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Since Russia’s president decided to invade Ukraine, many countries — including America — have stopped trading with them. After President Joe Biden banned the U.S. imports of Russia’s oil, McDonald’s, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks followed suit. Fans of these major corporations have asked them to boycott Russia for several days.
McDonald’s temporarily closed 850 of its fast-food restaurants in the country. The burger place employed 62,000 Russians and stated they will continue to pay their salaries. McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement, “We serve millions of Russian customers each day who count on McDonald’s. We understand the impact this will have on our Russian colleagues and partners, which is why we are prepared to support all three legs of the stool in Ukraine and Russia.”
After Coca-Cola suspended its operations in Russia they stated they will continue to watch the situation.
PepsiCo announced they were going to all its promotional, advertising, and capital investments in the country where Vladimir Putin is the president. A few of the other companies that have pulled out of the country due to invading Ukraine are:
- BP.
- Exxon.
- Shell.
- Airbus and Boeing.
- Daimler Truck.
- Visa.
- Mastercard.
- American Express.
- Apple.
- Ford Motor Company.
- Ferrari.
- Harley-Davidson.
- Mercedes-Benz.
- Toyota.
- Renault.
- Volkswagen.
- Volvo.
- Adidas.
- Puma.
- Nike.
- Airbnb.
- Budvar
- Disney.
- Carlsberg.
- Estée Lauder.
- Ikea.
- H&M.
- Richemont.
- Swatch Group.
Many other companies and multinational firms have stopped working with the country to boycott the actions Putin has taken. Two million Ukrainian refugees and over 1,000 civilian casualties have occurred so far, according to the United Nations.
Americans were warned by Biden that gas prices as well as other products may begin to rise in cost. “Putin’s war is already hurting American families at the gas pump since Putin began his military buildup on Ukrainian borders. And with this action, it’s going to go up further. I’m going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike here at home and coordination with our partners,” President Biden stated during a press conference.
Many protests have erupted over the war in Ukraine. Families have been ripped apart as Ukrainians flee for their lives. People all over the world fear that Putin’s war may become the start of World War III.
Written by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
The Hill: Could the Ukraine war devolve into an EMP apocalypse for America?
Yahoo!: McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola join corporate America’s exit from Russia; by Alexandra Semenova
Fox: Biden announces ban on US imports of Russian oil, warns gas prices will ‘go up further’; by Brooke Singman
CBS News: These are the corporations that have pulled out of Russia since its invasion of Ukraine
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Inline Image Courtesy of girlwparasol’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License