countries were seriously advocating sanctions on Russia’s vital energy sector. “Going further than Wednesday’s sanctions could prove a big problem for Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy,” said Mujtaba Rahman, the managing director for Europe with the Eurasia Group consulting firm, referring to Italy’s multifaceted dependence on Russia.īelgium was seeking an exemption for its large diamond sector, and no E.U. And Italy was pushing to leave the luxury goods industry untouched so that it could continue exporting fashion and other high-end products to Russia. Austria, Germany and Italy raised concerns about imposing broad sanctions on cross-border financial transactions and banking operations. members were concerned about other sectors of Russia’s economy that could be penalized. Until the invasion, European diplomats directly involved in the talks over sanctions presented a much less united picture of the European Union, whose dependence on Russian gas is just one of the ways it is limited in truly punishing Moscow without crippling its own economies.ĭiplomats said that several E.U. leaders will therefore flock to Brussels on Thursday evening for an emergency summit that will seek to quickly approve the second round of sanctions, although finding compromise without appearing to dither in the face of a once-in-a-generation conflict will be hard.
Show moreīut as Russian troops launched an invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, it became painfully clear that they had badly miscalculated.Į.U. Lapid said that his staff would assist any Jew affected by the war. Hundreds of thousands of Jews live in Russia and Ukraine, and Mr. Iran uses Syria to funnel weapons and aid to Hezbollah, a militant group that dominates southern Lebanon and is opposed to Israel. The Israeli Air Force frequently strikes Iranian and Syrian military targets in Syria, and needs Russia’s tacit blessing to continue that campaign. But Israel is wary of angering Russia, which has a large military presence in Syria, Israel’s northeastern neighbor and enemy. Israel is a key ally of the United States and has received more American aid since World War II than any other country. The ministry had avoided even mentioning Russia in a statement on Wednesday, saying only that “Israel supports the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of Ukraine.” In an earlier statement on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry simply noted that the conflict had entered “a new and difficult stage” and told Israel’s estimated 8,000 citizens in Ukraine to leave via land crossings in the country’s west. Lapid’s statement took care to note Israel’s “deep, long-lasting, and good relations with Russia and with Ukraine,” but it nevertheless broke with his ministry’s previous line. Khan laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a war memorial dedicated to Soviet troops who died in World War II, according to The Associated Press of Pakistan, which said it was the first visit by a Pakistani leader to Moscow in two decades.
Ned Price, a State Department spokesman, said at a briefing on Wednesday that Washington hoped “every country around the world would make that point clearly in unambiguous language in their engagements with the Russian Federation.” Putin’s action in Ukraine, especially given the longstanding partnership between Islamabad and Washington. Khan’s visit and that it hoped Pakistan, like all countries, would voice objection to Mr. State Department said that it was aware of Mr. He said that sanctions on Iran had contributed to delays in building the pipeline. “We want to have trading relations with all countries.” “What we want to do is not become part of any bloc,” he said in the interview, given with the Russian news media courtesy of the Moscow-controlled broadcaster RT. Khan, in an interview broadcast on Tuesday, avoided criticizing Moscow’s policy in Ukraine and said he hoped the crisis could be resolved peacefully. That could potentially increase the importance of other outlets for Russian gas. Gas is a crucial export for Russia, and Germany on Monday halted certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline linking the country to Russia in response to the Kremlin’s recognition of two separatist regions in Ukraine. Khan returning to Pakistan later Thursday. And while some commentators called the visit ill-timed and said it would be cut short, Pakistan’s information minister said on Twitter that it would proceed as planned, with Mr.
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