Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, revealed how he feared in Spring 2022 that Kyiv would come under pressure to accept a bad peace deal. But in a new BBC documentary to be aired on Monday, Ms Truss, the then foreign secretary, reveals that his efforts went down badly in Downing Street. "There is no prospect of food shortages at any point in the future, and Defra are working with Treasury to try and make sure that that continues to be the case," he said.

• Many analysts say Beijing in particular is looking on as it formulates its own plans to reunify Taiwan with mainland China.
• Permanently higher energy prices could deliver an adverse supply shock that reduced potential output in the medium term, which in turn would damage the structural fiscal position.
• In response to the current crisis, the EU is proposing expedite plans to link Ukrainian's electricity system to the EU's, which would boost Ukraine's independence from Russia's grid, with which it is currently tied.
• Since Russia invaded Ukraine, British Petroleum (BP) ditched its 19.75% shareholding in Russian oil giant Rosneft.
• Some 30% of the world's wheat comes from Ukraine and Russia and exports will stop during the conflict, it says.

European countries have largely outsourced much of their military capacity and thinking on strategy and security to the States through NATO. Phillips P OBrien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, wrote in an analysis piecethat the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House could see the US "neuter" the Western military alliance. A senior European Union official has denied member states are discussing financial coercion to force Hungary to agree on financing for Ukraine. There is some suggestion that a renewed focus on the so-called Minsk agreements - which sought to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine - could be used as a basis to defuse the current crisis. Russia has been backing a bloody armed rebellion in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region since 2014.

...and a potential migration crisis

As well as driving up costs for energy intensive companies, western sanctions on Russia could hit the availability of materials used in the aerospace, automotive and electronics industries. The country is a major producer of metals such as titanium, nickel, cobalt and lithium. The OECD is the second international body to cut its growth forecast in the past two days, with the World Bank warning in its global economic prospects of a return to 1970s-style stagflation a combination of weak growth and high inflation.

The war has strengthened political consensus that domestic renewables offer the cheapest and most secure form of energy. A year after Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, five IfG experts examine the impact of the war on the UK. I offer my condolences and that of the UK to all Ukrainians for the lives lost due to these barbaric airstrikes. These took place far away from the front lines of Russias war, in civilian populated areas. https://desertoption93.bloggersdelight.dk/2024/02/09/ukraine-invasion-russians-feel-the-pain-of-international-sanctions/ , regularity and indiscriminate nature of Russias attacks may violate international humanitarian law, is extremely concerning and must stop.

Ukraine brings significant economic uncertainty, Rishi Sunak warns

The French president carried on holding phone calls with Putin long after other Nato countries had cut ties with the Kremlin over its illegal war. "Given the current crisis in Ukraine the demand for food is ever increasing," he told the BBC. Dan Wallis, who runs Rookery Farms in Newbury, Berkshire, said he decided this week to sow spring wheat on land that was not due to be planted on until next autumn.

• The conflict could push up British energy bills to 3,000 in October 2022, potentially a 600 increase from previously expected levels, according to ECIU.
• The current tensions come eight years after Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula.
• Mr Shogiu said the counter-proposals submitted by Nato and the US had now been reviewed and promised "our response will follow shortly".
• The new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is tasked with plotting the UKs course out of the crisis.

Laurence Boone, the thinktanks chief economist, said the UK was being hit by a combination of factors, including higher interest rates, higher taxes, reduced trade and more expensive energy. Balazs Orban, chief political aide to the prime minister, said Hungary sent a proposal to the EU over the weekend showing it was open to using the budget for the aid package if other "caveats" were added. Earlier today, a Russian official said air defences had thwarted a drone attack on the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in the city of Yaroslavl. "A frank and constructive dialogue is expected to improve relations between states," the Ukrainian president's office said on its official channel on the Telegram messaging app alongside a photo of Mr Szijjarto, Mr Kuleba and Mr Yermak.

No Time to Go Wobbly: Why Britain Is Lobbying U.S. Republicans on Ukraine

The Western defence official said that if Russia chose to carry out an attack now it could do so. But he said Russian forces massed on the border were still missing some crucial elements - such as full logistical support, ammunition stocks, field hospitals and blood banks. A senior Western intelligence official has warned that if Russia decides to invade Ukraine, a conflict could spill over further into Europe.

• At the same time, Chinas zero-Covid policy continues to weigh on the global outlook, lowering domestic growth and disrupting global supply chains, she added.
• But beyond the Johnsonian rhetoric the 2021 document was quite clear-sighted about UK interests.
• He discusses what implications this could have on monetary policy, and gives an assessment on the resilience of the financial system.
• But the official said Russia could also initiate actions against Nato members such as cyber and hybrid warfare, and even physical attacks.