US stops Russian bond payments; EU proposes coal ban in sanctions

'Act Immediately Or Dissolve Yourself': Zelenskyy at UNSC

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky challenged the UN to “act immediately” or “dissolve yourself altogether” in an address in which he showed a video of dead bodies he said were victims of Russian atrocities.

“This (Russian forces in Bucha) is no different from other terrorists such as Daesh, who occupied some territory, and here it is done by a member of the United Nations Security Council,” he said.

Zelenskyy reaffirmed that Ukrainian forces who retook cities found mass graves, revelations of atrocities and infrastructure destroyed by Russian forces.

Russia is likely to continue a push in eastern and southern Ukraine in the coming weeks as it aims to capture the entire Donbas region, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said, confirming what he described as a significant shift of invading forces away from Kyiv.

The United States stopped the Russian government on Monday from paying holders of its sovereign debt more than $600 million from reserves held at US banks, in a move meant to ratchet up pressure on Moscow and eat into its holdings of dollars.

Under sanctions, foreign currency reserves held by the Russian central bank at US financial institutions were frozen.

But the Treasury Department had been allowing the Russian government to use those funds to make coupon payments on dollar-denominated sovereign debt on a case-by-case basis.

On Monday, as the largest of the payments came due, including a $552.4 million principal payment on a maturing bond, the US government decided to cut off Moscow's access to the frozen funds, according to a US Treasury spokesperson.

An $84 million coupon payment was also due on Monday on a 2042 sovereign dollar bond.

US drones will include latest tank killers

The Pentagon plans to order and send to Ukraine 10 of the newest model Switchblade drones armed with tank-busting warheads in addition to previously announced deliveries of a less powerful version, according to two people familiar with the decision.

The new Switchblade-600 weapons are part of $300 million in lethal military assistance announced by the Pentagon Friday night that will be contracted directly from industry instead of drawn from existing stocks, according to the people, who asked not to identified discussing the plan. 

Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark expel Russian diplomats

Germany, France, Italy and Spain are among the countries which have expelled diplomats since Monday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the expulsions of Russian diplomats by European countries will prompt a response from Moscow and will complicate international relations.

Peskov said that “we view negatively, we view with regret this narrowing of possibilities for diplomatic communication, diplomatic work in such difficult conditions, in unprecedent crisis conditions.” 

EU targets coal, vodka, vessels in new sanctions sweep

The European Commission proposed sweeping new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday including banning coal imports and halting trade worth nearly 20 billion euros ($22 billion) in retaliation over possible war crimes in Ukraine.

The proposals include banning imports of coal, wood, cement, liquors and seafood worth about 9.5 billion euros ($10.4 billion) a year, according to the European Commission. A source said the restrictions would also hit caviar, vodka, rubber and chemicals.

Brussels is proposing a ban on exports to Russia worth another 10 billion euros a year, including of advanced semiconductors, quantum computers, and other electrical and transport equipment. The export of technology for liquefied natural gas (LNG) would also be banned, said a source.

Russian vessels and trucks would be prevented from accessing the EU.