2022.02.23 拜登本周将不再与普京会面

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Updated less than 1 hour ago (15:45 GMT / 10:45 New York)

The White House said that Joe Biden, America’s president, would no longer meet Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, this week, after Russia on Tuesday recognised separatists’ claims to the entire Donbas region of Ukraine, not just the portion they control. A meeting between America’s secretary of state and his Russian counterpart was also cancelled. In a speech on Wednesday morning to mark Russia’s Defender of the Fatherland Day, Mr Putin insisted that Russia was still open to “diplomatic solutions”. Western leaders, however, warned that an imminent invasion of Ukraine and an assault on Kyiv, the capital, looked possible.

Ukraine told its citizens not to travel to Russia, and advised those already there to leave immediately. The government said that it would not be able to offer consular assistance as the crisis intensifies; millions of Ukrainians are thought to live in Russia. Ukraine’s security council called for a state of emergency throughout the country (except in the breakaway regions). The country also started calling up members of its reserve armed forces.

Britain announced that its package of sanctions against Russia would, like America’s, include targeting the country’s sovereign debt, thereby cutting it off from Western financing. The countries’ other sanctions target Russia’s banks and its elites, as do measures announced by Australia, the EU and Japan. Germany withheld approval of Nord Stream 2, a controversial gas pipeline that has been built between it and Russia. Russia’s ambassador to America warned that sanctions “will not solve anything regarding Russia” and will only damage financial and energy markets around the world. Western leaders have promised steeper penalties if Russia moves further into Ukraine.

China’s foreign ministry said it did not believe such measures to be the best way to solve problems. But stockmarkets seemed to welcome the sanctions. Main indices in China, Hong Kong and South Korea all traded higher on Wednesday. Meanwhile the price of Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, approached $100 for the first time since 2014, before settling near $97.

Canadian authorities told banks to unfreeze the accounts of “freedom convoy” protesters, who organised blockades to oppose covid-19 restrictions. Prime minister Justin Trudeau gained the authority to freeze the accounts when he invoked emergency powers last week, but his decision was heavily criticised for being illiberal. The protest has since been shut down.

Taiwan’s president said her country must be on high alert for “military developments around the Taiwan strait” at a meeting about the crisis in Ukraine. Tsai Ing-wen suggested that Russia’s actions in Ukraine could affect the “morale of Taiwanese society”. China, which considers Taiwan its own territory, has increased its military activity around the island over the last two years.

Heathrow said only 19.4m people travelled through its airport in London in 2021, the lowest number since 1972. Britain’s biggest airport was hit hard by covid-19 travel restrictions and reported a loss of £1.8bn ($2.4bn). With restrictions easing, it is hopeful of a strong rebound and expects to meet its target of 45.5m passengers in 2022.

Fact of the day: 25,000, the annual death toll on India's railways. Read the full article.


On the ground in Donetsk and Luhansk

PHOTO: AP
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, has ordered his troops to cross into the newly recognised “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine. But how will Russia view the swathes of Ukrainian territory that these separatist regions claim but do not control?

Our correspondent found all strands of opinion on the streets of Slovyansk, a town the separatists took and then lost in 2014. Many people remain unflappable. News of shelling at the front line and beyond does not shock them. They have lived through conflict for the past eight years. But others, who on Monday heard Mr Putin undermine Ukraine's legitimacy as a sovereign state, feel that something is changing. “We are in Ukrainian Donetsk but soon our region may have another name,” says one young man, who is finalising plans to leave for Germany. If Mr Putin’s ambitions stretch beyond the de-facto borders of the breakaway regions, it is anyone’s guess where they might stop.


Rio Tinto’s results

PHOTO: DREAMSTIME
As expected, Rio Tinto reported exceptional annual results on Wednesday. The global mining giant earned $21.4bn during 2021, its highest-ever profit. Revenues were helped by the soaring price of iron ore, which has jumped by two-thirds since November. The prices of other metals, including aluminium and nickel, have climbed too. Constrained supply and resurgent demand, as economies reopen, are behind the rally. BHP and Glencore, two other miners, also published handsome profits. Anglo American is expected to do the same on Thursday.

