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Russian Ambassador: Russia Exercising its Right to Self-Defense; U.N. General Assembly Holding Emergency Session; UAE Abstained from U.N. from Vote Deploring Russian Invasion; Ukrainian & Russian Delegations Met on Belarusian Border; Western Sanctions Aim to keep Russia from Global Trading; Large Explosion Seen Near Kyiv. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired February 28, 2022 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
VASILY NEBENZIA, RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: --with tales being spun about the triumph of democracy in Ukraine, the Maidan
Authorities and Nationalists engage in impunity murdering political opponents persecuting opposition, shattering opposition television outlets,
and where there could be some relatively objective information provided six of those television channels were shuttered under Zelensky alone.
And how could we fail to mention the fact that the country was flooded with weapons which were then turned on peaceful civilians in Donbas, the
responsibility for what's taking place right now lies at the feet of the current Ukrainian leadership as well as our Western colleagues.
Today, we wish to emphasize that that this has been inflated by the lies and disinformation from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the nationalist
Western media outlets increasingly shamelessly are portraying our military operation as a result of negative consequences.
We constantly hear lies fakes about indiscriminate shelling of Ukrainian cities, hospitals, schools kindergartens; the Russian army does not pose a
threat to the civilians of Ukraine. Is not shelling civilian areas in areas and cities where Russian armed forces have taken control.
And these areas are seeing persons living their lives normally, basic infrastructure transportation, local infrastructure, and law and order is
being upheld. And this includes the electrical station the power plant, which is jointly patrolled by Russian representatives and the special
Ukrainian Police, who are present in the area that Chernobyl plant is also operating normally.
The threat to the residents of Ukraine presently is posed by Ukrainian nationalists was effectively taken hostage the residents of Ukraine and
they're using them they're hiding themselves behind them and using them as human shields.
There's abundant evidence from ordinary Ukrainian nationalist despite their protests, have been deploying heavy equipment and multiple rocket launchers
in residential areas. This is an egregious violation of international humanitarian law, which needs to be duly condemned.
Effectively this is the same tactic that is being used by ISIS terrorists all of the responsibility for the possible repercussions for the lives of
the feet of the Maidan Regime. The residents of Ukraine are also threatened by the unfettered, uncontrolled, radical elements giving to all those who
wish including criminals who have specifically been released from prison.
They are now receiving weapons and the looters and murderers and criminals are now using them to target civilians that there are sufficient and
abundant evidence of this from residents of Kyiv and other cities. This demonstrates the recklessness of Ukraine authorities needs to be there
women.
Just now we received a letter from the Ukrainian human rights organization, a social policy and Social Protection Institute. The - eight years, this
body has been informing international structures about how the Neo Nazism was born and proliferated in Ukraine and how it has been and continues to
be held in at the state level.
I briefly quote today, the opposite of the recklessness and lawlessness of Neo Nazis in Ukraine was that condemned criminals have been released from
prison they have carried out grave crimes, murders, et cetera. Only in Kyiv those who are willing receive 25,000 machine guns without any
documentation.
Killings, looting, crime is ongoing those go through so called Territorial Defenders of Ukraine. Shot at a car killing, killing parents and a girl. A
young girl two children are in hospital critically wounded the Former Acting President following the unconstitutional coup in February 2014.
They have called on all citizens who are not indifferent to slaughter Russians throughout the territory of the country. And this is despite the
fact that the most recent court document for Ukraine in 2019 is sets out that 16 almost 17 percent and actually, far more people are rushing there.
Now against the Russian Federation in social networks, an information war has been unleashed insofar as evidence of destruction of civilian
infrastructure by Russian military does not exist Ukrainian attacks and accidental attacks. Bear out the fact that Ukrainian nationalists are
carrying out this violence social networks have training manuals about how to create fakes to taint our military operation?
Throughout Ukrainian social networks there are 1.2 million such pieces of fake news and the correspondence that was read out by the Ukrainian
Ambassador that conversation that was run out is also a part of these fakes.
[11:05:00]
NEBENZIA: We also do not support the draft resolution for this issue to move from the Security Council - address by the General Assembly special
session today. We were guided by the fact that that this measure proposes that we register that the Security Council failed to comply to uphold its
main responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
And at the same time, there was not even a hint at an attempt to find a constructive solutions at the Security Council attempts to circumvent the
position of the Russian Federation to disregard the position of the Russian Federation runs counter to the very bedrock of the United Nations.
There's a need to find common ground, regardless of our Western partners attempts to avoid this including when they disregarded our legitimate
concerns in connection with NATO policy and Western countries breach of the core principles of the OSCE on indivisibility of security.
