Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

Member countries of the International Monetary Fund nearly unanimously called for Russia to end its war in Ukraine, the IMF’s steering committee chair said in a news conference, reported Reuters.

The conflict, said Chair Nadia Calviño, is the largest factor fueling inflation and slowing global economic recovery.

“More than two years of pandemic, followed by Russia’s war against Ukraine, are weighing heavily on economic activity with significant impact on livelihoods,” she said in her statement at the 46th Meeting of the IMFC.

Director of the European Department of the IMF, Alfred Kammer, echoed Calviño’s remarks in a press conference.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the higher energy prices, caused a lack of food exports, and led to increases in prices globally and in particular in Europe, and is a root cause of the slowdown and the recession we are seeing in some of the countries,” he said.

Calviño reiterated the need for international cooperation and multilateralism, following the United Nations General Assembly resolution adopted by 143 member states earlier this week, which recognized Ukraine’s territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression.

— Rocio Fabbro

Three United States agencies jointly issued an alert outlining the effect of sanctions and export control restrictions on Russia’s defense capabilities, and warned countries about the risks of supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security and the State Department released a comprehensive overview of the widespread actions the U.S. and its allies have taken against Russia’s “unjustified and unprovoked” invasion of Ukraine.

“The strategic intent of our actions is to degrade Russia’s ability to wage its unjust war against Ukraine and prevent Russia from projecting military force beyond its borders,” the report read.

Significant actions mentioned in the report include, among several others, the freezing of approximately $300 billion worth Russian central bank assets and the denial of exports, reexports and transfers to and within Russia and Belarus of multilaterally controlled items.

The report also highlighted OFAC’s continued efforts to target Russia’s efforts to resupply its weapons. New guidance from the office outlined further plans to target people outside the U.S. that provide ammunition or other support to Russia’s military-industrial complex, as well as private military companies or paramilitary groups.

— Rocio Fabbro

U.S. Treasury officials met with global partners in a joint effort to weaken Russia’s finances and downgrade its military capacity amid the war with Ukraine, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

“The United States and our partners continue to mount an unprecedented and coordinated response to Russia’s illegal and immoral war,” Yellen said ahead of a press conference. “Today, at Treasury, we met with counterparts on efforts to degrade Russia’s military-industrial complex.”

The meeting capped off a week of networking among global finance ministers at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Yellen and Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo are soliciting the finance chiefs to pressure Russia with more sanctions.

Yellen has said the war and the COVID-19 pandemic are driving global economic uncertainty. She said the sanctions have left Russia “deeply weakened” financially.

“Foreign investors have left in droves. And projections indicate contractions in their economy for at least this year and the next,” said Yellen.

— Chelsey Cox

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has a warning for the West: Do not push Russian President Vladimir Putin into a corner.

Russia has nuclear weapons for a reason and crossing Putin’s “red lines” in Ukraine would be a mistake, the strongman and close Kremlin ally said in an exclusive interview Friday.

“If you back a person or a country into the corner, there is only one way out — forward,” Lukashenko told NBC’s Keir Simmons on the sidelines of a regional summit of post-Soviet leaders in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

“That’s why don’t cross red lines, you cannot cross them.” 

Read the full NBC News exclusive here.

— NBC NEWS

The Belarus Ministry of Defense announced that Russian troops will arrive in Belarus in the coming days for its joint force operation, according to Reuters.

“Troops from the Russian component of the Regional Grouping of Forces will start arriving in Belarus in the next few days,” the Minsk defense ministry said.

This follows Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s announcement earlier this week that several thousand Russian soldiers would be stationed in Belarus, which he referred to as a “regional grouping of troops.”

Lukashenko, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, indicated his willingness to respond to any threats from Ukraine, hinting at a possible escalation of the war. The announcement followed the blast that damaged the bridge linking Crimea to Russia, for which Putin blamed Ukraine.

