俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京对邻国乌克兰的“特殊军事行动”始于2月24日，俄罗斯军队从北部的白俄罗斯和东部的俄罗斯入侵。据美国官员称，乌克兰军队进行了“顽强抵抗”。
俄罗斯军方本月早些时候在乌克兰东部有争议的顿巴斯地区发动了全面地面进攻，试图占领战略港口城市马里乌波尔，并确保通往莫斯科吞并的克里米亚半岛的沿海走廊。
世界银行:乌克兰战争对商品市场造成“重大冲击”
世界银行(World Bank)周二发布了一份报告，称乌克兰战争对大宗商品市场造成了重大冲击，改变了全球贸易、生产和消费模式，将使价格在2024年底前保持在历史高位。
“总的来说，这是我们自上世纪70年代以来经历的最大的大宗商品冲击，”世界银行负责公平增长、金融和机构的副行长因德米特·吉尔(Indermit Gill)在一份声明中表示。
该报告称，能源价格预计将在2022年上涨50%以上，然后在2023年和2024年有所回落。
据世界银行(World Bank)预测，小麦价格预计将上涨40%以上，给依赖小麦进口的发展中经济体带来压力，特别是从俄罗斯和乌克兰进口。
根据该报告，金属价格预计将在2022年上涨16%，然后在2023年放缓。
报告称，预计原油价格将在2022年达到平均每桶100美元，这是自2013年以来的最高水平，比2021年上涨40%以上。世界银行表示，预计油价将在2023年降至92美元，高于每桶60美元的五年平均水平。
俄罗斯天然气工业股份公司暂停向保加利亚和波兰输送天然气
波兰天然气公司PGNiG周二宣布，他们收到了俄罗斯天然气工业股份公司的通知，将从4月27日星期三开始暂停交货。
波兰拒绝用卢布支付天然气，PGNiG表示，他们准备从替代来源获得天然气供应;存储目前为80%。
“没问题，”波兰总理马特乌斯·莫拉维茨基说。
根据保加利亚能源部长亚历山大·尼科洛夫(Alexander Nikolov)的声明，俄罗斯天然气工业股份公司(Gazprom)也向保加利亚天然气公司Bulgargaz发出了类似的通知。
Morawiecki敦促其他欧盟国家，特别是德国，在俄罗斯自己决定切断他们的能源供应或设定损害经济的价格之前，停止依赖俄罗斯的能源。
参议员兰德·保罗就乌克兰战争与国务卿布林肯对峙
肯塔基州参议员兰德·保罗。在国会山，他与国务卿安东尼·布林肯就乌克兰战争进行了激烈的争论。
保罗敦促布林肯支持乌克兰加入北约，以及他所说的俄罗斯入侵的“原因”。
“我是说，受到攻击的国家，格鲁吉亚和乌克兰，自20世纪20年代以来就是苏联的一部分，”他说。
Al Drago/AP
参议员兰德·保罗在参议院外交关系委员会关于财政预算案的听证会上发言
“这并不意味着俄罗斯有权攻击他们，”布林肯说，并解释说，克里姆林宫对乌克兰加入北约的安全担忧得到了充分考虑，并做出了外交努力。
布林肯说:“用普京总统自己的话来说，非常清楚的是，这从来都不是关于乌克兰可能成为北约的一部分，而是关于他的信念，即乌克兰不应该成为一个主权独立的国家，它必须以某种形式回归俄罗斯。”。
在布林肯回答的时候，保罗插话了，否认他在论证俄国的行动是正当的。参议员接着问布林肯关于俄乌之间的会谈以及潜在的结果。
“拜登总统会接受乌克兰成为不结盟的中立国吗?”保罗问道。
“我们不会比乌克兰人更乌克兰化。这些是他们自己的决定，”布林肯说。
美国外交官短暂返回乌克兰，但大使馆仍然关闭
美国s美国国务院(State Department)周二证实，自俄罗斯入侵乌克兰以来，首次有外交官返回乌克兰，一个团队从波兰越过边境进行了一天的旅行，以会见乌克兰外交部官员。
美国国务院发言人内德·普莱斯(Ned Price)说:“代表团副团长和使馆团队成员今天前往乌克兰的利沃夫，在那里他们能够继续与乌克兰的主要合作伙伴密切合作。”
普莱斯称此举是最终重开美国驻基辅大使馆的“第一步”。
“今天的旅行是不久的将来更常规旅行的第一步。正如我们所说的，我们正在加快准备工作，尽快恢复大使馆在基辅的运作。“我们一直在评估和重新评估安全局势，以期尽快恢复大使馆的运作。”
Russia-Ukraine live updates: US diplomats briefly return to Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military earlier this month launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine's disputed Donbas region, as it attempts to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
War in Ukraine dealt a 'major shock' to commodities markets: World Bank
The World Bank issued a report on Tuesday that said the war in Ukraine dealt a major shock to commodity markets and altered global patterns of trade, production and consumption in ways that will keep prices at historically high levels through the end of 2024.