To conclude, Mr. President, I wish to state that the Russian Federation did not begin these hostilities, the hostilities were unleashed by Ukraine
against its own residents, the residents of Donbas and all of those who are dissenters, and Russia is seeking to end this war. Thank you.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, that was the Russian Representative to the UN speaking at an emergency special session of the
United Nations General Assembly. This is the first such session since 1982.
And you've just heard from the Russian representative who opened his speech by suggesting that there is an information war on Russia in social media,
and then went on to blame Ukraine for the war. Before that you heard from the Ukrainian Representative who said, frankly, this at the end of his
speech.
If Ukraine does not survive international peace will not survive and some theater from the Ukrainian Representative as he finished his speech. He
asked delegates to raise their hands if their country voted in 1991 to agree that Russia could take over the USSR's seat as a permanent member of
the UN, according to the Ukrainian representative who could see the floor of the chamber.
Nobody raised their hands. Richard Roth is at the UN. Nic Robertson is in Moscow. Richard, what did you think? What did you make of what you just
said?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a contrast between the styles the Russian Ambassador to the UN marching on nonstop
rapid fire. The interpreter rushing to keep up with him, while the Ukrainian Ambassador, understandably, with his country invaded very
emotional, as you said.
He asked people to raise their hands if they had voted and would have voted for Russia to be the successor nation with a permanent member status after
the Soviet Union collapse. He also began by saying imagine next to your seat and your title of your country, there are 30 dead Russian soldiers.
He's really trying to egg Moscow on and get the word out that there are Russians who are dying in this war, anything to disturb the Putin
leadership role there. But remember, the General Assembly has no enforcement power, there will be a resolution possibly voted on this week,
which will call on Ukraine, Moscow to get out of Ukraine. But it's not enforceable. Just keep that in mind despite the title of this first
emergency session.
ANDERSON: Yes, this is non-binding, of course, Nic Robertson, and we heard both from the Ukrainian Representative there, as Richard pointed out, very
emotional speech by him and the Russian Representative, you are there in Moscow your perspective, if you will?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, this is 40 years since the last time there was a session like this. And I think what we saw
on display there was the depth of problems that face the United Nations, when you have a member of the UN Security Council, trotting out accusations
or litany of accusations that, for the most part, have been out in public for some time that have been unsubstantiated through that time have been
denied on some accounts by the Ukrainians during that time.
It shows how divided the United Nations is. I think, you know, another thing that strikes me as you're listening to this invective being launched
at the gathered representatives there, that this war is going on that Russia has launched the biggest war in Europe since World War II.
[11:10:00]
ROBERTSON: And it felt very incongruous to be hearing the rationale from Russia's perspective laid out, because it doesn't stack up with the reality
of what most of the people in that room understand to be accurate and fair.
But therein lies the problem, as I say, because Russia is a member of the UN Security Council. And that was part of the thrust of what the Ukrainian
Representative was putting forward, that this body isn't doing what it needs to do that a huge war has been launched by one big nation on one
smaller nation.
And a less the other nations around the table, do something that smaller nation risks being lost. I felt much struck by the moment of all of this,
and the magnitude of it and the meaning of it isn't going to change anything as Richard said, not around this table, the wars still being
prosecuted. It shows the gap between both sides.
And it did feel at points as if some social media platforms would struggle to put up some of the content that was put forward there for the obvious
reasons.
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson is in Moscow. Richard Roth is at the UN. We continue with our coverage after this.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN HOST: You're watching CNN. I'm Julia Chatterley live in New York with special programming on the economic and social costs of
the war in Ukraine. As the Ukrainian people face devastation at home, the consequences for Russia, and the Russian people are becoming clearer to
Russia facing a currency collapse the banking sector crisis and soaring interest rates as widespread sanctions take hold.
ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. This hour, we're also looking at the human impacts of the Russian invasion, along with the political and
economic consequences here in the Middle East. And we'll delve into the world of sports major global leagues, under increasing pressure to ban
Russia from international competitions. First up, let's get Julia, to get you all of the very latest.
CHATTERLEY: Thanks, Becky. I'd say Russia now facing a war on two fronts; a violent war in Ukraine and a financial war back home actually see three
crises taking place, Becky. We've got a currency crisis that intensified earlier today a banking crisis with assets at the central bank, and the
nation's largest banks frozen out of the financial system.
