Washington is putting all options on the table in determining its response to Russia’s continued military build-up near Ukraine, a senior US official said on Friday.
US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Karen Donfried said the US is consulting with its European allies on the next moves in responding to Russia’s military escalation.
“All options are on the table. And there's a toolkit that includes a whole range of options,” Ms Donfried said in a call with reporters.
“What we're doing now is monitoring the region closely, consulting with our allies and partners on how do we deter Russian action.”
Russia has amassed thousands of troops and artillery on the Ukrainian border in recent weeks, sparking US and European concerns of a possible invasion.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is travelling to Latvia and Sweden next week to attend the Nato Foreign Ministerial and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Ministerial Council.
Russia’s military manoeuvres and threats to Ukraine will be high on both meetings’ agendas, the US official said.
“The reason we take those kinds of unusual manoeuvres seriously is because we all remember what happened in 2014. We saw Russia illegally annex part of Ukraine's sovereign territory when it occupied Crimea. And since then, we have seen ongoing violence in eastern Ukraine,” Ms Donfried said.
Asked if the US is willing to increase its military presence in Europe and in countries like Poland to deter Russia, the senior US official said the issue is being evaluated.
“We will continue to revisit and evaluate how we are postured on the eastern borders [of Ukraine].”
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov last week at the Pentagon.
“Our support for Ukraine's self-defence, sovereignty and territorial integrity is unwavering,” he said, without indicating the nature of that support or how the US would react if Russia invades Ukraine.
The New York Times reported last week that US intelligence officials had warned their European allies that there is a short window of time to prevent Russia from taking military action in Ukraine.
It quoted US and British officials as saying they are “increasingly convinced that President Vladimir Putin of Russia is considering military action to take control of a larger swath of Ukraine".
The US is encouraging European countries to work together to develop a package of economic and military measures such as sanctions and military deployments to deter Moscow.
In remembrance of Holomodor, the man-made famine in Ukraine orchestrated by the Soviet Union, President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that the US “reaffirms our commitment to the people of Ukraine today and our unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine".
Also known as the Terror Famine, Holomodor resulted in the deaths of millions of Ukrainians in 1932 to 1933, when Joseph Stalin's government seized food, cut off aid and closed borders.
Mr Putin on November 24 told European Council President Charles Michel that he was concerned by Ukraine's “provocations” to inflate tension in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin said.
The Russian president “expressed concern in connection with continuing provocations of the Ukrainian side aimed at exacerbating the situation on the line of contact".
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Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
'The Sky is Everywhere'
Director:Josephine Decker
Stars:Grace Kaufman, Pico Alexander, Jacques Colimon
Rating:2/5
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
Golden Shoe top five (as of March 1):
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Edinson Cavani, PSG, Ligue 1, 24 goals, 48 points
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Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Premier League, 23 goals, 46 points
Lionel Messi, Barcelona, La Liga, 22 goals, 44 points
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To help you get started, tune into these Pocketful of Dirham episodes
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Balance is essential to happiness, health and wealth
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What is a portfolio stress test?
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What are NFTs and why are auction houses interested?
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How gamers are getting rich by earning cryptocurrencies
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Should you buy or rent a home in the UAE?
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Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
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UAE rugby in numbers
5 - Year sponsorship deal between Hesco and Jebel Ali Dragons
700 - Dubai Hurricanes had more than 700 playing members last season between their mini and youth, men's and women's teams
Dh600,000 - Dubai Exiles' budget for pitch and court hire next season, for their rugby, netball and cricket teams
Dh1.8m - Dubai Hurricanes' overall budget for next season
Dh2.8m - Dubai Exiles’ overall budget for next season
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Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