"Overall, this amounts to the largest commodity shock we’ve experienced since the 1970s," Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s vice president for equitable growth, finance and institutions, said in a statement.
The report said energy prices are expected to rise more than 50% in 2022 before easing in 2023 and 2024.
Wheat prices are forecast to increase more than 40%, putting pressure on developing economies that rely on wheat imports, especially from Russia and Ukraine, according to the World Bank.
Metal prices are projected to increase by 16% in 2022 before easing in 2023, according to the report.
Crude oil prices are expected to average $100 a barrel in 2022, its highest level since 2013 and an increase of more than 40% compared to 2021, the report said. Oil prices are expected to moderate to $92 in 2023, which is above the five-year average of $60 a barrel, the World Bank said.
Russia's Gazprom suspends gas deliveries to Bulgaria, Poland
Polish natural gas company PGNiG announced Tuesday they received a notice from Gazprom that deliveries will be suspended starting Wednesday, April 27.
Poland has refused to pay for gas in rubles and PGNiG says they are prepared to procure gas supplies from alternate sources; storage is currently at 80%.
“Not a problem,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.
Gazprom sent a similar notice to Bulgaria's natural gas company Bulgargaz, according to a statement from the country's energy minister Alexander Nikolov.
Morawiecki urged other EU countries, particularly Germany, to stop relying on Russian energy before Russia itself decides to cut them off, or sets economy-crippling prices.
Sen. Rand Paul confronts Secretary Blinken over war in Ukraine
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., had a heated back and forth with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Capitol Hill over the war in Ukraine.
Paul pushed Blinken on support for Ukraine’s possible membership in NATO and what he called "the reasons" for the Russian invasion.
"I'm saying that the countries that have been attacked, Georgia and Ukraine, were part of the Soviet Union since 1920s,” he said.
“That does not give Russia the right to attack them,” Blinken said, explaining that the Kremlin’s security concerns about Ukraine joining NATO were adequately weighed and attempts at diplomacy were made.
"It is abundantly clear, in President Putin's own words, that this was never about Ukraine, being potentially part of NATO, and it was always about his belief that Ukraine does not deserve to be a sovereign independent country that it must be reassumed into Russia in one form or another," Blinken said.
Paul interjected during Blinken’s answer, denying he was making the argument that Russia’s actions were justified. The senator then asked Blinken about talks between Russia and Ukraine and the potential outcomes.
“Would the U.S. would President Biden be open to accepting Ukraine as an unaligned neutral nation?” Paul asked.
“We're not going to be more Ukrainian than the Ukrainians. These are decisions for them to make," Blinken said.
US diplomats briefly return to Ukraine, but embassy remains closed
The United Statesreturned diplomats to Ukraine for the first time since the beginning of the Russian invasion with a team making a day trip across the border from Poland to meet Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, the State Department confirmed on Tuesday.
"The deputy chief of mission and members of the embassy team traveled to Lviv, Ukraine, today, where they were able to continue our close collaboration with key Ukrainian partners," said State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
Price called the move a "first step" toward eventually reopening the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.
"Today's travel was a first step ahead of more regular travel in the immediate future. And as we've said, we're accelerating preparations to resume Embassy Kyiv operations just as soon as possible," Price said. "We are constantly assessing and evaluating and reassessing the security situation with a view toward resuming those embassy operations as soon as possible."