Corporate culture is still a problem for the industry. This month Rio published the findings of an external investigation it had commissioned, which found that almost half of its employees said they have been bullied in the past five years. Glencore has troubles too. This month it put aside $1.5bn to cover expected fines from bribery and corruption investigations in Brazil, Britain and America. Despite rosy results, the industry is struggling to shake off a reputation for bad behaviour.

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California’s housing crisis

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
The Golden State is home to nearly half of America’s rough sleepers. The median price of a house in California is more than double the national average and even “affordable” housing is not immune from high prices. In 2016, voters in Los Angeles overwhelmingly approved massive spending on a subsidised housing plan. An audit of the scheme, due to be published on Wednesday, will show that the average cost per flat identified in 2020—already a staggering $531,000—has since ballooned.

Shortages of building materials have nudged up costs. But bureaucracy is a far bigger problem. An array of government agencies pumps out rules that restrict building and line the pockets of consultants, lawyers, environmental specialists and unions. One study found that a requirement to build subsidised housing with union labour added more than $50,000 to a flat’s cost. California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has chipped away at some home-building impediments, but there is little prospect of significant change.

Barclays in the money

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Barclays has plenty to celebrate. On Wednesday the British bank announced pre-tax profits of £8.4bn ($11.6bn) for 2021, almost trebling its 2020 result.

Its investment bank drove the outperformance, taking advantage of a booming mergers and acquisitions market to generate big fees. Though dealmaking continued apace in the fourth quarter, Barclays’ quarterly profits dropped from £2bn to £1.5bn. M&A advisory fees depend on market conditions. That makes them fickle and hard to extrapolate into the future.

C. S. Venkatakrishnan, Barclays’ new chief executive, will hope the bank’s bumper results overshadow the resignation of his predecessor, Jes Staley, who resigned in November. His departure followed a regulatory probe into his business dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, the late disgraced financier and convicted paedophile. Mr Staley denies that his conduct was improper. Barclays’ will be hoping it has begun a new chapter.


By Invitation: Alexander Gabuev on Russia’s elites

PHOTO: DAN WILLIAMS
This is an excerpt from a guest essay by a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Centre. You can read the full article here.

Anywhere you turn in Moscow, it’s easy to find members of the Russian elite who wonder why the West thinks that war in Ukraine is the Kremlin’s preferred course of action. Even if the Russian army managed to force Kyiv into a swift defeat, the damage to Russia’s national interests would surely outweigh any potential military gains.

The problem is that the same logic was just as true eight years ago when the fateful decisions were made to annex Crimea and to stir conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas region. The fact that Russia has been able to endure the international fallout for all these years helps to explain why the region finds itself again on the brink of war.

When it comes to Ukraine, people in Moscow and the West can be forgiven for assuming that the Kremlin’s policy is informed by a dispassionate strategy. What actually drives the Kremlin are the tough ideas and interests of a small group of longtime lieutenants to President Vladimir Putin, as well as those of the Russian leader himself.

Daily quiz

You know the drill by now. Our baristas will serve you a new question each day this week. On Friday your challenge is to give all five answers and tell us the connecting theme. Email your responses (and include mention of your home city and country) by 1700 GMT on Friday to QuizEspresso@economist.com. We’ll pick randomly from those with the right answers and crown one winner per continent on Saturday.

Wednesday: Which English author wrote an exposé of the funeral industry called “The American Way of Death”?

There is but one coward on earth, and that is the coward that dare not know.

