FirstFT: Biden and Putin agree ‘in principle’ to Ukraine summit
Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden have accepted “the principle” of a summit to ease tensions over Ukraine, the White House and French presidency said, capping a series of increasingly urgent diplomatic efforts led by Emmanuel Macron to defuse the crisis.The possibility of a meeting between the Russian and US presidents follows days of rising fears that Moscow will launch a full invasion of Ukraine. These concerns were heightened over the weekend when Belarus said 30,000 Russian troops participating in joint drills would stay in the country indefinitely.The Kremlin said on Monday that there were “no concrete plans” for such a meeting, but did not rule out the option. “It is too early to speak of any concrete plans to arrange some sort of summit,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. But he added: “A meeting is possible if the heads of state decide it is useful.”Instead, he pointed to a potential meeting between Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, and Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister. “We understand that this week a meeting of Lavrov and his US counterpart is possible. Also, we do not exclude the possibility of ministers of France and Russia,” Peskov said. Putin is due to address a session of Russia’s security council on Monday. On the ground: On Ukraine’s eastern front lines, an FT reporter could hear heavy shelling on Ukrainian army positions.Interview: Germany’s finance minister raised fears that Russia could retaliate against western sanctions by cutting off gas supplies.Opinion: Western officials believe that if Russia attacks, it might use the brutal tactics deployed in Chechnya and Syria. Gideon Rachman asks, how did we get here? Mohamed El-Erian argues that while it is tempting to pin recent market volatility on the Russia-Ukraine situation, there are structural issues at play.Markets Briefing: European stocks dipped on Monday after Russia and the US played down the likelihood of a summit between Putin and Biden.Thanks for reading FirstFT Americas. What questions do you have about the crisis in Ukraine? Share them with us at [email protected] — Wai KwenFive more stories in the news1. Environmental rules deal new blow to US natural gas pipelines The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted on Thursday to overhaul the certification process for new gas pipelines, providing for greater scrutiny of the economic need for projects, as well as their impacts on the environment, communities and landowners.
2. European energy groups seek €4bn damages Five energy groups are suing four European governments over the stymying of coal, oil and gas projects as climate change concerns rise, using a secretive process based on an international energy treaty. 3. Lotus explores IPO options The sports car brand is exploring a stock market listing of its China-based luxury lifestyle business within two years to help fund an international expansion and investment in electric vehicles. Lotus is aiming to meet growth targets of a 100-fold rise in sales over the next six years, said one of its most senior executives.4. Video: Plant-based meat — cooling off? A dip in sales growth and investor confidence in the US has analysts wondering whether the plant-based meat sector is going off the boil in its largest market.Carl Icahn launches a board fight at McDonald’s over the treatment of pigs.5. New Honduran government takes steps to plug deep fiscal hole Leftwing president Xiomara Castro took power in the Central American nation last month after a landslide election victory. Her government must now tackle widespread corruption, poverty and a lack of growth and jobs that has pushed hundreds of thousands of its citizens to migrate each year.Coronavirus digestUS biotech Novavax said its protein-based Covid-19 vaccine will be a strong competitor to the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna jabs despite its late arrival because of public concerns over the safety of its rivals’ messenger RNA technology.One of the largest police operations in Canada’s history has ended a three-week occupation of the capital by anti-vaccine mandate protesters. Beijing is frustrated with Hong Kong’s leniency towards officials breaching pandemic restrictions. Thousands of residents have left Hong Kong through the airport since pandemic travel restrictions came into place in 2020 as Covid spread to hit another record. The Asian financial hub has become a case study of managing in extreme uncertainty, Ravi Mattu writes.Bored with work from home? Try the “third space”. Not the office, not the home but somewhere in-between: co-working spaces.The response of rich countries and multilateral institutions to the pandemic’s financial impact on poor countries was inadequate and ignored the concerns of governments and the private sector, said Ghana’s finance minister.The day aheadUS markets are closed for the Presidents’ Day holiday.PMIs The flash purchasing managers’ composite index for the eurozone, a measure of the health of manufacturing and services activity, rose to 55.8 in February, up from 52.3 in January and the highest in five months. Northern Ireland protocol talks The “joint committee” — a forum of the UK, European Commission and EU member states that monitors the Brexit agreement — holds a “stocktaking meeting” in Brussels on the Northern Ireland protocol. Foreign ministers also gather to discuss the continent’s security situation.What else we’re reading Metaverse vs employment law: the reality of the virtual workplace It is unclear how employee protections apply in the universal digital realm. What counts as harassment? And can an avatar be discriminated against?Podcast: A rundown of the most important global business stories for the coming day. Is corporate America becoming more inclusive?
Companies that want to occupy the metaverse will have to consider how to protect workers’ data while requiring them to participate in a virtual world
EU and Poland on the brink The European Court of Justice ruled last week that regulations to protect the EU budget from rule of law violations by member states were legally solid, throwing the European Commission further along a collision course with one of the bloc’s biggest members: Poland. Green investing: the risk of a mis-selling scandal ESG funds are popular, but research has found that the sector is rife with greenwashing. Lawyers have warned that a reckoning is coming, as terms used to label and market funds may carry more legal weight than companies thought.US companies add environmental and social targets to executive bonuses.How severe drought has spread across the US.Europe’s companies languish in slow lane Europe’s fragmented single market is like an obstacle course, relegating the region’s companies to also-rans in the global race for growth. The failure to harmonise rules inside the trading bloc has allowed US companies to take the lead, said the continent’s industrialists.Erdogan’s gamble, in charts President Recep Tayyip Erdogan triggered a collapse in the Turkish lira last year when he ordered the central bank to aggressively cut borrowing costs despite soaring inflation. Emergency measures have since restored calm, but analysts are sceptical it will hold.
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