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Talks in Ankara and sanctions pressure, 10 March 2022
Summary
A look back at a day when diplomacy produced no ceasefire while Russia's economy and Mariupol's civilians bore mounting strain.
What did 10 March 2022 show about the course of the war in Ukraine? On that date, a first high-level diplomatic contact produced no ceasefire, shelling continued in Mariupol, and the economic fallout for Russia deepened.
Talks in Ankara
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held talks in Ankara, Turkey. They were the highest-level talks between the two nations since the invasion. No ceasefire was reached, though the possibility of a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin was discussed.
Mariupol under fire
On the ground, Russian forces resumed shelling the port city of Mariupol. The day before, an airstrike on a children's hospital had killed three people. A humanitarian aid convoy trying to reach the city was forced to turn back because of heavy fighting.
Pressure on Russia's economy
The economic picture was also shifting. The International Monetary Fund no longer considered a Russian default improbable, and the World Bank regarded a default by Russia and Belarus as likely. The Central Bank of Russia limited withdrawals of US dollars, euros, British pounds and Japanese yen by Russian firms to the equivalent of $5,000, with larger sums requiring the bank's permission. Those funds could only be used to cover overseas work trips.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian economy was experiencing a "shock" after what he called an "absolutely unprecedented" economic war against the country, adding that it was very hard to forecast anything. Putin admitted that the sanctions had created problems for Russia, but called them illegitimate and warned the West that Russia would emerge stronger and solve those problems.
Sanctions and corporate exits
The British government sanctioned Russian oligarch and Chelsea F.C. owner Roman Abramovich, freezing all his assets in the United Kingdom. As a result, the Premier League club could not sell more tickets for games, its merchandise store would be closed, and it could not buy or sell players until the club was sold.
Corporate withdrawals continued. Nintendo and Sony Interactive Entertainment suspended all product sales in Russia, and Sony's online PlayStation Store was no longer to be available there. Goldman Sachs announced it was closing its operations in Russia, becoming the first major Wall Street bank to leave the country following the invasion.
Moscow and Kyiv respond with legal measures
Russia introduced retaliatory sanctions against most foreign countries, exempting members of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union. The export of more than 200 items, mostly technical and agricultural appliances, was to be banned until the end of the year. The Russian government also abolished penalties for the theft of patents held by persons or companies from countries it deemed "unfriendly", and the decriminalisation of software piracy from such countries was being considered.
In Kyiv, the Ukrainian parliament began debating a new law that would allow the forced seizure of all assets belonging to Russian citizens, as well as Ukrainians deemed by the courts or the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to be Russian collaborators. The previous week, a bill had been approved allowing forced seizure of assets owned by the Russian government and Russian companies.
A day of parallel tracks
Taken together, 10 March 2022 showed diplomacy, military pressure and economic measures running side by side. Talks took place without a ceasefire, Mariupol remained under shelling, and both sides turned to economic and legal tools.
