“Simply put, this means that Russia and Belarus will no longer receive the benefits, particularly low tariffs that Canada offers to other countries that are fellow members of the WTO,” Freeland told reporters at a news conference.

Canada had about C$1.2 billion ($948 million) in imports from Russia and about C$23 million from Belarus in 2020, according to Statistics Canada.

The most favored nation principle is a part of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) rules, and it prevents WTO members from favoring any one country with benefits like lower tariffs without giving all members the same standard

Moscow unleashed an all-out invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 that has prompted Canada, the European Union, United States and others to respond with strict financial sanctions on Russia. Sanctions have also been levied on Belarus, which has been used as a key staging point for the invasion.

Canada has closed airspace and ports to Russian vessels, sent lethal military aid to Ukraine, curbed oil imports, and asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to probe alleged war crimes by Russian forces.

“The G7 has already imposed the strongest sanctions ever inflicted on a major economy on Russia, and more will follow in the days to come,” Freeland said.

Defense Minister Anita Anand, speaking at the same news conference, said Canada intends to supply more lethal aid to Ukraine, including up to 4,500 M72 rocket launchers and up to 7,500 hand grenades from the Canadian Armed Forces’ existing stockpiles.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada, along with close partners, was calling for the suspension of Russia from the global police agency Interpol.

“We’re supporting this because we believe that international law enforcement cooperation depends on a collective commitment to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and mutual respect between Interpol members,” he said at a separate event.

Thousands are reported to have died or been injured and more than a million people have fled Ukraine amid the biggest attack on a European state since 1945. read more

Canada also announced it would create two separate immigration streams for Ukrainians, one that allows for a temporary stay and one that is permanent.

“Canada is ready to welcome Ukrainians fleeing (Russian President) Vladimir Putin’s war, and there is no limit to the number of applications that we are going to be willing to accept,” Canada’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said.

($1 = 1.2659 Canadian dollars)

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© Greg Nash

The Biden administration is requesting $22.5 billion from Congress for the COVID-19 response, setting up a tussle with Republican lawmakers who have resisted new funding.

Where the funds would go: In a letter to Congress dated Wednesday, the White House said the additional funds are crucial for efforts around vaccines, treatments and testing. In addition, $5 billion of the funding will go towards the global COVID-19 response, including vaccinating other countries, which is key to helping stop new variants from arising.

“Without additional resources, we won’t be able to secure the treatments, vaccines, and tests Americans need in coming months and fight future variants,” wrote acting Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young. “And critical COVID response efforts – such as free community testing sites and testing, treatment, and vaccination coverage for uninsured individuals – will end this spring.”

The White House is urging that the funding be included in a broader government funding bill that faces a March 11 deadline.

GOP resistance: Passing the funding could be a challenge. Republicans have pushed back on new COVID-19 funds, pointing to the billions already provided for the virus response.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Wednesday led 35 other Republican senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), in a letter telling the administration they want a “full accounting” of money already spent “before we would consider” new COVID-19 funds.

=======================================================

US TO SHARE COVID TECHNOLOGY WITH  WORLD

The Biden administration is planning to share government-backed COVID-19 technology with the World Health Organization (WHO) to help low- and middle-income countries access crucial medicines.

During a press briefing on Thursday, Health and Human Service Secretary Xavier Becerra and chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci both confirmed that the U.S. was looking into licensing COVID-19 medical technologies owned by the National Institute of Health (NIH) to the WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access pool (C-TAP).

Becerra and Fauci were unable to provide specific details on this new policy.

According to Fauci, the details of this plan are still being “ironed out.” The technologies will be sub-licensed through the Medicines Patent Pool, a Switzerland-based international organization aimed at enhancing access to medicines for low and middle-income countries.

“We’re still in early stages,” said Becerra. “This latest announcement is an effort to try to let low and middle-income countries know that we want them to have capacities as well.”

=================================================

WORLD COVID STATS

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By Associated Press

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THE PRIME Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war with Ukraine.

Dr Ralph Gonsalves released the contents of a private letter he wrote to the Russian leader and said he was “deeply disturbed” by Russia’s “special military operation”.

In his letter, addressing President Putin, Mr Gonsalves said: “The “special military operation” will undoubtedly add much suffering to ordinary folks the world over, especially those still finding it very challenging to handle the pandemic, climate change and natural disasters.

“The people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Caribbean will undoubtedly be affected adversely.

“Please, let us give peace and diplomacy a real chance to succeed.

“In our view, the nobility of peace if far preferable than an ignoble military venture.

“I am aware that some western countries are engaged in naked hypocrisy and double-speak; their history of neo-colonialism, imperialism and interventionist adventurism undermines their self-righteous proclamationHe added: “At a personal level, as a friend of the Russian Federation, I am urging you very strongly to cease “the special military operation” in Ukraine.”

