General Visits Embattled Bakhmut to Show Support

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A senior Ukrainian army general visited the embattled town of Bakhmut to support its defenders after months of Russian attacks in the years-long war.

The group of 20 finance chiefs failed to agree on a joint statement after Russia and China refused to formulate the war that G-20 leaders backed in November. PKN Orlen, Poland’s largest oil company, reported that inflows from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline have been halted, while customers are unaffected.

European Union governments on Friday backed the 10th package of sanctions against Russia, including new export restrictions on dual-use and advanced technologies contributing to Russia’s war effort.

Russia’s War in Ukraine: Key Events and How It Develops

You can follow all of our special coverage of the year-long invasion of Russia on our website, on Twitter and on Bloomberg Television, including live coverage from Kyiv. You can also read our biggest articles on Flipboard from the past week.

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)

Listen to our special conversations this week, including our Twitter space from yesterday, which analyzed Zelenskyi’s press conference as it took place. We also discussed the military strategies of the war, the impact on energy and the environment, the impact of sanctions, including on the wealth of Russian oligarchs, and the future of Ukrainian refugees.

Big Take Podcast: How does Ukraine keep hitting back at Russia?

Important Developments

• More and more Ukrainians are settling abroad as the war rages on

• Biden rules out delivery of Ukrainian F-16s “for now.”

• Sweden and Germany pledge nearly 30 tanks to arm the Ukrainian battalion

• Poland says Russia is halting oil flows via vital Druzhba pipeline

• Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: A Political Year in Photos

The story goes on

On the floor:

Russia’s main efforts remain focused on conducting offensive operations on the axes of Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Shakhtar’ke, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Facebook. Russia carried out 27 air strikes and 75 MLRS strikes. Around Bakhmut, Kremlin troops are actively conducting aerial reconnaissance to cease artillery fire. Russian troops shelled towns in the Dnipropetrovsk region with heavy artillery, damaging three schools, 10 apartment buildings, 11 private houses, power lines and local gas transmission lines.

(All times CET)

CIA chief increases warning to China (00:08)

CIA Director William Burns said the Biden administration is confident China’s leadership is considering supplying lethal equipment to Russia in its war against Ukraine, echoing comments made by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Joe Biden last week.

China has not yet made a decision and the US has seen no evidence of such shipments, Burns said in an interview with CBS’ Face the Nation recorded Friday. That’s why Blinken and Biden “thought it was important to also make it very clear what the consequences of that would be,” Burns said.

Russia to G-20: New Power Centers Needed (6:30 p.m.)

Russia accused the “collective West” of undermining the Group of 20, saying the US, European Union and other Group of Seven countries are trying to blame Russia for global economic and security problems.

A statement by Russia’s foreign ministry in response to this week’s G-20 finance chiefs meeting called for recognition of “new centers of power,” including Russia.

Ukrainian general visits embattled Bakhmut (4:21 p.m.)

Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskiy, commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces, visited the embattled city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region on Saturday, the armed forces said on Facebook.

Since August, Russian troops have been trying to seize the city as a springboard for further territorial gains in eastern Ukraine. Fighting continues in and around the outskirts of Bakhmut, which had a population of about 70,000 before the war, ground forces said.

Kremlin forces are likely to have made “marginal territorial gains” in the region on Friday, according to the Institute for the Study of War, which noted that Russian sources are again claiming capture of nearby villages.

G-20 finance chiefs fail to reach agreement (2:44 p.m.)

The group of 20 finance chiefs failed to agree on a consensus statement when they met in Bengaluru because language about Russia’s war in Ukraine was out of the question.

The release of a leader’s summary, as opposed to a traditional communiqué, was a step backwards after a joint statement was agreed at the November leaders’ summit in Indonesia.

Read more: Russia’s war ends without communiqué from G-20 finance chiefs

Hungary’s NATO enlargement vote seen in late March (2:30 p.m.)

Hungary can cast its final vote on ratifying Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership bids only in the second half of March after holding separate talks with each country, Cabinet Minister Gergely Gulyas said.

The nation is the only member of the European Union that has not yet approved NATO expansion plans. Turkey is the other member of the North Atlantic Treaty that has so far not agreed to the Nordic countries joining.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday he supports NATO expansion.

Poland Says Russia Cuts Oil Shipments (1:36 p.m.)

