India and the United Arab Emirates abstained also from voting on the US-drafted text. The 11 remaining council members voted for the text. The UN General Assembly, which consists of 193 members, is expected to take up the draft resolution.
As this escalates into a bloody conflict, Russian fire has already damaged dozens of Ukrainian military sites. As global markets are rocked by rising geopolitical risks, volatile energy and financial markets, the repercussions of this conflict are felt far beyond Europe.
Despite this, Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 0.8% this Week. This impressive recovery from multiweek lows managed the to erase earlier week’s declines due to geopolitical turmoil. Friday’s session ended at 4,384.65, an increase of 4% from the closing level of 4,348.87 on Friday. This is also the first weekly gain for the S&P 500 since Feb. 4. The index is currently down 2.9% in February, with only one session left. The year-to-date index is down 8%
What to look out for this weekend
Markets will expect more developments this weekend. Vladimir Putin suggested that he may be open to negotiations with Ukraine, even though his forces are continuing their assault on Kyiv. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is refusing to leave the capital under attack. Instead, he has made a desperate plea to the West for tougher sanctions against Moscow.
The US and UK have increased the pressure and will now sanction Russia’s president directly. In addition, thousands of troops from the US have been deployed to the NATO borders. Canada and the European Union announced Friday that sanctions would be imposed on Mr Putin and Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister.
As well as the lawmakers in the US Congress and UK Parliament, Ukrainian leaders are calling for further steps. These include excluding Russia from the SWIFT financial messaging network used for international transactions as well as a direct attack on Mr Putin.
According to a spokesperson for Putin, Zelensky is talking to Putin about negotiating a ceasefire.
Serhiy Nykyforov, Ukraine’s press secretary, was quoted as saying Friday that he had refuted the claims that we have not been willing to negotiate. Ukraine is ready and willing to discuss a ceasefire or peace. This is our consistent position. We accepted the proposal of the Russian Federation president. We agreed to a proposal by the president of the Russian Federation.
It does not appear that Mr Putin is willing to speak to Zelensky, even though he tries to take his military revenge on him.
At a televised meeting of Russia’s security council, Mr Putin addressed the audience and called upon the Ukrainian military force to take control in Ukraine and overthrow Mr Zelensky.
He said, “I appeal again to the military personnel in the armed forces Ukraine: Do not allow neo Nazis and (Ukrainian militant nationalists) use your children and wives as human shields.”
“Take control of your destiny, it will be easier to reach an agreement.”
While this is a changing situation, Russia now has a greater presence of NATO at its doorstep, which is exactly what Putin didn’t want.
Russia will “launch an attack” on Kyiv Saturday morning
Zelensky warned that Russia would launch an attack on Kyiv “later,” and warned Ukrainians to “stand firm” tonight. The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now.
Zelensky stated that the enemy would use all their power to undermine our defense, and added that “many cities” are at risk: Chernihiv (Sumy), Kharkiv (Donbass), southern Ukraine, Kyiv (special attention to Kyiv).
