Diplomacy, sanctions and aid: Ukraine's politics on 16 March 2022
A look back at a day of ceasefire talk from Moscow, new US security assistance and political moves in Kyiv and abroad.
What did the politics of the war look like on 16 March 2022? Three weeks into the Russian invasion, the day combined talk of compromise, a new package of Western military aid and a harsh speech by Russia's president, set against a run of political events from the day before.
Talk of a compromise
On 16 March 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there was hope of reaching a compromise aimed at a ceasefire. The same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed his ministers on the situation in Ukraine and the Russian economy. He said Russian "traitors" and "scum" would be spat out like a midge that had accidentally flown into people's mouths, and he accused a so-called "fifth column" of trying to destroy the country from within.
More security assistance from Washington
Also on 16 March 2022, US President Joe Biden announced a further $800 million in security assistance for Ukraine. The package included 800 anti-aircraft systems, thousands of anti-tank missiles and armed combat drones, all intended to counter the Russian invasion.
The announcement followed the signing on 15 March of a $1.5 trillion budget bill that included $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine. On the same day, the US Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution declaring Putin a war criminal and calling for the International Criminal Court to investigate him. Washington also imposed additional sanctions on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Moscow's counter-sanctions
Russia answered Western sanctions with measures of its own on 15 March. It sanctioned Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, CIA Director William Burns and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in response to US sanctions on Russian officials. It also barred Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, General Wayne Eyre and most members of the Canadian parliament from entering Russia.
Kyiv's own political moves
The days before 16 March also brought notable developments in Ukrainian politics. On 15 March, Illia Kyva, a politician for the pro-Russian Opposition Platform — For Life, was deprived of his status as an MP in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament. A further four MPs quit the party.
On the same day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine would not be able to join NATO. The prime ministers of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic travelled to Kyiv by train to meet Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, to demonstrate what they called the European Union's "unequivocal support" for Ukraine's sovereignty and independence.
A snapshot of the moment
Taken together, the reports from 15 and 16 March 2022 show a conflict being fought on several fronts at once: Russian officials spoke of a possible ceasefire compromise while the Russian president warned against internal dissent; Western governments added weapons, money and sanctions; and Ukrainian politics adjusted at home and abroad.