W. E. B. Du Bois




世界简讯
迅速了解重要的全球事件


白宫表示，美国总统乔-拜登本周将不再与俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔-普京会面，此前俄罗斯周二承认分离主义分子对乌克兰整个顿巴斯地区的主张，而不仅仅是他们控制的部分。美国国务卿与俄罗斯国务卿之间的会晤也被取消。在周三上午纪念俄罗斯祖国日的讲话中，普京先生坚持认为，俄罗斯仍然对 "外交解决方案 "持开放态度。然而，西方领导人警告说，对乌克兰的入侵和对首都基辅的攻击即将发生。

乌克兰告诉其公民不要前往俄罗斯，并建议已经在那里的人立即离开。政府表示，随着危机的加剧，它将无法提供领事援助；数百万乌克兰人被认为居住在俄罗斯。乌克兰安全委员会呼吁全国进入紧急状态（分离地区除外）。该国还开始征召其预备役武装部队的成员。

英国宣布，其对俄罗斯的一揽子制裁措施将像美国一样，包括针对该国的主权债务，从而切断其与西方国家的融资联系。这些国家的其他制裁措施针对俄罗斯的银行和精英，澳大利亚、欧盟和日本宣布的措施也是如此。德国扣留了对北溪2号的批准，这是一条在德国和俄罗斯之间修建的有争议的天然气管道。俄罗斯驻美国大使警告说，制裁 "不会解决有关俄罗斯的任何问题"，只会损害全世界的金融和能源市场。西方领导人已经承诺，如果俄罗斯进一步进入乌克兰，将对其进行更严厉的惩罚。

中国外交部表示，它不认为这种措施是解决问题的最佳方式。但股市似乎对制裁表示欢迎。中国、香港和韩国的主要指数在周三均有上涨。同时，国际石油基准布伦特原油的价格自2014年以来首次接近100美元，然后在97美元附近稳定下来。

加拿大当局告诉银行解冻 "自由车队 "抗议者的账户，这些抗议者组织了封锁活动，反对covid-19限制。总理贾斯汀-特鲁多上周援引紧急权力时获得了冻结账户的权力，但他的决定被严厉批评为不自由。此后，抗议活动被关闭。

台湾总统在一次关于乌克兰危机的会议上说，她的国家必须对 "台湾海峡周围的军事发展 "保持高度警惕。蔡英文表示，俄罗斯在乌克兰的行动可能会影响 "台湾社会的士气"。中国认为台湾是自己的领土，在过去两年中增加了该岛周围的军事活动。

希思罗机场表示，2021年只有1940万人次通过其在伦敦的机场，是1972年以来的最低数字。英国最大的机场受到covid-19旅行限制的沉重打击，并报告了18亿英镑（24亿美元）的损失。随着限制的放宽，它有希望实现强劲的反弹，并预计在2022年实现4550万人次的目标。

今天的事实：25,000，印度铁路每年的死亡人数。阅读全文。


顿涅茨克和卢甘斯克的实地情况

照片。美联社
俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔-普京(Vladimir Putin)已经命令他的军队进入乌克兰东部新承认的顿涅茨克和卢甘斯克 "人民共和国"。但是，俄罗斯将如何看待这些分离主义地区声称但不控制的大片乌克兰领土？

我们的记者在斯洛维扬斯克的街道上发现了各种观点，这个城市被分离主义分子占领，然后在2014年丢失。许多人仍然不慌不忙。前线和其他地方的炮击新闻并没有让他们感到震惊。在过去的八年里，他们一直生活在冲突之中。但其他人，在周一听到普京先生破坏乌克兰作为一个主权国家的合法性时，觉得有些事情正在发生变化。"一位正在敲定前往德国计划的年轻人说："我们在乌克兰的顿涅茨克，但很快我们的地区就会有另一个名字。如果普京先生的野心超越了分离地区的事实边界，那么谁也无法猜测他们会在哪里停下来。


力拓公司的业绩

照片。DREAMSTIME
不出所料，力拓公司周三公布了优异的年度业绩。这家全球矿业巨头在2021年赚了214亿美元，是其有史以来最高的利润。收入得益于铁矿石价格的飙升，自11月以来，铁矿石价格已经跃升了三分之二。其他金属的价格，包括铝和镍，也都攀升了。随着经济的重新开放，供应受限和需求回升是反弹的原因。必和必拓和嘉能可这两家矿商也公布了丰厚的利润。预计英美资源公司将在周四公布同样的结果。