— Rocio Fabbro

Russian President Vladimir Putin said there was no need for massive new strikes on Ukraine and that Russia was not looking to destroy the country.

Putin told a news conference at the end of a summit in Kazakhstan that his call-up of Russian reservists would be over within two weeks and there were no plans for a further mobilization.

He also repeated the Kremlin position that Russia was willing to hold talks, although he said they would require international mediation if Ukraine was prepared to take part.

Taken together, Putin’s comments appeared to suggest a slight softening of his tone as the war nears the end of its eighth month, after weeks of Ukrainian advances and significant Russian defeats. Wall Street shares opened higher as traders interpreted them as easing geopolitical tensions, though they dipped later in the day.

But Putin – who has said he would be ready to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia’s “territorial integrity” – also warned of a “global catastrophe” in the event of a direct clash of NATO troops with Russia.

He was speaking after a week when Russia has staged its heaviest missile attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities since the start of its invasion of Feb. 24 – an action that Putin has said was retaliation for an attack that damaged a Russian bridge to unilaterally annexed Crimea.

— Reuters

Two NATO member countries have not yet signed ratification protocols for Finland and Sweden to join the military alliance.

Out of NATO’s 30 member countries, Hungary and Turkey are the last not to grant Sweden and Finland membership. Slovakia was the latest NATO ally to sign ratification documents on Sept. 27.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called on the last two remaining NATO members to ratify Finland and Sweden’s membership.

“I encourage all of our valued allies to ratify the protocols for accession as soon as possible so that we can welcome both of these highly-capable democratic partners into the alliance,” Austin told reporters at NATO.

In May, both nations began the formal process of applying to NATO as Russia’s war in Ukraine raged. All 30 members of the alliance have to ratify the countries’ entry into the group.

In August, U.S. President Joe Biden signed ratification documents following a 95-1 Senate vote to bring Finland and Sweden into NATO.

— Amanda Macias

U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan met with Lithuanian officials to discuss the war in Ukraine.

Sullivan met with Asta Skaisgiryte, Lithuania’s chief foreign policy advisor and his counterpart Kestutis Budrys, Lithuania’s chief national security advisor.

“They discussed their shared commitment to continuing to provide Ukraine with security assistance to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity and to maintain sanctions pressure to hold Russia accountable,” the White House said in a readout.

Sullivan also reiterated U.S. commitment to NATO’s collective defense and discussed plans for the 2023 NATO Summit, which Lithuania will host.

— Amanda Macias

Calls by a Russian-installed official for residents to flee the Russian-occupied Kherson region of southern Ukraine and go to Russia amount to “deportation,” a Ukrainian regional official said.

Vladimir Saldo, who was appointed head of the region by Moscow after Russian forces seized it early in the war in Ukraine, publicly asked for government help on Thursday in moving civilians out.

Saldo made his appeal following advances by Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine.

“We understand that there can be no evacuation, this is nothing more than deportation that Saldo calls for,” Serhiy Khlan, a member of Kherson’s regional council, told a briefing.

“This ‘evacuation’ announced by Saldo is an evacuation for collaborators and traitors in the region… they want to take these collaborators to Russia,” Khlan said.

Most of the Kherson region was seized in the first days of Russia’s invasion as it sent in troops from adjoining Crimea.

— Reuters

Germany and the U.S. will send advanced anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine this month to help it defend itself against drone and missile attacks from Russia, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.

“There is a U.S. decision to supply us with a very well-known NASAMS system, the first few batches. Our specialists are already being trained. And they will be delivered this month,” Reznikov said on Ukrainian television.

NASAMS are ground-based, short to medium-range air defense systems built by U.S. arms giant Raytheon and Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. They are designed to take out unmanned and fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and cruise missiles among other things.

Reznikov said Germany would send Ukraine its IRIS-II air defense system this month.