And then we can add in a brewing supply chain crisis as payments for goods abroad and at home, grind to a halt. Let me give you a sense of what we're
seeing in terms of the pressures the Ruble down some 14 percent against the U.S. dollar, just to give you some perspective, it's down 40 percent over
the past week.
Now to try and support that and to stop that weakness continuing and to prevent cash fleeing out of Russia let's be clear, the Central Bank has
hiked interest rates to 20 percent, they were just 9.5 percent. So that's OK, for savers. It's a devastating blow if you're a borrower.
Now, the Moscow Stock Exchange didn't open today, but I can give you a sense of what would have happened? Financial Giant Sberbank also has a
secondary listing in London; take a look at that, that stock down almost 70 percent. This was one of the banks that were locked out of the Swift
payment system.
Now Swift in English, you could imagine this as a global Gmail for financial transactions. If you can no longer send an email, people are not
going to trade with you. And if they fear you may soon be cut off, the same applies. What we've seen is a lack of confidence, a huge blow in confidence
for all Russian assets.
And that's having spillover effects look to the bond markets. In certain cases, Investors are now seeing a 50 percent chance of a Russian debt
default now a lifeline for the Russian economy, of course, and still is the money that they get for energy exports even now, there's been a carve out
for energy payments in the sanctions that we've seen, and that's kept oil markets, in my mind relatively calm.
Brent Crude is trading what around that $100 a level barrel. It's the same as last week. It could be a lot worse now no surprise U.S. and European
markets mostly lower Europe, underperforming because it's got more financial exposure to Russia. And right now that's simply being assessed.
For now, though, all eyes on the peace talks. Countries around the world have imposed tough sanctions on Russia designed to weaken its economy. It's
an unprecedented coordinated effort between the United States the UK, EU, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan.
[11:15:00]
CHATTERLEY: And this morning Switzerland announced that it will forego its commitment to Swiss neutrality and adopts the same sanctions as the EU
against Russia. Anna Stewart joins me from London Anna great to have you with us.
You can hide a war, in terms of suppression of the press, in propaganda in Russia, what you can't hide is a currency collapse a lack of access to
money at ATMs. There's a real shockwave going on right now in the Russian economy. And ordinary people are going to feel this very much.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the everyday lives of everyday people. And we're already seeing queues outside banks, which does make me
wonder whether we'll see capital controls being implemented here. The Ruble has now lost over half of its value since the beginning of the year that is
an extraordinary figure.
Think how much more expensive, all sorts of everyday items will become add on to the fact - add on to that the fact that there are some export
restrictions. So there are certain goods that will not be able to be important to Russia anyway, despite even that cost.
Then there is the flight controls, where can you fly to most of Europe are shut off their airspace to Russia so that everyday life for everyday people
has got significantly worse in a matter of just days. And it's not just them. It's oligarchs too.
And I know people perhaps don't feel so sorry for the oligarchs with all the sanctions we've seen being imposed. But those are painful. And this is
pain being implemented on people who matter to President Putin, people with influence, there are asset freezes both of them and their families, there
are travel bans in place.
And what I think was really interesting was in the last 24 hours, we got reaction from two Russian oligarchs. One was Mikhail Fridman. He's the
Founder and Chairman of Alpha Group and Alpha Bank. That's one of the banks that had sanctions imposed in recent days.
And he wrote to his employees, and he had - he had said this, this crisis will cost lives and damage two nations who have been brothers for hundreds
of years. While a solution seems frighteningly far off, I can only join those whose fervent desire is for the bloodshed to end.
He's a Russian citizen, but he grew up in Ukraine, his parents, he says, still lives there. And then it was Oleg Deripaska. Now he was the Founder
and Chairman of Rusal, the big aluminum giant, and he took to telegram and said this, in fact, he's had a few telegrams today piece is very important
negotiation need to start as soon as possible.
This is highly unusual. We are seeing public political announcements from some of Russia's elites, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, this tells me that the strategy is working, because these are the people that have got hotlines into Putin that can say, look; just
understand, quite frankly, what's going to happen here and what's beginning to happen. And we've not seen the worst yet.
What we are seeing if you look at some of the listings of some of the biggest banks, biggest companies, because we can get a sense of the
pressure that they're facing by looking at London, I mentioned Sberbank and the pressure that that bank is facing in that sort of financial crisis
style drops in in their stock price.
It gives you a sense of what's going on behind the scenes and other businesses too facing pressures and links, European companies that have
links to Russian companies also facing the heat.
STEWART: Yes, the ripple effect for corporate giants has been absolutely intense. And you can see that by the fact that the stock markets in Russia
are closed today and are expected to be closed all weak, but we do have their secondary listings in Europe, but we can show you some of those
prices.