Mr Gonsalves concluded: “Let us go forth in peace, security, and prosperity for all. Please do not disappoint me.”

The prime minister recently said there are seven or eight Vincentian students in Russia and confirmed that St Vincent’s chief personnel officer (CPO) has spoken to the students and they remain in close contact.

In recent weeks, several Caribbean leaders have spoken out against Russia’s military action in Ukraine.

“Let us go forth in peace, security, and prosperity for all. Please do not disappoint me.”

Dr Ralph Gonsalves

In a statement on Thursday, CARICOM said it “strongly condemns the military attacks and invasion of Ukraine by The Russian Federation and calls for the immediate and complete withdrawal of the military presence and cessation of any further actions that may intensify the current perilous situation in that country”.

It continued: “The hostilities against Ukraine go counter to the principles of respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of another sovereign state and the prohibition on the threat or use of force, and the peaceful resolution of disputes, which are the bedrock of this community.

“CARICOM maintains that the principles of universal respect and adherence to these norms and principles of international law are fundamental to the maintenance of the international system and global peace and security. CARICOM calls on all parties involved to urgently embark on intensified diplomatic dialogue to immediately de-escalate hostilities and work towards sustainable peace.”

The prime minister of Barbados Mia Mottley said that any unrest in Ukraine and Russia could impact the cost of food and fuel.

Ms Mottley announced the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Security had started to boost production across the island as a precaution.

Other islands across the Caribbean region are also preparing for significant price increases to essential household items in the coming weeks and months.

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March 03, 2022

Ukraine refugee count tops 1 million; Russians besiege ports

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — More than 1 million people have fled Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, in the swiftest refugee exodus this century, the United Nations said Thursday,…Read More

Neutral Finland and Sweden warm to idea of NATO membership

HELSINKI (AP) — Through the Cold War and the decades since, nothing could persuade Finns and Swedes…Read More

Jan. 6 panel claims Trump engaged in ‘criminal conspiracy’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection said Wednesday…Rea

Editor Selections

Russia’s war spurs corporate exodus, exposes business risks

LONDON (AP) — Auto shipments stopped, beer stopped flowing, cargo ships dropped port calls and oil…Read More

Live updates: Norway, Germany provide missiles to Ukraine

The latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war: COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A Hercules C130 transport…Read More

AP Photos: Day 7, Ukrainians feeling weight of war

In village streets, city basements and train stations, the faces of Ukrainians reflected the steep…Read More

Cross Section

Russian athletes out of Paralympics in stunning about-face

In a stunning reversal, Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned from the Winter Paralympic…Read More

Olivia Rodrigo praises female artists in Billboard speech

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Olivia Rodrigo praised prior female songwriters and music artists for…Read More

Biden’s State of the Union speech draws 38 million viewers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An estimated 38.2 million TV viewers watched President Joe Biden’s State of the…Read More

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WH unveils next phase of COVID-19 fight

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14ymedio, Havana, 27 February 2022 — Cuban Pablo Enrique was detained on Saturday by State Security for leaving flowers at the Ukrainian Embassy in Havana, in solidarity with the country facing a Russian invasion.

As confirmed to this daily, he was taken to the Seventh Police Unit of the National Revolutionary Police, where he was met by three agents. There, he received, “many threats” and a second warning letter. “They are sick with hate,” declared Enrique, who introduces himself as a Christian and a human rights activist.

“Upon my arrival, the Sepsa Guards [Specialized Protection Services, S.A.] who provide security to diplomatic headquarters did not allow me to move,” recounted Enrique himself on his Twitter account as he neared the Ukrainian diplomatic headquarters, located on Fifth Avenue, in the Miramar neighborhood of Havana.

There, he stated that diplomat Iryna Bilyk, third secretary of the Ukrainian Consulate, had to come out and escort him, “as they did not allow me to hang (neither on the fence nor to place on the floor, nor even on a tree in front of the headquarters) a small bouquet of roses I took as a show of solidarity.” The flowers, he concluded with an image, “reached their final destination, and are now within the diplomatic headquarters.”

While the Cuban Government has aligned itself with Russia and has blamed the war on the United States and NATO, civic organizations and everyday Cubans have shown their support for Ukraine.

On Thursday, a group of activists issued a public declaration in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, which can be signed by anyone who desires, to date has received 300 signatures.

Promoted by Giselle González, Claudio Gaitán, Fernando Almeyda, Leo Fernández, Saily González and Magdiel Jorge Castro, the text breaks from the regime, condemning “an imperialist war that seeks to further destabilize a country which has the right to self-determination.”

Family members of July 11th prisoners also came out in favor of Ukraine recently. Pedro López, whose daughter-in-law’s brother, Andy García Lorenzo, was sentenced to seven years in prison in Santa Clara, declared on his social media that he’d just called the Ukrainian embassy in Cuba “to show our family’s solidarity with the people of Ukraine and to make clear that the cowardly position of the Cuban Government does not represent the sentiment of our beautiful, peace-loving people.”

