Russia regroup your troops in Ukraine to launch new attacks, said on Thursday the NATOat a time when Moscow opened a new front by threatening to cut off gas deliveries to the European Union if you do not receive payment in rubles.
“Russian units are not withdrawing but repositioning themselves,” said the NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.
According to the head of the Transatlantic Alliance, the Russian president, Vladimir Putinintends to “reinforce its offensive in Donbas”, the eastern region of Ukraine already largely controlled by pro-Russian separatists, “maintaining pressure on Kyiv and other cities.
There will be “more attacks, with more suffering,” he added.
Ukrainian General Pavlo “Maestro” also considered that Russian troops “are regrouping to attack and send maximum forces” to the south and east, speaking to AFP in Kharkov.
The ukrainian nuclear agencyEnergoatom, indicated that the Russian troops that on February 24 took over the power plant Chernobylscene in 1986 of the worst civil nuclear catastrophe in history, began to withdraw from the area, “in two columns in the direction of Belarus“.
The American President, Joe Bidensaid he was “a little skeptical” about the intention announced this week by Russia to withdraw from certain areas of Ukraine to concentrate its efforts in the east.
But according to a senior US defense official, even if that were to happen it could open the door to a “longer and more protracted conflict”, given that the Ukrainians “know the territory very well” and “have a lot of forces there”.
Pay for gas in rubles
Putin announced on Thursday that “hostile” countries, including those in the European Union (EU), they must have accounts in rubles and that “the gas payments that will be delivered from tomorrow, April 1, will be made from those accounts.”
The German head of government, Olaf Scholzaffirmed that the members of the EU will continue to pay the gas in Russian in euros and dollars, because that is what “is written in the contracts”.
The French Minister of the Economy, Bruno LeMairesaid Germany and France they are “preparing” for a possible cut in imports of Russian gas, after meeting in Berlin with their German counterpart, Robert Habeck.
Russia also prohibited the entry into its territory of the “top leaders” of the EU and most of the MEPs, in retaliation for the sanctions it faces for the invasion of Ukraine.
United Statesfor its part, announced new sanctions against Russia, this time targeting the technology sector, including Russia’s largest semiconductor manufacturer.
massive humanitarian crisis
From the start of the russian invasionAs of February 24, 4 million Ukrainians have fled the country and 6.5 million have become internally displaced, according to the UN.
“We are confronted with the realities of a humanitarian crisis massive, growing every second,” warned the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The Ukrainian authorities are trying to organize the evacuation of Mariupol (southeast), where 160,000 civilians remain blockaded and subjected since the end of February to the siege and bombing of the Russian army.
The Ukrainian government announced the dispatch of 45 buses to try to carry out this operation, which would be carried out through humanitarian corridors.
People who made it out of Mariupol and NGOs described catastrophic living conditions, with civilians barricaded in cellars, deprived of water, food and communications, and corpses strewn in the streets.
The head of Turkish diplomacy, Mevlüt Cavusogluannounced discussions about a possible meeting between the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrovand Ukrainian, Dmitry Kuleba“in one or two weeks”. Turkey could host that meeting.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator, David Arakhamiasaid on Wednesday that online talks with the Russian delegation would resume on Friday.
Putin’s popularity on the rise
In Russia, Putin’s popularity rose 12 points compared to February, with 83% favorable opinions, according to a survey by the independent Russian institute Levada, the first since the start of the offensive in Ukraine.
Biden said that Putin could be “isolated” and have ordered the “house arrest” of some advisers, although he admitted he had no irrefutable evidence of this.
The Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, considered on Wednesday the little knowledge of Russia on the part of the American leaders.
On United States “They don’t understand President Putin, they don’t understand the decision-making mechanism, they don’t understand our work,” he declared.
economic repercussions
The european bags closed Thursday lower and wall street was operating at a loss, under the impact of Russian measures on gas.
The war between two great producers of raw Materials and international sanctions put markets under stress, with a inflation increasingly pronounced in industrial countries, from 6.4% year-on-year in United States and 4.5% in Franceaccording to data released this Thursday.
Biden announced the release of one million barrels per day from strategic oil reserves from the United States for six months, to “alleviate” the economic burden on households.
According to the projections of the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), Russia’s economy will sink by 10% this year and Ukraine’s by 20 percent.
Ukraine harvested 106 million tons of cereals last year, a record, but this year the figure will be “25% to 50%” lower, “in an optimistic forecast,” the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture, told AFP in kyiv. Mykola Solski.
The impact of the war “also has the potential to generate a great crisis in Latin America,” affirmed the president of Costa Rica, Charles Alvaradospeaking to AFP in Paris.
If fuels are subsidized, for example, this could increase the pressure on public debt in countries in the region, which could “also bring them closer to a crisis,” he explained.