Russia & Caucasus

The ruble has collapsed against the dollar over the past several days amid tightening financial sanctions.
Finance

Russia's credit crunch raises specter of default

G-7 finance chiefs pledge more action as debt yields soar and liquidity tightens

2 March 2022
Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.N. Sergiy Kyslytsya speaks at an emergency special session of the U.N. General Assembly on Ukraine on Feb. 28. 
Ukraine war

Ukraine, West seek to pressure Russia at divided U.N.

Kyiv's envoy warns global democracy at risk as countries take sides

2 March 2022
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Ukraine war

Ukraine foreign minister asks China to mediate ceasefire

In phone call, Beijing says it supports negotiations to end war

2 March 2022
 A Ukrainian serviceman holding a weapon in Kharkiv, Ukraine on Feb. 25. 
Caixin

Caixin report: Beginning of the end for post-Cold War global order

Russia attack on Ukraine grows out of mounting unease over NATO's expansion east

1 March 2022
Ukrainians waiting to cross over into Romania. (Photo by Oksana Grytsenko)
Ukraine war

How I become a war refugee: Diary of a Ukrainian journalist

Former life in Kyiv 'a distant past, almost like a dream'

1 March 2022
"The Taiwanese people can rest assured that we are working to ensure our nation's security," President Tsai Ing-wen said of Russia's war on Ukraine. (Source photos by AFP/Jiji and Reuters) 
Ukraine war

Taipei plays down fears of 'Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow'

Island rattled by Putin's war, but steels resolve against possible China attack

1 March 2022
Narendra Modi welcomes Vladimir Putin ahead of their meeting in New Delhi in December 2021: Modi may conclude that sticking close to Putin is a bad bet.
Opinion

Western nagging will not ease India's Russia-China dilemma

Anxiety over New Delhi's unwillingness to condemn Ukraine attack is mostly overdone

1 March 2022
A tanker loads LNG from the Sakhalin-2 project at the port of Prigorodnoye, Russia.
Ukraine war

Shell exits Russia's Sakhalin-2: Five things to know

Oil and gas stakes expose Asia to sanctions risk

1 March 2022
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a meeting in Brazil in November 2019.
Comment

Xi misreads Putin's Ukraine gambit despite access to U.S. intel

Tacit support for Russian invasion could damage Beijing's global ambitions

1 March 2022
Russian troops train with a mobile ICBM launcher.
Comment

Nuclear alert makes Ukraine worst standoff since Cuban missile crisis

Vladimir Putin appears to embrace risky 'escalate to de-escalate' planning

1 March 2022
A Russian navy ship passes through the Bosphorus in Istanbul in May 2020.
Ukraine war

Turkey blocks Black Sea passage for Russian naval vessels

Erdogan announces restrictions to 'stop escalation' based on 1936 agreement

1 March 2022
Shell is withdrawing from the Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas plant in Russia.
Energy

Japan-backed Sakhalin-2 LNG project rocked by Shell exit

Mitsui and Mitsubishi also invested in joint venture with Russia's Gazprom

1 March 2022
A mural of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Moscow-region town of Kashira. His decision to invade Ukraine is rupturing economic ties between his the country and the West.
Ukraine war

From BP to Daimler, rush of corporate exits isolate Russia further

Beijing can help soften the blow to Moscow -- but by how much?

1 March 2022
A tanker loads liquefied natural gas from the Sakhalin-2 project in Russia. LNG is Japan's biggest import from Russia.
Ukraine war

Corporate Japan gauges Russia risk as sanctions deepen

Removal of Russian banks from SWIFT affects trading houses, carmakers, LNG

1 March 2022
Russia's currency fell 30% against the dollar at one point on Feb. 28. (Source photo by AP)
Ukraine war

Russia more than doubles interest rates to 20%

Ruble hits record low as country is cut off from SWIFT global payment system

1 March 2022
Francis Fukuyama says "there has been a lot of speculation that [Vladimir Putin has] kind of gone crazy," isolated by the COVID epidemic.
Interview

Vladimir Putin will fail at subduing Ukraine: Francis Fukuyama

'End of History' scholar remains steadfast advocate of liberal democracy

1 March 2022
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko casts his ballot in Minsk on Feb. 27 for the constitutional referendum. (Nikolay Petrov/BelTA/Handout via REUTERS)
International relations

Belarus renounces non-nuclear status in referendum

Mass arrests of protesters follow as vote opens door to hosting Russian weapons

28 February 2022
Chinese internet users last week questioned Didi's motives in moving to pull out of Russia.
Ukraine war

China's Didi cancels exit from Russia under public pressure

Ride-hailing operator in struggle to stem losses

28 February 2022
Ukraine Central Bank Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko is asking Visa and Mastercard to halt transactions of their credit cards issued in Russia to add further pressure to Putin's regime. 
Interview

Ukraine urges Visa and MasterCard to halt Russian cards

Asia should follow sanctions set by U.S. and Europe, central bank chief says

28 February 2022
Vladimir Putin, pictured in Moscow on Feb 27: the Russian President should be put on notice that we will seek to put him on trial for war crimes.
Opinion

Use the International Criminal Court to pursue Putin's Russia

Ukraine attack is a stark example of the crime of aggression

28 February 2022
People in Seoul watch a TV news report on a North Korean missile launch on Feb. 27. 
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea shoots for leadership vacuum with new missile test

Pyongyang may see America as spread too thin in Ukraine crisis

28 February 2022
The flag of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. ASEAN has been slow to comment on the developments in Ukraine.
International relations

ASEAN stops short of calling out Russia in delayed statement

Foreign ministers express concern and urge 'maximum restraint' on all sides

28 February 2022
SWIFT handles 42 million remittances per day, of which Russian financial institutions accounted for 1.5% as of 2020.
Ukraine war

Removal of Russian banks from SWIFT system: 5 things to know

Russian financial institutions handle about $46 billion of forex transactions a day

27 February 2022
A screen displays a warning message in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish that appeared on the official website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry after a massive cyberattack on Jan 14: Ukraine has already been a target for years now.
27 February 2022
The river at the top of this image has believed to be a strategic point from where Russia troops and vehicles crossed south into Ukraine from Belarus in the north. (Image by Capella Space)  
Ukraine war

Satellite images unveil Russian spearhead of Ukraine invasion

Floating bridge instrumental in bringing forces from north to Kyiv

27 February 2022