{"id":544301,"date":"2022-02-24T15:13:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T15:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/02\/24\/this-evening-russias-invasion-of-ukraine-is-officially-underway-nato-tries-to-present-united-front\/"},"modified":"2022-02-24T15:13:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T15:13:00","slug":"this-evening-russias-invasion-of-ukraine-is-officially-underway-nato-tries-to-present-united-front","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/02\/24\/this-evening-russias-invasion-of-ukraine-is-officially-underway-nato-tries-to-present-united-front\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS EVENING: Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine is officially underway + NATO tries to present united front"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.<\/strong> On a rather quiet Thursday here on the homefront, the global press is working overtime to keep up with the only thing there really is to talk about:<\/p>\n

<\/a> Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine is officially underway<\/strong>, in what the West has said is a \u201cdark day.\u201d Russia\u2019s military has attacked Ukraine in multiple locations, with air strikes and ground operations, including from Belarus. Explosions have so far been reported in the west, south, and east of Ukraine, as well as in the capital city, Kyiv.<\/p>\n

Some <\/strong>40 deaths<\/strong> have been reported so far in Ukraine<\/strong>, including three border guards and 18 people killed in a missile attack in Odessa in the country\u2019s south-west region. Russia has reportedly carried out 203 strikes so far, says Ukraine\u2019s national police service, according to Sky News<\/a> live blog.<\/p>\n

Moscow claims self-defense:<\/strong> In a televised address, Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin justified the attack by pulling the self-defense card and pointing a finger at the west for turning Ukraine into a \u201chostile, anti-Russia\u201d run by Nazis, according to the Financial Times<\/a>. The speech indicated that Russia has its eyes firmly set on creating Moscow-backed states in the south-east of Ukraine as well as a full regime change in Kyiv.<\/p>\n

Kyiv\u2019s response:<\/strong> Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking to Russians in Russian, denied all assertions that his country was run by Nazis (Zelenksy is himself Jewish) and vowed that his country would not surrender its independence, calling on the people of Russia to stop the war. Zelensky at the same time urged his own citizens<\/a> to volunteer in the fight against Russia, saying that the government would provide weapons to anybody who needs them.<\/p>\n

And Belarus is apparently having some Soviet Union nostalgia, offering <\/strong>its own troops<\/a><\/strong> to<\/strong> support Russia<\/strong> in military operations against Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Airspace closures + flights suspended:<\/strong> Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian flights today and imposed martial law as Russian tanks began rolling into Ukraine, reports Reuters<\/a>. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency warned against flying within 100 nautical miles in bordering areas of Russia and Belarus, reporting that Russia\u2019s defense ministry warned Ukraine of a high risk to flight safety. Russia suspended domestic flights to and from three airports near the border with Ukraine until 2 March.<\/p>\n

Egypt\u2019s embassy in Kyiv also urged Egyptian citizens to stay at home<\/strong> and wait for further instructions from Ukrainian authorities, according to a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot more sanctions coming:<\/strong> US President Joe Biden is set to meet with the rest of the G7 today to discuss \u201csevere\u201d sanctions to impose on Moscow, according to the Financial Times<\/a>, while the EU is expected to impose its own sanctions, including freezing assets and cutting off Russian banks\u2019 access to European markets, at a meeting this evening, according to Reuters<\/a>. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will also lay out new sanctions against Russia at the House of Commons later today, BBC<\/a> reports. The UK, US, and Germany had already begun introducing \u201cphase one\u201d sanctions before the Russian tanks started rolling, but they could impose a real chokehold on Russia by sanctioning the country\u2019s largest banks, which \u201cfacilitate the transactions with Russia for global trade,\u201d the FT says.<\/p>\n

And humanitarian + financial aid is also going to be rolled out for Ukraine<\/strong>, which the European Council will decide on when it meets this evening, European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a presser that wrapped just a few minutes ago (watch, runtime: 14:50<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/a> THE MARKET REACTS- <\/strong><\/p>\n

Brent crude is now officially trading at above the USD 100 per barrel mark<\/strong>, surging to the highest level since 2014. Brent futures contracts for April delivery are trading at USD 104.82 as of dispatch time, rising 7.98%. Head of global energy strategy at JPMorgan predicts that Brent could rise to USD 125\/bbl in 2Q2022, reports the Financial Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Natural gas prices are also on the rise<\/strong>, with Nymex futures for April delivery rising 4.9% as of dispatch to USD 4.85 per MMBTU.<\/p>\n

Global stock markets (unsurprisingly) plunged today:<\/strong> European, Asian, and US equities all fell today, with London\u2019s FTSE falling 3%, the Stoxx Europe 600 falling more than 4%, Germany\u2019s Dax dropping 5%, and Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng Index recording its biggest daily drop in five months, shedding 3.2%. Japan\u2019s Nikkei also fell 1.8%, while China\u2019s Shanghai Composite fell 1.7%. US futures across the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all fell more than 2% each today as of dispatch.<\/p>\n

RUB tumbles:<\/strong> The Moscow Exchange plunged nearly 50% in intra-day trading before recouping some of its losses to close down 29%. The RUB also crashed earlier in the day, falling nearly 10% against the USD.<\/p>\n

Closer to home the picture isn\u2019t much better:<\/strong> Dubai\u2019s DFM closed down 1.8% today, while the ADX shed 0.3% and the Tadawul fell 1.8%. The EGX30, meanwhile, closed down 3.6% today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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<\/a> THE BIG STORY AT HOME-<\/strong> 11 companies are reportedly bidding on USD 2.8 bn worth of desalination projects<\/strong>, reports Al Borsa<\/a>. Among the companies reportedly bidding are the familiar faces of Mettito, Acwa, Al Noweis, Schneider Electric and Orascom Construction. The companies have reportedly reached preliminary agreements to secure funding from the International Finance Corporation, European Investment Bank, the EBRD, GIZ, The Export-Import Bank of China and Credit Agricole among others.<\/p>\n

^^We\u2019ll have more on this<\/strong> and other stories in Sunday\u2019s EnterpriseAM<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

** CATCH UP QUICK<\/strong> on the top stories from today\u2019s EnterpriseAM<\/strong>:<\/p>\n