You mentioned Sberbank the second largest bank share price down over 66 percent. We have Lukoil, Rosneft Oil, Gazprom which is the oil giant; you
see all those prices there. That is the London listing. So that gives you an idea of what we'll see if and when Russia does decide to open its stock
markets.
And you know, what the holders of most of the assets on Russia stock markets are those oligarchs. So again, a feeds back into that pressure on
President Putin in terms of the Western companies that have big stakes in Russia big investments. Well, BP offloaded its 20 percent stake in Rosneft
over the weekend under great political pressure; I have to say, from home.
Too early to say who will buy it or how they will buy that stake, but it could cost BP $25 billion. Now looking at their share price, it was down
around 6 percent last time I looked. I was surprised it wasn't down further. But really I think investors here were wondering what was going to
happen, I think it would have slid if they had held on to that state.
Noise energy giant aquanaut they're stopping all new investments in Russia. They're offloading their assets. And you know what all eyes on Shell as
well and Exxon Mobil who have big joint ventures in Russia as well.
CHATTERLEY: Only a matter of time, I would suggest. Anna Stewart thank you for that. Becky, I'll hand over to you an increasing stranglehold I think
on the economy taking place over in Russia.
ANDERSON: Absolutely. And I want to bring in absolutely. I want to bring in our Business Editor At-Large for CNN, Richard Quest who is monitoring what
is going on these new sanctions plus, plus. He's in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Richard, we've not seen the likes of this squeeze ever on Russia and rarely
on any single economy ever.
We are talking near total paralysis the view of the Kremlin is we've got this covered but have they?
[11:20:00]
ANDERSON: But have they, they may have workarounds, they will have workarounds. But this is brutal.
RICHARD QUEST, ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Absolutely summed up in a word that Becky brutal, let's go through this, In essence, the Russian economy
has been put into reverse. The losses, the economy could shrink 5 percent plus, as a result of these various sanctions.
Number one, they can't use most of their war chest, because dollar trading has been banned by the central bank. Number two, all their banks cut off
from Swift, it's going to pull back dramatically on the economy.
Number three, all those Russian companies who are following just in time supply chains that were already under stress, Becky, they will feel the
effect. If you take the totality of what we are seeing, we've never seen anything like it in a modern economy that is simply going to be crushed by
the weight of this.
ANDERSON: While I've got you and you're making some very, very good points. And while I've got you, I just want to talk about what's going on in the
air. Europe is now effectively closed to Russian flights. What are the impact here and indeed the consequences of the closed airspace, of course,
over Ukraine at present?
QUEST: Well, it's pretty difficult for anybody who wants to get to Russia; it's still possible you can go by one of the Gulf States to get there. But
for Russian airlines and for the Russian and let's take the Belarus. Look at this example.
This is the Belarusian Airlines flight that goes from Minsk to Istanbul. Now, this is a flight that normally takes two hours. But now it's having to
take six hours at least. Why? Because they can't go over Ukrainian airspace, they can't go through Western Russia.
And the whole of Western Europe or the eastern side of Europe, if you like, is cut off. Now you magnify this for the Russian airline Aeroflot, and you
start to see that the whole continent is literally cut off.
We know from Qatar, what happens when you blockade like this, the time, the expense the extra? It's not the biggest and most important or most
significant part of it. But Becky, it's another symbol of the isolation that Russia and its cohorts are now facing.
ANDERSON: How long can they take it?
QUEST: How much pain do you want to inflict on your people? Remember, it's a domestic economy and they're printing in their own currency. So you can
print rubles ad nauseam to fill up the ATM machines. That is not difficult.
However, those rubles have to be backed by something. And if your GDP is falling, your ruble exchange rate is constrained. You have a foreign
currency crisis. You have a trade crisis, you have a budget crisis, you're coming off a pandemic crisis.
It really depends Becky, how much misery they want to inflict on their own people economically. By the way, Becky, we will all suffer to the west and
the U.S. and the allies and partners. We will suffer higher inflation at a time of high inflation, more difficulties, greater supply chain problems,
all of that.
But whatever we suffer economically, will be nothing compared to what the Russians will suffer from if this lasts long time. That's the point of
these sanctions and they will work.
ANDERSON: Absolutely, Richard, thank you, Richard is in Riyadh today, I'm in Abu Dhabi. Just to hedge the major Gulf oil producers have been largely
quiet about Russia's attack on Ukraine. I'll be asking the top OPEC reporter why, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:25:00]
ANDERSON: Now welcome back to CNN special coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I am Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. Well, Russia feeling the heat
is sanctions slam its economy the ruble plunged itself its earlier lows, I have to say.
