Russia-Ukraine War: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Four people in Vuhledar and one person in Novomykhailivka, despite peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine being held, were killed as shelling continues. Two other individuals were injured. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the Head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, tweeted (English translation):

Russia kills civilians! Today, as a result of the Russian shelling in Donetsk region, 5 people died: 4 in Vuhledar and 1 in Novomykhailivka. Another 5 people were injured: 4 in Vuhledar and 1 in Krasnohorivka. In addition, 6 people injured in the Luhansk region received medical care in Bakhmut.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, unlike Putin, wants lasting peace. The same can't be said for his Russian counterpart. Nothing the Russian president says van be trusted. Russian forces shelling civilian Ukrainians makes a mockery of peace talks. A quick end to the war, at this stage, is unlikely.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on Saturday, 9 April 2022, visited with Zelenskyy. Zelensky seems happy to have the prime minister's support in Ukraine's darkest hour. Johnson was the latest foreign leader to visit the Ukrainian capital.

"Today I met my friend President @ZelenskyyUa in Kyiv as a show of our unwavering support for the people of Ukraine," Johnson tweeted. " We're setting out a new package of financial & military aid which is a testament of our commitment to his country's struggle against Russia’s barbaric campaign."

Russian forces, having moved south, pulled out of the capital over a week ago. Johnston, during talks with the Ukrainian president, pledged at least 120 armoured vehicles. Video footage of Johnson meeting with the Ukrainian president was uploaded to the British PM's verified Twitter account.

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S&P (Standard & Poor's) Global Ratings, whilst referencing Russia's refusal to use anything but Rubles, lowered the country's rating obligations to "SD". SD, defined as selective default, doesn't look good for either President Vladimir Putin, the Russian economy, or the country's financial reputation.

Iuliia Mendel, a former spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, tweeted about the S&P decision without giving the decision any real context. It looks like she was expecting something along these lines. Naturally, not long thereafter, international media outlets ran the story. Bloomberg Economics tweeted:

"S&P Global Ratings cut Russia’s unsolicited foreign currency issuer credit ratings to selective default as it became the last major agency to pull sovereign ratings on the country."

"Credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings on Saturday downgraded Russia’s foreign currency payments rating to “selective default” after Moscow paid a dollar-denominated debt in Rubles this week," the Daily Tribune tweeted.

S&P, counting its chickens before being hatched, oddly expects other payments to be processed without significant problems. Is S&P being realistic?

The Russian Ministry of Justice, on Friday, 8 April 2022, revoked the registrations of 15 international organisations. The organisations, considering recent reports, not surprisingly includes Amnesty International, the HRW (Human Rights Watch), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

No explanation is necessary. Connecting the dots, not that real intelligence is required, doesn't take a graduate degree. The decision feels more like an act of injustice. HRW, in a tweet tweeted the same day, wrote about the Justice Ministry:

AFP, reporting for The Moscow Times, wrote "Russia is shutting down the local offices of more than a dozen international organizations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace."

The Moscow Times, reporting news independently for three decades, is trying to remain out of the president's grasp. It's only a matter of time before Putin closes the newspaper's doors.

Curiously, whilst no reason was given for such drastic actions, drawing a line between recent comments made and the decision isn't rocket science. The decision came days after the HRW began referencing war crimes committed by Russian troops in Ukraine.

Friday, not a day without significant news, also saw Food and Agriculture Organisation's reporting food price index increases. The March increase, a record of 159.3 points, was estimated at around 13 per cent.

The price of vegetable oils, for example, saw a 23 per cent increase. Vegetable oils wasn't the only products impacted. Cereals saw a 17 per cent increase.