Diplomacy
Russia’s Foreign Minister said that ceasefire negotiations are stalled.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will travel to Moscow next Tuesday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The UK will reopen its embassy in Kyiv, while Canada is “talking about” doing so.
Sanctions
The Commerce Department denied all export privileges for Russian cargo carrier Aviastar due to export control violations. The U.S. and EU will use the May meeting of its Trade and Technology Council to discuss deepening export controls, while Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that export controls have halved Russian high-tech imports.
Australia announced sanctions on 147 additional Russian individuals, including 144 Russian senators and children of Russian President Putin.
The EU is readying its sixth round of sanctions for next week, which could include some form of a Russian oil import ban and could add more Russian banks to the SWIFT ban.
President Joe Biden said he is waiting for the Pentagon to tell him how much the next Ukraine supplemental request will cost. Senior U.S. officials are pushing for sanctions on Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has been helping with ceasefire talks.
Consequences
Germany’s Bundesbank is warning that a Russian gas embargo would cost its economy €180 billion, while Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged caution on an EU ban on Russian energy imports.
The EU has frozen €35 billion in Russian assets since the invasion.
Ukraine Sitrep
A senior Russian commander said that Russia wants to “set up a land corridor to Crimea” by seizing southern Ukraine and as much of eastern Ukraine as possible. He added that this would give Russia optionality to take or threaten the Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria.
There are still about 1,000 civilians and 500 wounded Ukrainian soldiers holed up in a Mariupol steel plant, and they are running out of food and water. Russian forces have been accused of secret burials of Mariupol civilians in mass graves to hide the scale of deaths.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy estimates that Ukraine is losing $7 billion per monthv. Ukraine believes Russia may try to hold an independence referendum in Kherson May 1-10 to create a new breakaway region.