Home › Politics › Sanctions, aid and ceasefire hopes on 16 March 2022
Sanctions, aid and ceasefire hopes on 16 March 2022
Summary
A look back at a day when Washington announced fresh weapons aid, Moscow spoke of compromise and Russia's president turned on critics at home.
What did diplomacy and pressure look like three weeks into the Russian invasion of Ukraine? On 16 March 2022, the picture was mixed: new military aid from Washington, a Russian signal on a possible ceasefire compromise, and a harsh domestic message from the Kremlin.
Aid from Washington
U.S. President Joe Biden announced a further $800 million in security assistance for Ukraine. The package included 800 anti-aircraft systems, thousands of anti-tank missiles and armed combat drones, all intended to help counter the Russian invasion. The announcement followed his signing on 15 March 2022 of a $1.5 trillion budget bill that included $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine.
Moscow's two messages
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there was hope of reaching a compromise aimed at a ceasefire. The same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed his ministers on the situation in Ukraine and the Russian economy. He described Russian "traitors" and "scum" as people who would be spat out, and accused a so-called "fifth column" of trying to destroy the country from within.
A sanctions exchange
The day came after a round of sanctions on 15 March 2022. Russia imposed measures on Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, CIA Director William Burns and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in response to U.S. sanctions on Russian officials. Russia also sanctioned Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, General Wayne Eyre and most members of the Canadian parliament, all of whom were banned from entering Russia. The United States, for its part, imposed additional sanctions on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Political signals around Kyiv
On 15 March 2022 the prime ministers of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic travelled to Kyiv by train. They met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to demonstrate what they called the "unequivocal support" of the European Union for Ukraine's sovereignty and independence. Zelenskyy acknowledged that day that Ukraine would not be able to join NATO.
The United States Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution on 15 March 2022 declaring Putin a war criminal and calling for an investigation by the International Criminal Court.
Inside Ukraine, Illia Kyva, a politician from the pro-Russian Opposition Platform — For Life, was deprived of his status as an MP in the Verkhovna Rada on 15 March 2022, and a further four MPs quit the party.
A regional note
Elsewhere in the region, on 14 March 2022, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan asked the OSCE Minsk Group to help start peace talks with Azerbaijan, seeking to normalise relations after the conflict.
