Global markets have started to react in the wake of Russia’s announcement of what it termed “a special military operation in Ukraine.”
Asian stock markets are between one and 3% lower in early trade, with Australian markets more than 3% lower in afternoon trade.
US stock market futures are currently around two-and-a-half percent lower and European markets are seen down by around 2%.
This, as one of the worst post-Cold War security crises in Europe for decades.
In South Africa the JSE is expected to likely follow the global negative market sentiment.
The rand also has weakened by more than 1% on Thursday morning, trading at R15.26 against the dollar. The rand closed below R15 to the dollar on Wednesday, following a mostly positive national budget.
Clear disdain
Meanwhile, at the United Nations in New York, most members of the Security Council have described Russia’s action as a clear disdain for the UN Charter and international law.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed directly during the meeting to president Putin to give peace a chance, a call roundly ignored when reports of explosions in Kyiv were first reported.
Guterres later called it the saddest moment in his tenure as Sectretay-General as he called on the Russian leader to order his troops home “in the name of humanity”.
President Joe Biden will speak on Thursday with G7 leaders before announcing additional “consequences” that the US and its partners will impose on Russia.
Ukraine’s Ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, rebuked his Russian counterpart Vassily Nebenzia saying: “there is no purgatory for war criminals, they go straight to hell”.