PKN Orlen SA, Poland’s largest oil company, is no longer receiving oil from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline, CEO Daniel Obajtek said in a tweet. Orlen said consumers would not be affected by the halt they had been preparing for. Reasons for the interruption were not given.

Read more: Poland’s Orlen says Russia is cutting oil supplies via key pipeline

Russia’s Foreign Ministry denies Swiss Talks (1:14 p.m.)

Russia is not negotiating Ukraine’s situation in Switzerland as it no longer considers the country neutral after joining anti-Russian sanctions, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in comments on the ministry’s website.

Zakhorova was referring to comments from Ignazio Cassis, Switzerland’s foreign minister, who told Le Temps newspaper this week that secret “not high-level” talks were underway in Geneva over an attempt to reach a peace settlement.

Switzerland can no longer pretend to play a mediating role, including providing a venue for talks, Zakharova said.

Scholz says China’s proposal has ‘lights and shadows’ (1:05 ​​p.m.)

The German Chancellor, who is in India for two days, said China’s position paper on ways to a ceasefire in Ukraine contains ups and downs. The 12-point plan was flatly rejected as offering Russia clear advantages.

Olaf Scholz said he welcomed the “red lines” outlined by Beijing on the use of nuclear weapons but criticized China’s lack of any demand for Russia to withdraw its troops from the occupied territories in Ukraine. “A forced peace fabricated by Russia is not an option,” said Scholz.

Read more: China’s Ukraine ceasefire proposal falls flat with US and allies

EU adopts 10th sanctions package against Russia (12 p.m.)

EU member states officially adopted a 10th package of sanctions against Moscow, which includes stricter export restrictions and technology controls, as well as requiring banks to report information about the Central Bank of Russia and other sanctioned assets they hold.

The bloc’s envoys signed the measures late Friday ahead of their final ratification. The EU also imposed measures against individuals and organizations who support the war, spread propaganda or deliver drones through Russia.

The measures come amid a push to better enforce existing sanctions and crack down on companies that circumvent them.

Macron visits China in April, urges Russia (11:30)

Emmanuel Macron will visit China in early April, the French president told reporters on Saturday.

He hailed China’s move to join efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, reiterating that peace “is only possible by first stopping Russian aggression, withdrawing troops and respecting the territorial sovereignty of the Ukrainian people.” “.

“China must now, of course, help us to put pressure on Russia to never use chemical or nuclear weapons, which China has already done, but to stop this aggression as a prelude to negotiations,” Macron said.

Ukrainians finally move abroad (9:30 a.m.)

More than 8 million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, fled the country after Russia’s invasion a year ago – and many are staying away.

The United Nations has dubbed it Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II, and Ukraine has been plunged into a spiral of demographic decline that will likely also hurt its post-war growth prospects.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy implored Ukrainians to return as soon as it is safe to do so.

Read more: More Ukrainians settle abroad as war rages on

Russia is running low on Iranian drones, Britain says (9am)

In line with this week’s reporting from Bloomberg, the UK MoD has said Russia has used up its inventory of Iranian-made drones and will likely be looking for a new batch.

There have been no reports of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (OWA-UAVs) being used for one-way strikes in Ukraine since around February 15, the ministry said on Twitter.

Though the weapons don’t have a good record of destroying their intended targets, Russia likely sees them as useful decoys that can distract Ukraine’s air defenses from more effective Russian cruise missiles, the ministry said.

Read more: Russia May Be Running Short on Iranian Drones, Awaiting New Deliveries

Naval exercises underway in Russia and China off South Africa (7:30 a.m.)

Joint naval exercises between China, Russia and South Africa are underway as planned, TASS reported, citing the African nation’s defense ministry. The operation is scheduled to last until Monday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko said in a statement on Friday that Ukraine was “deeply concerned” about the exercises and said South Africa was “adopting the lessons learned from the Russian war machine”.

“We call on the Republic of South Africa not to encourage further Russian aggression and their sense of impunity,” he said.

Read more: Russia, South Africa and China simulate airstrikes in practice

Biden rules out delivery of Ukrainian F-16s “for now” (4:10 a.m.)

President Joe Biden said he is ruling out Ukraine’s request for F-16 fighter jets at this time, despite increased pressure from Zelenskyy.

“He doesn’t need an F-16 right now,” Biden said in an interview with ABC News that aired Friday night. “I’ll rule that out for now.”

The US has resisted sending Ukrainian F-16 fighter jets over fears their delivery could further escalate the war.

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