In his post, he also published the phone numbers of the diplomatic headquarters and asked for freedom for García Lorenzo and the rest of the political prisoners.

In charge of Ukrainian business in Cuba, Oleksandr Kalinchuk on Friday had requested that Cubans take to the street to show their support for Ukraine. “We can change the position of the Cuban Government, we can change the joint situation,” he declared on AmericaTV.

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by Dan Ehrlich

Ukraine has asked NATO to establish a ‘no fly zone’ over the country. But this was ruled out because it could result in shooting down Russian aircraft and escalating the conflict beyond Ukraine.

In the nuclear superpower age nations least likely to go to war are those with most to lose. Nations with less to lose are more likely to wage war. That’s why Ukraine stands alone. And powerful NATO has been embarrassed by its non-military response to this unprovoked invasion.

The wealthy western nations have too much loss if they challenge Russia militarily. And Vlad Putin knows this.

Yet, in a larger context, what if Russia invaded a NATO member? What then? Putin’s war has revealed all defense alliances and treaties are toothless when military challenges are needed in confronting a nuclear power such as Russia.

I have to look back to the mid 1930s when Italy invaded Ethiopia and its emperor Hailie Selassie pleading in vain with the League of Nations for help. No developed nation wanted a war with Italy over a distant African nation.

Yet, when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the UK was quick to declare war against Hitler. This didn’t stop the invasion and for several months the allies did little against Germany.

But that was in a pre nuclear world. When dealing with a dictator such as Putin, who knows the fear factor of nuclear war among western nations, he feels he can do what he wants with impunity, feeling assured no nation or alliance will call his bluff.

Yes, NATO is happy its united in slapping all manner of sanctions on Russia. And sports events are being cancelled here and there. But this won’t stop Putin’s war. He’s driven to knobble Ukraine, whatever that takes. And all the sanctions in the world will mean little to him as long they don’t losen his crip on power.

As for Ukraine, its best hope is a long drawn out, yet devastating conflict that will inflict heavy loses on the Russian military. What Putin doesn’t want is another Afghanistan, where the sight of Russian troops coming back in body bags, forced its exit from that country.

Yet, on a wider level, the reluctance of NATO to challenge Russia militarily in Ukraine, poses the question what good is such an alliance if its not willing to back up its rhetoric. Can Russia, one by one, invade its former Warsaw Pact member nations, with only outrage voiced by the West?

As long as Russia, the world’s largest country, remains a rogue nation, with the autocratic leadership of Putin, he will be calling the shots. And we may have to live with it.

Aside from wanting to have Russia respected as a world superpower, Putin, as with Soviet leaders before him, is obsessed with a threat from the West, from NATO. His pretext for invading Ukraine is to neutralize the security threat it poses to his country.

A Security threat from NATO? It’s a defensive alliance…When has NATO ever threatened to attack Russia? In Putin’s mind, NATO is a threat to Russia by virtue of US missiles aimed at his country, even for defense.

This brings us to the key aspect of the Cold War that Putin wants to revive, the belief that the West wants to subvert and control Russia. It’s a belief entrenched before and after WW2 which mandated keeping the West at arms length from its borders. This was the main function of the Warsaw Pact nations bordering Russia.

Yet, from the Russian perspective there was good reason for this. Most Americans and Brits are ignorant of the fact that the Cold War was a western construct.

The US and UK were so fearful that the 1917 Bolshevik revolution would spread to their workforces, they made a pariah nation out of revolutionary Russia. All but forgotten in the West was the disastrous Allied invasion of the nascent Soviet Union in 1918 designed to assist anti communist forces in overthrowing the Soviets.

The UK, France, US and several other nations sent upwards of 100,000 troops to support the White Russians Against the Reds. The operation was a disaster. Yet the memory of that operation, forgotten in the West, is very much a part of vivid Russian history.

One historian wrote: “The consequences of the expedition “were to poison East-West relations forever after, to contribute significantly to the origins of World War II and the later ‘Cold War,’ and to fix patterns of suspicion and hatred on both sides which even today threaten worse catastrophes in time to come.” For Soviet leaders, the operation was proof that Western powers were keen to destroy the Soviet government if they had the opportunity to do so.”

This is political dogma for Putin and a prime reason for his Ukraine invasion.

When Mikail Gorbachev effectively ended the Cold War in 1990,there was hope Russia might come in from the cold as a new democracy. That hope has been dashed by the ascension of Putin, a dictator who longs for the Cold War and Soviet Union.

The hope for Russia now is in its young people who want a better life than offered by a rogue state and its hard line dogmatic leaders.

But, as long as Putin remains in the driver’s seat Russia’s antagonistic relationship with the West will remain and we will have to live with it.

After Ukraine, it remains to be seen what his next target will be. But we may already know what the West’s reaction will be.

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