But it's taken an absolute beating and the Moscow Stock Exchange stayed shut completely. Today, well, oil is up, it's been up and it continues to
trade high just below 100 bucks on the barrel. And that's in the wake of those sanctions.
Of course, OPEC plus, which includes Russia is expected to meet remotely. On Wednesday, the group led by Riyadh and Moscow have a deal in place,
which strictly controls the level of oil output. Now these major Gulf producers have been relatively quiet.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine reticent it seems to take sides, but Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince did release the following statement "His Royal
Highness the Crown Prince affirm the kingdom's keenness on the stability and balance of oil markets and the kingdom's commitment to the OPEC plus
agreement ".
Well, my next guest explained in a tweet, "Keeping unity within the OPEC plus group is seen as a priority". Amena Bakr is the Chief OPEC
Correspondent, and the Deputy Dubai Bureau Chief at Energy Intelligence. She joins me now from the CNN, Dubai Bureau. Just explain what you mean by
that?
AMENA BAKR, CHIEF OPEC CORRESPONDENT, ENERGY INTELLIGENCE: Hi, Becky, I mean that it's really a priority for Gulf producers or in general, the OPEC
plus members in keeping Russia as part of this OPEC plus Alliance.
They believe that without Russia's membership in the Alliance, there, they won't have an efficient marketing management tool that would could be used
in the future now and in the future to keep oil relevant.
So keeping Russia as part of this group is really important. And that's why until now, we've been hearing that the meeting that's going to be happening
this week, because most likely going to be the remaining I mean, they're going to keep the remaining the policy in place with no changes, meaning
increments of 400,000 barrels a day.
ANDERSON: They may want to keep Russia in the OPEC plus group, and they've made that very clear. But can they and what sort of impact on the Russian
oil industry are these sanctions plus, plus that we are seeing from the west are going to have at this point?
BAKR: For sure the sanctions are going to have some impact. We're already seeing traders trying to get rid of Russian barrels; Russian oil is trading
at a discount of 10 to $11. So the impact is there.
And the U.S. released a statement yesterday saying that energy sanctions are on the table. However, I spoke to officials that also explained to me
that they don't want to be using this tool at the moment. They don't want to see oil prices rise higher.
They believe that a higher oil price would benefit Putin would benefit the Russian economy. So it's not in the U.S.'s interest to see that price go
higher and press ahead with further energy sanctions.
For the time being, Becky, it's really difficult to tell you or just give you a number on how much Russian exports are impacted. And that's why the
OPEC plus group are delegates that we speak to are saying that there is no shortage in the market where there is no oil to replace. This price
increase that we're seeing now is happening because of geopolitical tension. So there is no need for them to act at this moment and increase
supply to the market.
[11:30:00]
ANDERSON: It has been really interesting, hasn't it that gulf oil producers have not been willing to take a, a position. So diplomatically on this,
that is, of course with the exclusion of the United Arab Emirates where I am, which currently has a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
And it abstained from voting Friday on a U.S. backed resolution condemning Russia. We've been talking about the reticence, these big gulf producers
and other Arab producers have this intention to keep this OPEC plus group together.
It's wider than that, of course, as well. It's not just about energy. I mean, is it? I mean, there is there is a lot of bilateral trade. And all of
this equals security going forward for this region, correct?
BAKR: Absolutely, it's that Becky. But it's also I mean, it's no secret that if I tell you that Saudi Arabia has a colder relationship with the
Biden Administration, that's no secret. They don't wish to be put in a position where they have to pick sides.
So they're choosing to remain neutral on the matter. And we've seen tweets from UAE official saying that they discourage the war from continuing. They
encourage a political dialogue from happening and picking aside would just encourage more violence.
So this is their standpoint, at this moment. Yet again, the situation is changing so fast. So it's, it's really difficult to say if this will
remain, but for the time being, they've made it clear that they want to remain neutral.
ANDERSON: Yes. And many have pointed out this does certainly pose a dilemma you are absolutely right to point out that these positions may change going
forward. Let's see what happens but as things stand, that's the perspective from Amena Bakr. Thank you. We are taking a very, very short break, back
after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to the show. I'm Julia Chatterley in New York.
ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. Let's get you right to the latest on what we know about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the fallout
from international sanctions and punishments imposed against Vladimir Putin.
There are reports Ukrainian and Russian delegations have just ended talks over location on the border with Belarus. Now this was their first public
contact since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began last week.
