EU Economy: Weak EU growth and Covid-hit China raise prospect of global downturn - by Martin Arnold and Valentina Romei

New data on Friday showed that the Russian invasion is weighing on Europe’s economy, pushing up energy and food prices, worsening supply bottlenecks for manufacturers as well as sapping business and consumer confidence.

The disappointing news came a day after the US announced that its economy suffered an unexpected 0.4 per cent quarterly contraction, while worries about the impact of severe Covid-19 lockdowns in China caused the steepest monthly fall in the renminbi on record.

The Chinese currency has fallen 4.2 per cent this month to about Rmb6.6 per dollar, the biggest drop since the end of its US dollar peg, which was in place from 1994 to 2005. The fall is greater than a one-off devaluation by the Chinese central bank in 2015 that rattled global markets and a tumble in 2018 during the US-China trade war under the Trump administration.

Economists said the combination of weak global growth, soaring commodity prices and a series of expected interest rate rises by western central banks — including an unusually large 0.5 percentage point hike by the US Federal Reserve that could come next week — would spell trouble for the global economy.

“The world is in really bad shape,” said Erik Nielsen, chief economics adviser at UniCredit. “Particularly in Europe, where we have entered stagflation now.” He predicted that the eurozone was heading for a “double whammy” of an economic downturn and rising borrowing costs as the European Central Bank was likely to raise interest rates as early as July.

Read more at: Weak EU growth and Covid-hit China raise prospect of global downturn | Financial Times

EU-Turkey Relations: Turkey's Erdogan asks EU to relaunch membership negotiations

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday asked the European Union to relaunch talks for Ankara to eventually become an EU member, on the eve of a summit focused on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"We expect the EU to open quickly the chapters of the membership negotiations and to start negotiations on a customs union without yielding to cynical calculations," Erdogan said after talks with visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

The Turkish president's comments come as Ankara has emerged as a pivotal player in the war in Ukraine, reviving its place in institutions like Nato after years of tensions with western states.

Last month Turkey invoked the 1936 Montreux Convention to close the Bosporus straight to foreign battleships. It has also sold armed drones to Ukraine and is attempting to mediate an end to the fighting between Kyiv and Moscow.

Read more at: Turkey's Erdogan asks EU to relaunch membership negotiations | Middle East Eye

Russian Invasion of Ukraine: How a network of enablers have helped Russia’s oligarchs hide their wealth abroad

VSo who are the enablers of the offshore system? They range from global law firms, like Baker McKenzie, an architect of the modern tax avoidance system, to tiny one-person operators working from Bermuda.

Here is a selection of facilitators, offshore agents and banks that ICIJ has identified as aiding Russia’s elite move and hide money. Facilitators

Firms and individuals who have set up or used opaque financial structures for Russian elites

Alastair Tulloch: Tulloch & Co., run by the British attorney Alastair Tulloch, is situated in a posh district in London, one of the most well-known destinations for elite Russian wealth. ICIJ’s Pandora Papers investigation reported that Tulloch’s firm structured networks of companies for former Russian Deputy Finance Minister Andrey Vavilov; Alexander Mamut, a billionaire oligarch and political insider; and Vitaly Zhogin, a banker wanted in Russia for alleged fraud. Tulloch used offshore services provider Trident Trust to arrange for their assets to be transferred to shell companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus and the Bahamas. Tulloch did not respond to requests for comment.

Read more at: How a network of enablers have helped Russia’s oligarchs hide their wealth abroad - ICIJ

Ukraine war: Time to shift strategies: We must do more to aid Ukraine - "give terrorist Putin an ultimatum to declare cease-fire or else"

War is dynamic, a contest of wills between warring parties, each of which is fighting to achieve its political objectives and thwart its enemy. War reveals vulnerabilities not apparent when it begins, and opportunities absent at the start. Momentum shifts. Strategies should shift accordingly. This is where we are with the war in Ukraine today.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin started his illegal war to conquer and subjugate Ukraine, in his mind, Russia would quickly defeat the Ukrainian military and, thereby, the nation’s will to fight. That didn’t happen. Ukraine resisted, showing weaknesses in the Russian military machine. And global sanctions reduced Russia’s ability to fund the war. The result: stalemate. Russia has lost tactical momentum. Now Ukraine must seize it.

Two opportunities emerged. The stalemate allowed Ukraine to go on the offensive — local counterattacks and maybe a more general counter-offensive. And it provided an opportunity for the Allies to shift strategy.

Read more at: https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/598908-time-to-shift-strategies-we-must-do-more-to-aid-ukraine

Ukraine War: Biden to join NATO leaders in Brussels and attend European Council summit next week amid Ukraine war

President Joe Biden will travel to Europe next week to meet with world leaders and discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. The President will travel to Brussels, Belgium, to participate in a NATO summit on March 24 and will also join a European Council meeting, Psaki told reporters at a White House briefing.

The trip, which will be one of the most closely watched visits to Europe by an American president in decades, comes weeks after Russia launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine. Biden will "discuss ongoing deterrence and defense efforts," during the NATO summit and reaffirm the US' commitment to its NATO allies, Psaki said.

"He will also join a scheduled European Council summit to discuss our shared concerns about Ukraine, including trans-Atlantic efforts to impose economic costs on Russia, provide humanitarian support to those affected by the violence and address other challenges related to the conflict," she said.

Note EU-Digest: It is high time for the West to give Putin an ultimatum to stop the agression against Ukraine, or that they will establish a no-fly zone. It is also important that Russia realizes that if they use nuclear weapons, Russia itself will become a nuclear wasteland. US, NATO, EU and all its allies, please stop acting like "sissies", being pushed around by this bully !

Read more at: https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/15/politics/biden-travel-to-europe/index.html

Ukraine war: Netherlands Sends Ukraine Stingers, Anti-Tank Rocket - by Inder Singh Bisht

The Netherlands dispatched an arms consignment Sunday to Ukraine that includes 50 German-made anti-tank rocket launchers and Stinger missiles.

The consignment aboard a C-17 transport aircraft also includes 100 sniper rifles with 30,000 rounds, 3,000 combat helmets, 2,000 fragmentation vests, 30 metal detectors, wire-guided robots to detect sea mines, five weapon location radars, and two battlefield surveillance radars, as requested by Kyiv.

Read more at: Netherlands Sends Ukraine Stingers, Anti-Tank Rocket Launchers

Russian TV in America - who is fooling whom?: RT America ceases productions and lays off most of its staff - but still can be seen on your smart TV

RT America will cease productions and lay off most of its staff, according to a memo CNN obtained from T&R Productions, the production company behind the Russian state-funded network.

Misha Solodovnikov, the general manager of T&R Productions, told staff in the memo that it will be "ceasing production" at all of its locations "as a result of unforeseen business interruption events."

"Unfortunately, we anticipate this layoff will be permanent, meaning that this will result in the permanent separation from employment of most T&R employees at all locations," Solodovnikov wrote.

Note EU-Digest: Who is kidding whom. Despite sanctions etc., anyone in America or anywhere in the world, who has a smart TV with an Internet connection can still watch RT TV.

Read more at: RT America ceases productions and lays off most of its staff - CNN