US tightens Russia clamp in trade move

House vote paves way for higher tariffs; China envoy stresses humanitarian need

The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday to suspend normal trade relations with Russia, moving to further penalize the country's economy by paving the way to higher tariffs on Russian goods.

The vote came after President Joe Biden announced this month that the United States and its European allies would take new steps to isolate Russia from the global trading system.

The bill, which will next be headed to the Senate, suspends normal trade relations with Belarus in addition to Russia.

The bill's approval would allow the US to impose higher tariffs on Russian goods, and includes a ban on Russian oil and gas products and a $13.6 billion military and humanitarian aid package.

The bill came as Russian troops continued their military activities in Ukraine's western city of Lviv.

Russia launched six missiles toward Lviv on Friday, according to the Ukrainian armed forces.

The projectiles were most likely cruise missiles fired from warplanes over the Black Sea, while two of the missiles were intercepted by air defense systems, the Ukrainian forces said in a statement on Facebook.

Several missiles hit an aircraft repair plant in the city on Friday, destroying the building, said Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy, adding that there were no casualties from the strike.

An explosion was also heard and smoke was seen in the northern part of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday morning. There is no official information from the Russian military about the attacks contained in Ukraine's statement.

In another development, the Russian embassy in Washington on Friday requested that the US disclose information about its military biological activity in laboratories in Ukraine.

The US spent $32 million on the projects, the embassy said.

The embassy's statement echoed the chief of Russia's radiation, chemical and biological protection force Igor Kirillov, who said in a briefing on Thursday that the Russian army has obtained documentary evidence confirming the Pentagon was financing military-biological projects in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, China's ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday reiterated that Beijing remains committed to promoting peace through negotiations and called on the UN and all concerned parties to help ease the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, told a Security Council briefing on the refugee issue in Ukraine that China is deeply worried about the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine and saddened by the reported increase in civilian casualties and refugees.

"The pressing task now is to call for maximum restraint from all parties and to ensure the safety and security of all civilians, including women and children, and meet their basic humanitarian needs, so as to prevent the occurrence of a larger scale humanitarian crisis,"Zhang said.

"China supports the work by the relevant parties in maintaining communication, ensuring safe and unimpeded humanitarian corridors and further facilitating personnel evacuation and humanitarian assistance."

Zhang said that the Red Cross Society of China has provided Ukraine with three batches of humanitarian supplies, with the third one containing milk powder and quilts for children, specifically helping the Red Cross Society of Ukraine assist displaced children affected by the conflict.

Zhang noticed that in the recent past, some people of African or Middle East descent encountered difficulties during evacuations.

"This should be taken seriously and addressed properly. All refugees, regardless of color, race or religion, shall be accorded the necessary protection under international refugee law."

The ambassador stressed that the Security Council bears the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security and should therefore "play a positive role in easing the humanitarian situation in Ukraine".

The international community shares the common wish for a ceasefire at an early date to alleviate the situation on the ground and prevent civilian casualties, he said. "This is also the expectation of China,"Zhang said.

"We support the UN and the parties concerned in vigorously carrying out good offices. We also hope that all parties will do more to facilitate peace talks and not add fuel to the fire. Facts have proved that wanton use of sanctions will not solve any problem, but will instead create new problems."