Daines has urged the US Treasury to tighten its sanctions on a range of Russian companies, such as Rosneft, Gazprom and Gazprombank, and to place them on the Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons List. This would make it significantly more difficult for European companies to buy Russian gas, since US banks might be more wary of helping complete such transactions.
https://on.ft.com/3FyHxE5 Open / Comment