Situation at noon – Lavrov rumbles, Shoigu threatens

Dusseldorf It is Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who is launching a sweeping attack this Tuesday. The EU is in an “anti-Russian frenzy,” he said. There is no other way he could explain why the West is arming Ukraine with weapons.

Ukraine, in turn, calls on Lavrov to renounce the “arrogant philosophy of the West”. “I hope that the Ukrainian side recognizes the seriousness of the situation and their responsibility.”

At the same time, he used his speech before the disarmament conference in Geneva, which was recorded and transmitted via video, to repeat earlier threats and claims by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin: the government in Kyiv wants its own nuclear weapons, and Soviet nuclear technology is still on Ukrainian territory and also the means of shooting down weapons so equipped. “We must respond to this real threat,” Lavrov said.

What this means in concrete terms was shown on Tuesday morning by satellite images from the US company Maxar: A 64-kilometer Russian military convoy is approaching the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. And so there is fighting in parts of the country on day six of the Ukraine war.

>> Read about this: These satellite images show the strength with which the Russians are advancing on Kyiv

“The grouping of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will continue to conduct a special military operation until the set goals are achieved,” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in Moscow on Tuesday, according to the Interfax agency.

Shoigu accused Ukraine of placing several missile systems, cannons and mortars “in the yards of residential buildings, near schools and kindergartens.” “During military clashes, the Ukrainian side does not hesitate to use civilians as human shields,” claimed President Putin’s confidante.

Ukraine, in turn, accuses Russia of also firing rockets at residential areas. The information provided by both sides cannot be independently verified.

Meanwhile, the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko seems to have broken a promise he had made that morning. According to the Ukrainian parliament, Belarusian troops marched into the Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine, contrary to Lukashenko’s statements.

>> Read about this: Putin’s Dilemma – Why the invasion of Russian troops is dragging on

And the west? Delivers weapons, imposes sanctions on Russia’s elite and the financial system, but excludes its own combat operations in the war zone. “NATO will not send troops to Ukraine or move aircraft into Ukrainian airspace,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday during a visit to the Polish air base in Lask. “NATO will not take part in the conflict.”

Polish President Andrzej Duda reiterated: “We are not sending our planes because that would mean military interference in the conflict that is taking place in Ukraine, it would mean NATO getting involved in the conflict, but NATO is not party in the conflict.”

Duda pointed out that a wide range of aid, especially humanitarian aid, was being provided. “But our planes are not flying to Ukraine at the moment.”

However, a major two-week maneuver dubbed the Saber Strike began in Slovakia, a country neighboring Ukraine. According to the Slovakian Defense Ministry, the maneuver has been in preparation for almost two years for the period from March 1 to 14, regardless of the situation in Ukraine.

Demands of the EU Parliament

While Lavrov was allowed to speak in Geneva, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was on Tuesday afternoon in Brussels. The EU Parliament had gathered there for an emergency session.

“We are also fighting to be equal members of Europe,” Zelensky said in a speech. Zelenskyj had previously asked for his country’s admission to the European Union.

MEPs want to classify Russia as a “rogue state” because of the invasion of Ukraine and call for further sanctions against the government in Moscow. This emerges from a draft resolution that was already circulating publicly before the meeting. A majority in favor is considered safe, since most groups support the draft.

The scope of the sanctions is to be expanded “in order to strategically weaken the Russian economy and industrial base, especially as far as the military-industrial complex is concerned”. Parliament is also calling for a tougher stance against Putin’s entourage, cuts in imports of oil and gas from Russia, and the complete severing of Russia and Belarus” from Swift international payments. EU ports are also to be closed to Russian ships and shipping traffic with Russia is to be discontinued. However, the resolution is not binding.

>> Read about this: EU accession in an urgent procedure? The most important answers to Ukraine’s membership application

The complaints of the oligarchs

As it turns out, the first steps taken against Russia’s oligarchs are already having an effect. Some billionaires spoke publicly on Tuesday and dismissed the EU sanctions imposed on them as unjustified. Businessmen Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven want to challenge the measures, such as the asset freeze or the travel ban to the European Union.

The allegations are “thimble and unfounded”. They want to take action “energetically and with all the means at their disposal”.

According to a spokeswoman, Tui major shareholder Alexei Mordashov also wants to examine options with a view to the sanctions. He has no connection to politics, it said in a statement from the entrepreneur. “I have absolutely nothing to do with creating the current geopolitical tensions and I don’t understand why the EU imposed sanctions on me.”

>> Read about this: These Russian billionaires are blacklisted — and those names are missing

Dax down

The uncertain situation in Ukraine continues to be felt on the markets. At noon, the leading index was down 2.1 percent or around 300 points at 14,164 points. The daily low is 14,075 points.

Fears of supply disruptions drove the price of oil back above the $100 mark on Tuesday. The price of Brent crude oil rose by more than four percent to as much as $102.32 per barrel (159 liters). Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the price hit a record high of $105.79 last week.

“The unstable situation in Ukraine and the financial and energy sanctions against Russia will further fuel the energy crisis and keep oil prices well above $100 a barrel in the short term and even higher if the conflict escalates further,” said Louise Dickson, oil market analyst at Rystad Energy.

Plants considered safe were in demand. Gold rose 0.7 percent to $1,921 a troy ounce. Investors also grabbed government bonds. In return, the yield on the ten-year federal bond fell to 0.043 percent.

>> Read about this our current market report

More on the Ukraine crisis:

The Frankfurt stock exchange operator announced that from Wednesday no more Russian bonds, shares and derivatives will be traded on the German stock exchange. This is done “in the public interest”.

Already on Monday, the operator suspended trading in securities from Russian banks and other companies affected by sanctions, including the banks VTB and Sberbank, as well as the gas company Gazprom and the oil company Rosneft. In addition to Russian government bonds, there are now more than 30 papers from all other Russian companies listed in Frankfurt.

Star conductor fired

The Russian crisis is also causing unrest in cultural circles – and layoffs. The city of Munich is parting ways with the chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic, Valeri Gergiev, with immediate effect. He is considered a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mayor Dieter Reiter said that Gergiev did not comment on the call to “clearly and unequivocally distance oneself from the brutal war of aggression that Putin is waging against Ukraine and now in particular also against our twin city of Kyiv”. Gergiev has been chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic since 2015. In the past few days, the Milan Scala had already separated from him.

The Hamburg Elbphilharmonie also reacted and canceled the concerts with the Russian star conductor. “As a result of Valeri Gergiev’s continued silence on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the two concerts planned for Easter with him and the orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater in the Elbphilharmonie have now been cancelled,” the concert hall announced on Tuesday.

More: Fake news or stupidity? Russian news agency publishes comment on Russia’s victory

With material from dpa and Reuters