— Natasha Turak

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey and Russia have instructed their respective energy authorities to immediately begin technical work on a Russian proposal that would turn Turkey into a gas hub for Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has floated the idea of exporting more gas through the TurkStream gas pipeline running beneath the Black Sea to Turkey after gas deliveries to Germany through the Baltic Sea’s Nord Stream pipeline were halted.

Erdogan said Russian and Turkish energy authorities would work together to designate the best location for a gas distribution center, adding that Turkey’s Thrace region, bordering Greece and Bulgaria, appeared to be the best spot.

“Together with Mr. Putin, we have instructed our Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the relevant institution on the Russian side to work together,” Erdogan was quoted as saying. “They will conduct this study. Wherever the most appropriate place is, we will hopefully establish this distribution center there.”

“There will be no waiting,” Erdogan said in his first statement on the Russian proposal.

The Turkish leader made the comments on Thursday on his return from a regional summit in Kazakhstan where he met with Putin. His words were reported by Hurriyet newspaper and other media.

— Associated Press

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked Ukraine’s Defenders Day holiday by promising victory over Russia and freedom for Ukraine.

In a video address delivered on hills outside the capital Kyiv, Zelenskyy thanked Ukraine’s armed forces for defending their country. He said everything that had been taken away from Ukraine would be returned, and no soldier left in captivity.

“By defeating this enemy, we will respond to all enemies who encroached on Ukraine – on those who lived, who live and who will live on our land. This will be a victory for all our people. This will be a victory for the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.

“The world sees that Ukrainians do not lose their humanity under any circumstances. The enemy can strike at our cities, but never at our dignity,” Zelenskyy added, marking the Oct. 14 public holiday.

— Text by Reuters and photos by Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images

The organization overseeing the export of grain from Ukraine said it has approved six vessels to leave the besieged country.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal among Ukraine, Russia, the United Nations and Turkey, said the vessels are carrying 153,505 metric tons of grain and other crops.

Two ships are destined for Turkey and are carrying wheat and corn. One ship will depart from Ukraine’s Yuzhny-Pivdennyi port for Iraq and is carrying 33,000 metric tons of sunflower oil. Another ship will leave from Chornomorsk to China and is carrying 62,860 metric tons of sunflower meal.

The fifth vessel will sail to Germany and is carrying 30,817 metric tons of rapeseed. One ship will leave for Lebanon carrying 7,000 metric tons of corn.

Read more about the Black Sea Grain Initiative here.

— Amanda Macias

Elon Musk appears to have confirmed that his company SpaceX will no longer fund donated Starlink internet terminals in Ukraine.

He said Friday that SpaceX cannot continue fund Starlink terminals in Ukraine “indefinitely.”

It follows a CNN report that SpaceX was pulling funding for the terminals, citing documents obtained from the Pentagon. SpaceX is asking the U.S. government pay for the terminals instead, according to the report.

Musk himself appeared to confirm this in a tweet Friday, replying to a Twitter post that referenced the Ukrainian ambassador telling Musk earlier this month to to “f— off.”

“We’re just following his recommendation,” Musk replied.

The CNN report said that documents it had obtained “show that last month Musk’s SpaceX sent a letter to the Pentagon saying it can no longer continue to fund the Starlink service as it has.”

“The letter also requested that the Pentagon take over funding for Ukraine’s government and military use of Starlink, which SpaceX claims would cost more than $120m for the rest of the year and could cost close to $400m for the next 12 months,” it added.

According to the report, SpaceX’s director of government sales told the Pentagon in a letter in September: “We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time.”

Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, is one of the richest men on earth.

— Natasha Turak

The Russian governor of Belgorod says that Ukrainian armed forces blew up an ammunition depot, according to an update on the Telegram messaging app.

“In a village in the Belgorod district, as a result of the shelling of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, an ammunition depot was blown up. The detonation occurred,” wrote Vyacheslav Gladkov, Belgorod’s governor.

He said that there were no victims or injuries. It was not immediately clear if Ukraine claimed responsibility for the shelling near the ammunition depot.

— Amanda Macias