企业文化仍然是该行业的一个问题。本月，里约集团公布了其委托的一项外部调查的结果，发现几乎一半的员工说他们在过去五年中受到过欺负。Glencore也有麻烦。本月，它拨出15亿美元，用于支付巴西、英国和美国的贿赂和腐败调查的预期罚款。尽管业绩喜人，但该行业正在努力摆脱不良行为的声誉。

在您的收件箱中获取简报
每周六次在早餐前送达。

报名
加州的住房危机

照片。GETTY IMAGES
美国近一半的露宿者都居住在金州。加州房屋的中位价是全国平均水平的两倍多，即使是 "可负担得起的 "住房也不能幸免于高价。2016年，洛杉矶的选民以压倒性优势批准了一项补贴住房计划的大量支出。将于周三公布的对该计划的审计结果将显示，2020年确定的每套住房的平均成本--已经达到惊人的53.1万美元--自此以后急剧上升。

建筑材料的短缺也使成本上升。但官僚主义是一个更大的问题。一系列的政府机构制定了限制建筑的规则，使顾问、律师、环境专家和工会的腰包鼓起来。一项研究发现，要求用工会劳工建造补贴住房的规定使公寓的成本增加了5万多美元。加利福尼亚州州长、民主党人加文-纽森(Gavin Newsom)已经消除了一些建房障碍，但几乎没有重大变化的前景。

巴克莱银行的资金

照片。GETTY IMAGES
巴克莱银行有很多值得庆祝的事情。周三，这家英国银行宣布2021年的税前利润为84亿英镑（116亿美元），几乎是其2020年业绩的三倍。

其投资银行推动了业绩的增长，利用蓬勃发展的并购市场产生了大量的费用。尽管第四季度交易继续快速进行，但巴克莱银行的季度利润从20亿英镑降至15亿英镑。并购咨询费取决于市场条件。这使他们变得变化无常，难以推断未来。

C. 巴克莱银行的新任首席执行官S.Venkatakrishnan将希望该银行的丰收业绩能掩盖其前任Jes Staley的辞职，后者于11月辞职。他的离职是在监管部门对他与杰弗里-爱泼斯坦（Jeffrey Epstein）的商业交易进行调查后发生的，杰弗里-爱泼斯坦是已故失宠的金融家和被定罪的恋童癖。斯塔利先生否认他的行为是不正当的。巴克莱银行将希望它已经开始了新的篇章。


应邀参加。亚历山大-加布耶夫谈俄罗斯的精英阶层

照片。DAN WILLIAMS
这是卡内基莫斯科中心高级研究员的客座文章的节选。你可以在这里阅读全文。

在莫斯科的任何地方，你都很容易找到俄罗斯精英阶层的成员，他们想知道为什么西方认为乌克兰战争是克里姆林宫的首选行动方案。即使俄罗斯军队设法迫使基辅迅速失败，对俄罗斯国家利益的损害肯定会超过任何潜在的军事收益。

问题是，八年前做出吞并克里米亚和挑起乌克兰顿巴斯地区冲突的决定时，同样的逻辑也是如此。这些年来，俄罗斯一直能够忍受国际影响，这有助于解释为什么该地区再次发现自己处于战争的边缘。

谈到乌克兰问题，莫斯科和西方国家的人们可以理解为克里姆林宫的政策是由一个冷静的战略来决定的。实际上，推动克里姆林宫的是一小群长期担任普京总统副手的强硬想法和利益，以及这位俄罗斯领导人本人的想法。

每日小测验

你现在知道这个程序了。我们的咖啡师将在本周每天为你提供一个新问题。星期五，你的挑战是给出所有五个答案，并告诉我们连接的主题。在周五格林尼治标准时间17点之前，将你的回答（包括提到你的家乡和国家）发到 QuizEspresso@economist.com。我们将从正确的答案中随机挑选，并在周六为每个大洲选出一名获胜者。

星期三。哪位英国作家写了一本揭露殡葬业的书，名为《美国的死亡方式》？

地球上只有一个懦夫，那就是不敢知道的懦夫。

W. E. B. Du Bois