Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - NATO’s new battlegroups

If Vladimir Putin hoped his war on Ukraine would shake up the global order, he was right—but likely not in the way he envisioned. NATO said Wednesday it would add more battlegroups including thousands more troops on its eastern flank and pledged to help Ukraine if Putin (as U.S. intelligence has warned he might) uses weapons of mass destruction. “Any use of chemical weapons would totally change the nature of the conflict,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stolenberg warned. The U.S. has repeatedly said that Moscow may be planning to stage a “false flag” event as pretext to use such weapons, a strategy the Kremlin was accused of trying out before launching its war one month ago. On the economic front, Putin is trying to leverage the energy market to his advantage, demanding so-called unfriendly nations pay for gas in Russian rubles. The move has the potential to aggravate Europe’s worst energy crunch since the 1970s. The European Union has said it would continue to tighten sanctions against Russia, but given its reliance on Russia for fossil fuel, wouldn’t include energy. That said, the EU and the U.S. are close to a deal aimed at slashing Europe’s dependence on Russian energy. —Margaret Sutherlin

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

Global bond markets have suffered unprecedented losses since peaking last year, and now they’ve surpassed even the drawdown of the 2008 financial crisis. While there were signs the selloff was easing Wednesday, rising inflationary pressure is fueling concerns the world economy may not be able to weather a sustained period of higher financing costs. For investors, it means the allure of holding debt—even safe government bonds—is fading. Here’s your markets wrap. 

Russian climate envoy Anatoly Chubais quit and left the country, citing his opposition to Putin’s war. He becomes the highest-level official to break with the Kremlin over the invasion. Additionally, Russia’s central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina sought to resign as well, only to be told by Putin to stay put. Her five year term was renewed last week. 

Elvira Nabiullina Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

Several Republican U.S. Senators intensified their attacks on the first Black woman to be nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ketanji Brown Jackson, a federal appellate judge, spent Wednesday fending off intense criticism of her judicial record by Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham during her confirmation hearings. 

A third of European nations, including Germany, France and the U.K., are seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases after “brutally” easing restrictions, the World Health Organization said—and America could be next. Moderna said it will seek emergency authorization for its Covid shot in young kids after the company said studies showed it boosted the immune response. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon asked U.S. President Joe Biden in a private meeting this week to encourage more drilling for domestic natural gas in the short term. Dimon has been saying production should be increased and permit approval for renewable energy projects sped up as the war in Ukrainesends on energy prices higher. 

If bonuses are anything to go by, 2021 was a great year to be on Wall Street. The typical payout to financial professionals in New York climbed to an all-time high of $257,500. 

Madeline Albright, the first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State, has died at age 84. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, Albright became the highest-ranking woman in government at the time.  

Madeleine Albright speaks during the funeral of Colin Powell in 2021.  Photographer: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg

• Investigators found the black boxes in the China Eastern Airlines crash.
• Conservative-controlled Supreme Court sides with GOP on voting maps.
• In a single week, the price of sugar rose 37.1% in Russia.
• These four charts explain why millennials aren’t homeowners.
• A ruling in the J&J talc case may help other companies dodge suits.
• MacKenzie Scott donated almost $3.9 billion in the past nine months.
• The Ricketts bid to buy the Chelsea Football Club hangs by a thread.

In the small village of Pond Inlet on Baffin Island, in the far reaches of the Canadian arctic in the territory of Nunavut, climate science is changing. Inuit groups spent decades hosting researchers from far away to study the ice and animals. Now they’re taking up their tools and reshaping how climate is studied.

Pond Inlet Photographer: Galit Rodan/Bloomberg

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