Summary for today: (07:00 - 19:00)
*Russia’s State-Owned Sberbank Announces Plans to Issue Mir Card With Chinese Unionpay After Visa and Mastercard Suspend Their Services – IFX
*U.S. Secretary of State Blinken Says U.S. Is Talking to European Partners to Look at the Prospect of Banning the Import of Russian Oil
*Use of Airfields of Other Countries by Ukraine Air Force May Be Considered As Participation of Those Countries in the Conflict – Interfax Cites Russian Defence Ministry
*Russia Warns Other Countries to Not Host Ukraine Army Jets – IFX
*TotalEnergies Has No Plans to Go Back on Its Decision to Remain in Russia Unless the EU Brings In More Sanctions, Despite International Pressure and the Withdrawal of Rival Oil Groups Following the Invasion of Ukraine - FT
*IAEA Says Ukraine Has Informed It That Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant Management Is Now Under Orders From the Commander of the Russian Forces That Took Control of the Site Last Week
*IAEA Says Its Chief Grossi Expresses Grave Concern About This Development
*IAEA Says Ukraine Has Reported That Russian Forces at the Site Have Switched Off Some Mobile Networks and the Internet so That Reliable Information From the Site Cannot Be Obtained Through the Normal Channels
*IAEA Says in Another Concerning Development, Ukrainian Regulator Reported That Communications Have Been Lost With All Institutions in Mariupol That Use Category 1–3 Radiation Sources
*American Express Suspends Operations in Russia and Belarus.
*Mastercard: The Mastercard Network Will No Longer Support Cards Issued by Russian Banks.
*Any Mastercard Issued Outside of the Country Will Not Work in Russian Merchants or at ATM's.
*Sberbank, Russia’s Largest Lender, Has Stated That the Visa and Mastercard It Issues Will Continue to Work in the Country – TASS.
*White House: Biden Welcomed Visa and Mastercard’s Move to Halt Service in Russia.
*White House: Biden Stated “Working Hard With Congress to Secure Additional Cash for Ukraine”.
*ICYMI: Mariupol Evacuation Attempt Fails Again After Russia ‘Breaks Ceasefire’ Resuming Shelling – ITV.
*Five People Have Been Injured As Russian Forces Opened Fire on Demonstrators in a City in Occupied Southern Ukraine, According to the Interfax Ukraine.
*Ukraine’s Prime Minister Shmyhal: I Have Signed a Formal Request to Have Russia and Belarus’ Memberships in the IMF and the World Bank Terminated.
*French Presidency Official: Putin Told Macron That He Agreed to Negotiations With the IAEA, Ukraine, and Russia to Assure Security at Ukraine’s Nuclear Plants.
*IAEA: Ukraine Has Informed It That the Management of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Station Is Currently Under Orders From the Commander of the Russian Forces That Took Control of the Site Last Week.
*According to Danish Media Quoting Sources, Denmark Will Call a Referendum on the EU Defence Opt-Out.
*IAEA: Russian Forces at the Facility Have Turned Off Several Mobile Networks and the Internet, Making It Impossible to Gather Trustworthy Information From the Site Through Usual Methods.
*The Ukrainian Regulator Stated That It Was Having Trouble Connecting With Staff at Chernobyl, Which Was Only Feasible at the Time Through Emails.
*Ukrainian Regulator Reported That Communications With All Institutions in Mariupol That Use Category 1–3 Radiation Sources Have Been Lost.
*The German Government Is Doing Everything to Avoid a Nuclear War, Priority Is to Hit Russian Oligarchs, G7 Is Working on Further Sanctions.
*US Secretary of State Blinken: The US Is Discussing a Possible Russian Oil Ban With Europe.
*US Secretary of State Blinken: We Need to Guarantee Appropriate Oil Supply on World Markets.
