Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - New Russian sanctions

U.S. President Joe Biden and European allies are to meet Thursday in Brussels, where they are expected to announce both new sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and fresh measures designed to keep the Kremlin from sidestepping existing penalties. The moves are expected to cap a day of diplomacy that will see Biden attend an emergency NATO summit, a meeting of the Group of 7 and a session of the European Council. In addition to sanctions, the U.S. and partner nations are to unveil a new action aimed at “enhancing European energy security and reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said. A key issue among some allied nations is how far to go in restricting Russian fossil fuel, given their reliance on it.

Lines of pre-dug graves at a cemetery on the outskirts of Odesa, Ukraine, on March 17. The Russian military’s southern advance has been slowed by fierce resistance in Mariupol, Ukraine’s easternmost port city, and Mykolayiv, the gateway to Odesa in the west. Photographer: Jonathan Alpeyrie/Bloomberg

In Ukraine, United Nations authorities say confirmed civilian deaths exceed 900, though they add that the real number is likely much higher. Ukrainian authorities say thousands of civilians have been killed by Russian soldiers.

After Biden warned Monday of intelligence indicating Russia was contemplating a cyberattack on the U.S., Sullivan added details about NATO’s position on such a threat. A cyberattack by Russia on a member country could trigger a collective response from the U.S. and its allies, but not necessarily a military one, he said.

In Russia, Vladimir Putin’s government expanded a draconian law targeting the publication of what the Kremlin considers “fake” news while continuing efforts to block factual reporting on the war from abroad. Meanwhile, Russian authorities sentenced imprisoned opposition leader Alexey Navalny—long the chief political enemy of Putin—to another nine years behind bars after what the U.S. called a “sham trial.” —David E. Rovella

Bloomberg is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts.

China’s top Russia envoy urged Chinese business people in Moscow to seize economic opportunities created by Putin’s war on Ukraine, a strategy that could help soften the blow for the Kremlin when it comes to international sanctions. Ambassador Zhang Hanhui on Sunday told about a dozen business heads to “fill the void.” 

Biden’s warning of unspecified consequences if China supports Russia has smaller Asian nations worried they’ll be subject to similar penalties for maintaining neutrality over Putin’s war.

Beijing announced 2.5 trillion yuan ($393.3 billion) in tax cuts this month—the fifth year of such reductions, which cumulatively add up to more than 9.7 trillion yuan. The Chinese Communist Party has apparently embraced a school of thought more commonly associated with U.S. conservatives: supply-side economics.

As a potential new wave of coronavirus infections (courtesy of the BA.2 subvariant) looms with infections on the rise again in New York City, the Biden administration is warning that it doesn’t have enough money to pay for a second round of vaccine booster shots. Both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are seeking regulatory approval for just such a shot, as some fear protection from the first booster of mRNA vaccines may be waning. Key Republicans in Congress however are slowing efforts to further fund the vaccines. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

U.S. stocks rebounded Tuesday while the selloff in Treasuries deepened. Both Federal Reserve hawks and doves are joining Jerome Powell’s call to move forward on raising interest rates to curb high inflation. The Fed Chair’s speech on Monday explicitly put a half-point hike on the table as a possibility for May. Here’s your markets wrap. 

Mohamed El-Erian argues in Bloomberg Opinion that the Fed risks slipping further into a no-win interaction with markets that is more familiar to developing countries than to a systemically important central bank. 

Mohamed El-Erian Photographer: Giulio Napolitano/Bloomberg

Otto Toto Sugiri was already a multimillionaire after selling his company to Indonesia’s largest telecom operator. Then he spotted a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Now Sugiri, 68, is not just a multimillionaire. He’s one of the world’s richest people with a fortune estimated at $2.5 billion.

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With major advances in missile technology, naval forces and intelligence, China is well on its way to becoming by mid-century what President Xi Jinping calls a “world-class” military power. Even now, China has matched or exceeded the U.S. and Russia in some respects. While the Pentagon struggles with a military industrial complex that makes the most expensive weapons in history, China has been more utilitarian. America buys weapons like Lockheed Martin’s wildly expensive, initially defective F-35 fighter. Beijing buys weapons that are much cheaper—including missiles that can sink America’s vaunted aircraft carriers—while developing next-level arms like hypersonic missiles.

A military vehicle carrying a DF-21D carrier-killer missile, bottom, and other Chinese equipment near Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

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