[11:35:00]
ANDERSON: Ukraine's President did not attend Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying he's doubtful these talks will succeed, but it was worth meeting if there's
even a small chance of progress. We made reports of fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces. Satellite pictures show a nearly five kilometer long
convoy of Russian military vehicles heading towards Kyiv.
A senior U.S. defense official says while the Russian advanced remains slowed its forces are now within 25 kilometers of the capital. That same
official cautions Russia have used only two thirds of its total combat power so far. The Russian invasion is causing a massive humanitarian
Exodus. The U.N. Refugee Agency says more than half a million people have now fled Ukraine for neighboring countries.
It's working with local officials provide aid and we've seen repeated instances of women and children crossing the border with husbands and
fathers staying behind to fight. More on that as we move through the hour Julia, back to you.
CHATTERLEY: Thanks Becky. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for fighters from around the world. He may get some from Latvia the
Latvian parliament has voted to allow its citizens to go to Ukraine and fight if they're willing.
Latvia's Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics joins us now to discuss, Foreign Minister, good to have you on the show. Thank you for joining us. That's a
huge message. Thank you. It's a huge message of solidarity, I think for Ukraine, also a message to Russia and the Russian government as well. Can
you tell me, do you have any sense of how many citizens are willing and will go and fight if necessary?
EDGARS RINKEVICS, LATVIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, I don't have any sense how many, but I know that, for instance, number of people who now want to
be part of our National Guard is increasing. I know also, that already some guys are in Ukraine.
And frankly, I'm having no discussion with my own driver who really wants to go to Ukraine. So I don't know how to keep him in Latvia.
CHATTERLEY: So what you're saying is a lot of people here feel very passionately about what's going on and want to help. We've obviously been
showing images of the ongoing violence in Ukraine.
At the same time, we're now reporting that those negotiations and talks on the Ukrainian Belarus border have wrapped up. How hopeful are you that some
kind of resolution or progress canon was made there?
RINKEVICS: Well, frankly, I do not have any kind of optimism at this time. I do believe that Russia and President Putin really want to get Ukraine
under control, probably not occupy the country, probably; he wants to install some kind of puppet government.
He wants to control this country. But at the same time, I think what we are witnessing is really heroic resistance by the people. That's one and I
think that is something that was grossly miscalculated in the Kremlin.
Second, what I'm witnessing myself is the kind of revolution in the European Union. Because we have moved at the light speed I would say, to
change our stance, for instance, yesterday, we voted unanimously to provide Ukraine with military equipment armaments, worth of 500 million Euros.
Also, we have decided to allow the money pouring also to those countries that have Russian made fighter jets in order to get them to Ukraine. So
what we are seeing apart, of course, for stopping Nord Stream 2 apart from the announcement by the German Chancellor about defense spending.
We are seeing that EU is waking up to its role of more serious regional player, but it takes time. Now we need to help Ukraine and here in Latvia,
I see huge support to Ukraine in any form possible. And that's really --.
CHATTERLEY: The challenges and you've alluded to it in your lack of confidence with these peace talks. President Putin seems to be digging his
heels in what we've seen him is put his nuclear deterrent forces on high alert, unprecedented in the post-cold war era. Is it a credible threat?
Do you think the use of nuclear weapons by Russia is a credible threat and how is it being perceived by EU nations?
RINKEVICS: Well, this is very good question. First of all, I do believe that this is a bit kind of blackmail. And I think that this also shows that
things are not going well for Russia for Russia's military at this moment.
[11:40:00]
RINKEVICS: Ukrainians are resisting. But at the same time, I think Russians are now very worried about those sanctions that EU, U.S., Canada, UK have
imposed. And I think that we have seen today that the economic and financial cost is already huge.
And I think that now, Mr. Putin tries to blackmail us. At the same time, I'm sorry to say, but I have a feeling that like, in the 20th century, we
had two world wars, the first and the second, now, we are witnessing the second Cold War.
I very much hope that there is restraint in Moscow. I do believe that there is no reason to panic now. But then we also need to understand that for
President Putin this is right now, a winner takes it all, attitude.
And I think that only if he sees that there is a huge resistance and the international community condemn scheme, then maybe he will, will try to
backtrack. But I think that unfortunately, it may take time, it may take a lot of fighting and a lot of lives lost. And this is really sad.
CHATTERLEY: It's why sanctions and the step up of sanctions have been so critical. And you said that the EU is waking up to its responsibilities.
And we have seen unprecedented steps, the provision of weapons financing for weapons, which I hear and appreciate what you're saying on that.
