EU and Nato member states have warned Russia that it will be hit with a devastating package of sanctions if it invades Ukraine amid a build-up of about 100,000 Russian troops on the border between the two countries.
The EU imposed sanctions on Russia’s energy, banking and defence sectors after it invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea in 2014. But Moscow remains an important economic partner as the bloc's fifth biggest trade partner.
A senior US official laid out economic sanctions “with massive consequences” that go far beyond the measures implemented in 2014 after Russia invaded Ukraine's Crimea region.
New measures could include restrictions on exports of high-tech US equipment in the artificial intelligence, quantum computing and aerospace sectors, the official said.
Cutting Russia off from these technologies would hit Putin's “strategic ambitions to industrialise his economy quite hard”, the official said.
Long-standing trade ties are dominated by Russian energy exports through pipelines to the European industrial economies. Germany is believed to be resisting behind the scenes any efforts to include the gas sector in a sanctions package, even though new chancellor Olaf Scholz has said Moscow would suffer "high costs" from an invasion.
In particular it is wary of holding up authorisation of the new multi-billion dollar Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia with ruling party officials arguing it is a private sector project that is separate from the Ukraine issue.
Russia is the EU's third biggest source of imports after the United States and China. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has noted that the EU is Russia's biggest trade partner and the largest investor in the country.
For its part the UK has urged the EU states to hit the button on sanctions as soon as it is agreed there must be a response. “We have a hard-hitting package of sanctions ready to go and what I think it would be fair to say is we want to see our European friends ready to deploy that package as soon as there should be any incursion at all by Russia into Ukraine,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the UK parliament on Tuesday.
“It is absolutely vital that … the West is united now, because it is our unity now that will be much more effective in deterring any Russian aggression.”
SWIFT
A key measure under consideration is to cut Russia off the SWIFT network that connects the world's banks. It is a measure previously taken against Iran, but not attempted against a major global economy.
About 300 Russian banks and organisations are part of SWIFT, which connects 11,000 institutions across 200 territories.
Removing Russia from the system would hit companies that do business with the country.
While western powers have said they are united on sanctioning Moscow if an invasion happens, concerns are likely to be higher in Europe because if its economic relationship with Russia.
Germany in particular has reportedly voiced concerns about taking such a strong step.
It is worried about the damage to German financial institutions and the European economy if a comprehensive freeze was imposed on Russian assets and transactions with Russia’s biggest banks.
Energy
Russia’s gas supply, which accounts for 40 per cent of Europe’s imports for its energy needs. At the height of winter, prices are already high and alternative supplies not readily available on the work market.
A senior US official said on Tuesday that contingency plans were being drawn up to get Europe through the winter in the event Russia moves to squeeze energy supplies.
Mr Johnson alluded to Berlin’s particular concerns on the matter on Tuesday. He described the “extreme delicacy” of Germany's position because of its reliance on Russian gas.
“Germany is absolutely critical for our success in this,” he said. “We've just got to keep the pressure up together.”
He said “one of the big issues that we all face in dealing with Ukraine, in dealing with Russia, is the heavy dependence of our European friends in particular on Russian gas”.
Still, a senior US administration official said that Moscow needed oil and gas revenue as much as Europe relied on Russia for energy supplies. The energy issue should be looked at more as interdependency rather than a pure advantage for Mr Putin, the official said.
Vladimir Putin
Some leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have refused to rule out personal measures against Russian leader Vladimir Putin if war is not averted. Liz Truss, the British foreign secretary, refused to be drawn on the specifics of targeting the Kremlin leader on Wednesday.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov warnwsthat personal sanctions against Russia's leadership ignores the fact they are legally barred from holding assets, property and bank accounts abroad.
“Politically, it's not painful, it's destructive,” he said.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
England v South Africa schedule
- First Test: Starts Thursday, Lord's, 2pm (UAE)
- Second Test: July 14-18, Trent Bridge, Nottingham, 2pm
- Third Test: The Oval, London, July 27-31, 2pm
- Fourth Test: Old Trafford, Manchester, August 4-8
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
more from Janine di Giovanni
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
The years Ramadan fell in May
Scores
Day 2
New Zealand 153 & 56-1
Pakistan 227
New Zealand trail by 18 runs with nine wickets remaining
More on Quran memorisation:
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202020%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Khaldoon%20Bushnaq%20and%20Tariq%20Seksek%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Global%20Market%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20HealthTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20100%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20to%20date%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2415%20million%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
