Russia is considering downgrading the level of its diplomatic relations with the United States if Western governments go ahead with proposals to confiscate its frozen assets, state news agency RIA quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Thursday.

The G7 group of nations are looking to use nearly $300 billion worth of Russian financial assets frozen by sanctions since 2022 to help support Ukraine, which is now in its third year of fighting a Russian invasion.

How it would be done remains highly complex, however, given it would set a controversial precedent.

RUSSIA HAS GROUNDS TO SEIZE WESTERN ASSETS AFTER US LEGISLATIVE MOVE, TOP LAWMAKER SAYS

Ryabkov said Moscow would retaliate economically and politically if the assets were seized.

“Lowering the level of diplomatic relations is one of the options, of course. Many high-ranking representatives in our government have already spoken about the issues of our financial, economic and material response to this step (confiscation), which we are warning our opponents, as before, not to take,” RIA quoted him as saying.

“We are now studying the optimal form of reaction, where countermeasures include actions against the assets of our Western opponents as well as diplomatic response measures.”

He did not spell out what lowering the level of diplomatic relations might entail. The Kremlin has characterised the current state of ties with the United States as “below zero”, although no formal downgrade of relations has occurred since the Ukraine war began.

Haiti enters a new phase aimed at stemming its spiralling political and security crisis, but the future is uncertain.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned, paving the way for a transitional council to lead the embattled country.

In a letter posted to social media on Thursday, Henry said his administration had “served the nation in difficult times”. The letter was dated Wednesday.

The transitional council was officially installed on Thursday. The outgoing cabinet said that, pending the formation of a new government, Economy Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert has been appointed as interim prime minister.

An alliance of the country’s powerful gangs began a coordinated attack on the capital city of Port-au-Prince at the end of February. That coincided with Henry’s visit to Kenya in support of a United Nations-backed security force that the East African country had agreed to deploy to Haiti.

Amid the violence, Ariel agreed to resign last month and has not returned to Haiti. CBS News has reported that he has been protected by the United States Secret Service while abroad.

The nine-member transitional council, where seven members will have voting powers, is expected to help set the agenda of a new cabinet. It will also appoint a provisional electoral commission, which will be required before elections planned for 2026 can take place. They are also set to establish a national security council.

While gang leaders had called on Henry to resign, they voiced anger over their exclusion from transitional negotiations, and it remains unclear how they will respond to the new council.

For its part, the international community has urged the council to prioritise Haiti’s widespread insecurity.

Before the latest attacks began, gangs had already controlled 80 percent of Port-au-Prince. The number of Haitians killed in early 2024 increased by more than 50 percent compared with the same period last year, according to a recent United Nations report.

Meanwhile, about 360,000 Haitians remain internally displaced, with gang violence forcing 95,000 people to flee the capital and pushing five million into “acute hunger”, according to the UN.

Henry was never directly elected. Instead, he was chosen for the prime minister post by Haitian President Jovenel Moise shortly before Moise was assassinated in 2021, and came to power with the backing of the US and other Western countries.

But many rights observers have been wary about what comes next in a country that has seen decades of spiralling crises fuelled by corrupt leaders, failed state institutions, poverty, gang violence, and an international community, led by the US, whose interventions in domestic politics are widely unpopular with Haitians.

As a result, many Haitians remain wary of any foreign involvement in Haiti today, saying that it will only add to the chaos. Nevertheless, several top human rights advocates have said Haitian national police are ill-equipped to stem the violence.

For its part, Kenya had paused its plans to deploy a security force to Haiti until the transitional council took power although it remains unclear if that is still the case.

DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines and Southwest Airlines both lost money in the first quarter, and Southwest said Thursday that it will limit hiring and close operations at four airports.

Southwest expects to end this year with 2,000 fewer employees than it had at the start of the year.

Airlines are dealing with higher labor costs and delays in getting new planes from Boeing, which is limiting their ability to add more flights at a time of high demand for travel.

American said it lost $312 million as labor costs rose 18%, or nearly $600 million. The airline said it expects to return to profitability in the second quarter — a busier time for travel — and post earnings between $1.15 and $1.45 per share. Analysts expect $1.15 per share, according to FactSet.

The first-quarter loss amounted to 34 cents per share excluding special items, which was worse than the loss of 27 cents per share forecast by analysts.

Revenue was $12.57 billion.

Southwest said it lost $231 million and will limit hiring, offer voluntary time off to employees and stop flying to four airports: Cozumel, Mexico; Syracuse, New York; Bellingham, Washington; and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, where the airline’s major operation is at smaller Hobby Airport.

CEO Robert Jordan said the airline was reacting quickly “to address our financial underperformance” and cope with delayed deliveries of new planes from Boeing. The airline expects to have 802 aircraft by the end of the year, down from an earlier plan for 814 planes.

The Dallas-based airline said the loss, after excluding special items, was 36 cents per share. That was slightly worse than the loss of 34 cents per share that Wall Street expected, according to a FactSet survey.

Revenue rose to $6.33 billion, below analysts’ forecast of $6.42 billion.