Diplomacy
The Presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia visited Kyiv and Borodyanka today. The Czech Republic reopened its embassy in Kyiv.
The Prime Ministers of Sweden and Finland held a joint press conference outlining plans to join NATO.
Sanctions
The UK sanctioned 178 additional individuals, including the head of Lukoil, the head of Russia’s largest manufacturer of locomotives and rail equipment, and individuals propping up breakaway regions of Ukraine.
Consequences
Chinese exports to Russia dropped 7.7% in March.
A court in Jersey froze $7 billion worth of assets connected to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Ukraine Sitrep
The Pentagon believes Russia has three major staging areas for its eastern Ukraine offensive. The UK believes Izyum will be the throughpoint. Russia warned that if Ukraine continues sabotage attacks on Russia, it would be forced to attack decision-making centers in Ukraine, including Kyiv.
The White House announced details of its new $800 million military aid package after a call between President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The package will include howitzers, radars, anti-armor weapons, armored personnel carriers, helicopters, coastal defense vessels, protective equipment against chemical and other attacks, body armor and helmets, explosives, and munitions. The helicopters were the source of some drama – the Washington Post reported last night that they would be part of the package, but it was then walked back, apparently because Kyiv wanted to inspect them. In the end, Zelenskyy green-lighted it, so they were put back into the package. The Post also reported that Ukraine has been in touch directly with American defense firms, such as dronemaker General Atomics.
The Pentagon says it’s taking about 48 hours to get weapons to the battlefield in Ukraine. The U.S. is also expanding intelligence sharing and considering remotely training Ukrainian troops with American troops on NATO’s eastern flank. The first Australian armored vehicles were delivered to Europe. A CSIS scholar thinks the U.S. is running out of anti-tank Javelin missiles that it can supply to Ukraine without denting its readiness.
President Joe Biden called Russia’s actions in Ukraine a “genocide,” but, the State Department has been quiet on the matter. The OSCE presented a report detailing potential instances of war crimes and crimes against humanity.