Russia, Ukraine officials meet on Belarus border as ruble sinks

Bloomberg

A Ukrainian delegation led by the defense minister began talks with Russian officials on the fifth day of an invasion that’s triggered a flurry of sanctions against Moscow and sent Russian markets into a tailspin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has voiced skepticism that the talks, taking place on the country’s border with Belarus, would yield results but said he was willing to try if it meant any chance of peace.
The Zelenskiy’s office denied reports from Russian officials that Moscow-led forces had surrounded the capital, Kyiv.
Heavy battles had taken place and Ukrainian forces were engaging the Russians in some suburbs, presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said by text message. “Kyiv is under the complete control of Ukrainian forces,” he said.
Earlier, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told residents of Kyiv that “all civilians located there can freely leave” by a single highway.
Zelenskiy asked the EU to immediately accept Ukraine into the bloc. “I am sure it is fair. I am sure we deserve this. I am sure that all this is possible,” he told reporters at a briefing at the presidential office.
Accession to the EU is a long and arduous process, which requires the candidate country to adopt established EU law as well as to enact reforms — including to its judicial and economic systems — to meet the bloc’s criteria. The move also requires the unanimous approval of all EU members, the European Commission and the European Parliament as well as the representatives of all existing member states.
Croatia was the last country to join the EU. It applied for membership in 2003 and was granted it in 2013.
Russia, which sent a relatively low-level delegation including deputy ministers of defense and foreign affairs, said the talks were underway even as Russian troops continued their assault, including on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. Moscow has set a limited scope for the discussions, which were originally meant to begin Sunday, while Zelenskiy repeated a request Monday for Ukraine to be fast tracked into the European Union.
The talks come after Moscow more than doubled its benchmark interest rate and took other emergency measures to shield its economy from the impact of tightening sanctions. The measures have hit the ruble but also hammered European companies with exposure to Russia and Ukraine.
The number of people fleeing Ukraine in the five days since Russia’s invasion began has crossed the half-million point, Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, said on Twitter. UN agencies said last week the figure could climb to as many as 4 million.
Most of those have crossed into the European Union, where the four EU states that border Ukraine have registered a surge in arrivals. Poland recorded the most at 281,000 since Feb. 24, while Hungarian officials have counted 85,400. Romania says the number of Ukrainian citizens crossing into the country number 70,000. Slovakia had taken in as many as 20,000 as of Sunday.
Singapore’s government will impose unilateral sanctions against Russia, a move which a former diplomat said was the first time in decades that the city-state was penalizing a foreign nation without United Nations Security Council backing.
Singapore plans to impose export controls on items that can be used as weapons “to inflict harm or to subjugate the Ukrainians,” Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said. Singapore’s biggest banks are also restricting trade financing for Russian raw materials, including on Russian oil and liquefied natural gas, according to people familiar with the situation.