Ukraine’s finance minister calls for immediate Ten billion financial support to cover the huge fiscal deficit caused by the Russian invasion.

Government spending exceeded revenue by about $2.7 billion in March, and Ukraine expects the gap to widen to $5 billion to $7 billion a month in April and May due to the war. Ukraine’s GDP in 2021 is $164 billion.

“We’re under enormous pressure and at worst [financial] conditions,” Sergii Marchenko said in an interview with the Financial Times. “It is now a matter of our country’s survival. “

Meanwhile, there are signs that Russia is coming major new offensive U.S. defense officials reported that troops withdrawn from Kyiv and surrounding areas were receiving supplies and reinforcements from the Kremlin for redeployment in the Donbas region.

Despite reports by Ukrainian officials that Russian bombing of the region has escalated — including last week’s attack on the Kramatorsk train station that killed more than 50 civilians — a senior Pentagon official said the U.S. does not believe “ A new attack has begun.”

Ukrainian and Russian troops head in the other direction as civilians flee as they meet in Donbass Possibly the bloodiest fight A war that has entered its seventh week.

More from Ukraine:

• vitality: US President Joe Biden discusses India buys energy from Russia Along with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Washington urged New Delhi to take a tougher stance against Russia in the Ukraine war.

• Austria: Prime Minister Karl Nehamer says he has “No positive impression” His talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin came after a final trip to Moscow yesterday to try to broker the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

• banking: Societe Generale will take 3.1 billion euro hit Exited Russia after agreeing to sell Rosbank to an investment firm founded by billionaire Vladimir Potanin.

• Save Kyiv: ukrainian army won the battle Serving the country’s capital with low-tech equipment, such as fitness mats that block thermal imaging, and Russian mistakes, including failing to destroy Kyiv’s air defenses.

• The formation of a dictator: During a 2003 visit to New York, Vladimir Putin pitched investors as an economic reformer willing to engage with Western capitalists. But power and success changed him, Ruchir Sharma wrote.

Thank you for reading FirstFT Asia. Have feedback on today’s newsletter?send to [email protected] —Emily.

Five more stories in the news

1. Shanghai announces limited relaxation of coronavirus lockdown measures city ??of yesterday Announcement of limited easing plan Its strict coronavirus lockdown comes as economic and social pressures mount. China’s financial and industrial center will classify compounds into three risk categories, and thousands will be lifted from lockdown if no cases are reported for two weeks.

2. Elon Musk reverses Twitter board decision Tesla boss Elon Musk Won’t be on Twitter’s board, reversed course just days after he became its largest shareholder and took the seat. Musk, who was due to be officially named to the board on Saturday, will no longer do so, the social media company’s chief executive Parag Agrawal said on Twitter. Agrawal did not provide further details.

3. Pakistan parliament appoints new prime minister Pakistani lawmakers vote to appoint opposition leader Shebaz Sharif as Prime Ministerless than 48 hours after Imran Khan lost his prime ministership in a vote of no confidence earlier Sunday.

4. China approves new online games for the first time in nearly a year Chinese regulators have Approved new online games For the first time in nine months, the government is easing a crackdown on a previously brisk industry.

5. Macron and Le Pen start final sprint in France runoff Emmanuel Macron has started Crazy search for working-class votes to secure victory over far-right rival Marine Le Pen in the second and final round of presidential elections on April 24.

• View: We need to consider a Le Pen presidency, Gideon Rahman writes. France’s far-right candidate could still defeat Macron, throwing NATO and the EU into turmoil.

the day ahead

Indian economic data Industrial production data for February and consumer price index data for March are due.

space day Today is the 61st anniversary Yuri Gagarin The first manned space flight took place on April 12, 1961.

EU Equal Pay Day Today is the day of the year women need to work earn the same salary as a man throughout the year

What are we still reading and listening to

Chinese companies try to buy strategic islands Small businesses from China are already looking for important land around the world.in dozens of cases Reviewed by the Financial Timesmost of the little-known Chinese investors offered long-term leases or tried to buy large parcels of land, often in sensitive areas.

Tech Tonic: Chips and Everything On this week’s podcast episode, we have Learn more about the semiconductor industry And Taiwan’s unique position as a bastion of computer chip talent. Financial Times global China editor James Kynge examines the unintended consequences of the battle for semiconductor dominance.

FT interviews the mayor of Seoul Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon acknowledged that South Korea’s reputation for opaque and heavy-handed regulation has hampered the city’s ability to attract businesses and investors out of Hong Kong. Read the full interview here.

Sibling rivalry, spousal squabbles – it’s nice to be back at the office As the saying goes, you can choose your friends, but not your family. The same goes for work. unless you own the company, You rarely get to choose your colleagueswrites Emma Jacobs.

India just signed a trade deal – really India signed a trade deal. This is not a drill. repeat: India signs trade deal, Alan Beattie wrote in his trade secret correspondence that this was not a drill. OK, so the deal with Australia is only a tentative deal, but the preferential deal with a developed economy is the first of its kind for India in over a decade.

your feedback

Thanks to readers who responded to their thoughts John Lee Run for election to replace Carrie Lam as the next Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Here’s what two FirstFT Asia readers in Hong Kong had to say. (Both wish to remain anonymous for security reasons.)

“The celebration of getting rid of Carrie Lam was very short-lived when people saw who would be the replacement. It’s also worth noting that almost everyone I spoke to in the international community said it would be an accelerator for them to leave Hong Kong. ”

“As a long-term resident of Hong Kong, I am not surprised by this development. It is part of the ‘long-term’ takeover of Hong Kong by the Chinese Communist Party. The party has kept the incompetent Carrie Lam in power and reduced one of the world’s greatest cities to a laughing stock .”