But once again, we've seen a carve out for energy payments, and this is lifeblood to the Russian economy. Are and is the provision of sanctions on
the energy sector and payments for Russian gas and oil on the table for potential phase three sanctions by the EU.
RINKEVICS: Well, we discuss this. And of course, we take into account the interests of each and every EU member state. And you know that dependency
on Russian gas is still high in Europe. But I think that this is another wake up call for EU.
Of course, you cannot do it in a week or in a month. But actually to develop more renewable energy, I think that we are going to have a debate
about nuclear energy, you know, some countries have actually banned use of nuclear power in their energy systems.
Those are things that we are going to experience. At the same time look, I think this is the kind of mutual dependency because Russia needs money. And
Europe needs gas.
And from that point of view, what I believe what we need to do now, and I know that the European Commission is working, many of member states are
working to get gas from alternative sources LNG, Qatar, Norway, and this is something that we are working at, and we must do our best so that we are
not going to be blackmailed.
But yes, sanctions and those measures that we have implemented, they have some locals, unfortunately, that are really like.
CHATTERLEY: Blackmail can work both ways, though. And sometimes threatening something can be quite potent too, sir very quickly, because I have to let
you go. But President Zelenskyy this weekend and reiterated a call today he asked for Ukraine to be made an immediate member of the EU.
I know that's complicated. He asked for a special procedure. Can I ask very quickly if Latvia would approve that? And would other nations be on board?
RINKEVICS: The cabinet meets tomorrow, but I can say that I will propose to the cabinet to support Ukrainian membership. I understand that this is,
first of all, very strong political and symbolic signal.
And I think that we must make Ukraine EU candidate country we must find a way how to support it. But definitely those decisions are being taken by
all 27 member States. And definitely we all understand difficulties. But I think that from the moral point of view, to give a strong signal of
support, this is also important.
CHATTERLEY: Perhaps the strongest yet, sir, thank you so much for your time.
RINKEVICS: Thank you.
CHATTERLEY: The Latvian Foreign Minister there, Edgars Rinkevics. Thank you, sir. We're back after this.
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[11:45:00]
ANDERSON: Western countries have effectively frozen now Russia from the global financial system. However, Russia has been preparing for this for
some time by amassing a $630 billion war chest spread around the world.
Now some of that is in Western countries and is now untouchable as a result of the sanctions. The goal of those reserves is of course to keep its
currency afloat as these sanctions pile up against him.
On the other hand, Russia isn't that big of a market for western countries beside its oil and gas exports and the west isn't interested in much else.
Russia accounts for less than 2 percent of the world's GDP and it is the 12th largest economy falling behind Italy and Canada whichever a fraction
of its population.
Only get a sense how all of this is playing out right now in Russia. We've been talking about where these sanctions are out through the sort of prism
perspective the European countries, the U.S. and others who've joined.
We're joined now by Max Seddon, who's the Moscow Bureau Chief for The Financial Times. Before we get to the kind of wider story here for Russia,
I just want to start with the physical impact right now. You're in Moscow what's it like? Are people who get money out for example?
MAX SEDDON, MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF, FINANCIAL TIMES: It's become very difficult to get money out that's why you have lines; people have bank so
all over Moscow right now. We're trying to get dollars yes, some of them are just trying to ensure that they have money that they can use your
payments on; people are trying to leave the country.
It's pretty chaotic, it's going to be more and more difficult to like get money into the country. This is going to be like Iran or look there, you
want to get some dollars, the easiest thing to do is to go to somewhere like Dubai or Turkey and get some cash.
So it's - this very strange situation where we've never really been in this before. And it's something that's really going to hit ordinary people very
hard, because the cost of imports is about the skyrocket. An iPhone will probably set you back something about $3,000 in rubles if you tried to buy
it now.
ANDERSON: It was somebody talking to us earlier on, who's suggested, of course, that, you know, the Kremlin will say, well, you know, we've known
these sanctions are coming the Russians were sanctioned post 2014.
And an earlier than that, but the problem, you know, the last time, he suggested it was just crummy cheese. You know, it's like you couldn't get
cheese, and so the cheese wasn't very good. This time, it's going to be an awful lot worse.
Now, the idea of the sanctions was to close as many opportunities for Russia to be able to work effectively as possible. But there will be
workarounds. People have pointed out, for example, the country's stockpile of gold.
China's got some 14 percent of Russia's central bank reserves. It's worth pointing out that China's always has a delicate balancing act to play here.
So what are those workarounds? And how is the west going to try and close these gaps?
