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What did 7 April 2022 show about pressure on Moscow?
Summary
A look back at a day of legal, trade and diplomatic moves surrounding Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
What was the pressure on Moscow made of on 7 April 2022? Across one day, and the one before it, the answer ran through trade law, military supply, war-crimes complaints and a diplomatic bargaining position.
Trade and arms
On 7 April 2022 the US House of Representatives voted 420–3 to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus. The Senate then voted 100–0 for the same legislation, sending it to President Joe Biden for approval. The margins were lopsided in both chambers.
A day earlier, on 6 April 2022, the Senate had unanimously passed a law authorising Biden to use the lend-lease programme, last employed in the Second World War, to speed up deliveries of military equipment to Ukraine.
Legal pressure in Germany
Also on 7 April 2022, former German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and former Interior Minister Gerhart Baum filed a complaint with German federal prosecutors. It accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin, all 32 members of the Security Council of Russia, and members of the Russian Armed Forces of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
Moscow's stated terms
On 6 April 2022 Russia said it would end its invasion if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to conditions set during negotiations. The central one was a legal guarantee that Ukraine would not join NATO, written into the Ukrainian constitution. Russia also said it had suspended operations in Kyiv as a "goodwill gesture" to promote peace talks.
On 7 April 2022 Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko added that Minsk should be included in negotiations aimed at ending the war.
What the day shows
Taken together, these items show several tracks running at once: Washington moving on trade and weapons supply, private figures turning to German prosecutors, and Moscow pairing a constitutional demand on NATO with a claimed de-escalation around Kyiv. Belarus, meanwhile, was asking for a seat at the table even as the US legislation named it alongside Russia.