SEDDON: I would disagree that gold in China are really effective workarounds for Russia. I think they're counting on that because you've got
to sell the gold to someone. You know, whoever is a gold buyer is going to be worried about sanctions for buying the gold from Russia.
And China, it may be supporting Russia, Russia politically, but Chinese companies absolutely observe American sanctions on Russia because they
don't want to get sanctions themselves. So what Russia has done that is quite clever is they are forcing all exporters to within three days of
giving foreign currency revenue, they have to sell 80 percent of it in exchange for Rubles.
[11:50:00]
SEDDON: And this is smart because Russia gets half of its budget revenue from oil and gas exports. It also exports a lot of other commodities, like
titanium and palladium and they're very difficult to replace on commodities markets.
So they have been carved out of the sanctions and so that that loophole, Russia is trying to exploit that by supporting the currency that way
because if all the oil and gas is being sold to Europe and America in dollars if Russia then takes those dollars and sells them for rubles,
that's going to support the ruble.
And also having a weak ruble not this week, but still relatively weak ruble is good for Russia because Russia has income from oil and gases and
dollars, their expenditures in rubles, so we get more rubles.
And you have before the sanctions you had quite good macro-economic situation for Russia, where the oil price is very high and the ruble was
weak. And that meant they got more dollars for their oil and gas and more and more rubles to spend on the budget. This obviously makes it much
harder, but it doesn't make it impossible.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. Thank you, sir, Max Seddon there. Well, China not only refusing to criticize Russia's invasion at this point, it has
announced it will start importing Russian weeds.
This is an important move because it will help east western sanctions on Moscow, Russia and Ukraine according to S&P global export, or global export
23 percent of the world's wheat. You can see Egypt and Turkey on the left there are two of Russia's top importers. But because of the war, exports
are being interrupted and grain prices are likely to skyrocket.
Well, food prices around the world are, as many of you will be well aware already near 10 year high, so we are likely to see a drastic increase in
food security in places already struggling to feed their populations.
And that includes in many places here in the Middle East. Syria and Yemen both depend on the World Food Programs ability to procure Ukrainian wheat
in Lebanon, Libya and Egypt are among Ukraine's biggest buyers in the region.
While Russia is paying a price and it's pay a price on the pitch for its assault on Ukraine. Now the world of sport is punishing Moscow that is
coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: OK, welcome back to CNN. New images of big explosions near Kyiv, several large blasts heard around 6.40 p.m. local time today to the
east of the city center. They were followed by sirens going off across the city. Becky, I'll hand back to you but not a good sign of course as people
head back to their places, negotiations, of course post the peace talks. We'll have to see what comes at various --.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely and apologies for our technical glitch there just as we were going to that. Thank you, Julia. The International Olympic
Committee now says Russian and Belarusian athletes should be banned from all sporting events.
And nearly a dozen European nations say they will not play international football fixtures against Russia at any level.
[11:55:00]
ANDERSON: Now this comes after FIFA banned Russia's name and flag from next month's World Cup qualifiers. Meantime the support for Ukrainian players is
strong. Roman Yaremchuk tried to hold back tears at a match Sunday in Portugal as the crowd cheered him at his native, Ukraine, have a look at
this. Alex Thomas from CNN's World Sport is here with more. And that was some show of support. Alex.
ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT: It was Becky and we saw similar scenes across European football. It's interesting that Russian teams and athletes are
facing the possibility of not being able to play anywhere outside their home nation.
The move by the International Olympic Committee you alluded to by far the strongest so far. Part of their statement reading the IOC executive board
strongly urges international sports federations and organizers of sports events worldwide to do everything in their power to ensure that no athlete
or sports official from Russia or Belarus be allowed to take part under the name of Russia or Belarus.
The IOC also saying it has withdrawn the Olympic order from Russian President Vladimir Putin. A lot of pressure now and organizes the Winter
Paralympics that are due to start in Beijing this Friday to make some sort of similar announcement that you'd meet on Wednesday, probably pressure on
them to say something sooner than that.
The FIFA announcement you also spoke about well, they're also under pressure to go further. And reports are starting to trickle and have a
possible total ban on Russia by both European and global football bosses.
We yet to see it for sure member and women's football Russia due to compete in the European Championships later this year.
ANDERSON: Alex Thomas from World Sport and that rounds out this hour from CNN of course. You must stay with CNN for more coverage of the crisis in
Ukraine. I'm Becky Anderson here in Abu Dhabi been joined this hour by my colleague Julia Chatterley in New York. We will be taking a short break,
back after this.
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[12:00:00]
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