The Russian’s lose ground around the bommbed key city of Kyiv and have gone on the offense in some places in the South of the Ukraine….
The Russian military looking worst everyday….
And they keep shooting from a distance at leveling more of the Ukraine…
President Biden goes to Europe…..
The Ukrainan President keeps up his pressure on the West to provide his forces with more support….
While there have been reports of talks between both countries…
Zelensky has been clear that the Ukraine will not surrender and still seeks ties to NATO and the EU….
(He won’t get the NATO sign-up)
The linked piece below gives four possible deal avenue’s…
But the whole thing relies on Putin’s state of mind really….
In reality?
The fighting WILL stop sooner or later…
At what cost to the Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilian population and the Russian President’s global loss of status and hurt to his countries economy?
And the Eastern European countries will be looking to send the refugee’s back home….
President Biden, who will travel to Belgium and Poland this week, cautioned that Russia’s tactics may get even more aggressive, as heavy air and artillery bombardments continued to pummel several Ukrainian cities, destroying infrastructure and terrorizing civilians. Biden warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine but did not provide evidence, and he confirmed that Russia has used hypersonic missiles — which travel faster than five times the speed of sound — in a move he suggested was to compensate for Moscow’s stalled ground campaign.
Russia’s invasion — which has forced nearly one in four Ukrainians from their homes — has left some cities bombarded beyond recognition, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday. He asked Pope Francis in a call Tuesday to take a “mediating role” in talks with Russia, although Zelensky has insisted that any compromises to end the invasion be approved by Ukrainians in a national referendum.
Here’s what to know
What a Russia-Ukraine peace deal might look like
Suspicion abounds over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions, with considerable fears that a Russian diplomatic opening is a ruse to buy time to gather reinforcements for a second-phase assault. Putin is certainly not talking like a man of peace. This week, he called Russians who opposed the invasion “traitors” and “scum,” while seeking to portray the war as nothing short of a struggle for Russia’s survival.
But with the tenacious Ukrainian resistance exceeding expectations in the face of a far superior Russian force — and with Western sanctions slamming the Russian economy — there’s a chance the new battleground calculus has the Kremlin fishing for a consolation prize. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke this week of “hope for reaching a compromise.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address that the Russians are being “more realistic” at the negotiating table.
With the two sides far apart, what could a deal look like?
1. Neutrality: For Russia, an insistence on Ukraine’s neutrality is probably the most important demand. The war is rooted in Ukraine’s desire to join the West, aspiring to prosperity and self-determination through memberships in NATO and the European Union. A thriving democracy on Russia’s border linked to the West — especially one filled with as many Russian speakers as Ukraine has — could serve as a tempting model for the Russian people, endangering Putin’s autocratic grip. Publicly, though, Putin claims that Kyiv’s lurch toward the West amounts to a security threat for Moscow, even though Washington and its allies have put Ukrainian membership in those clubs on the slow track…..
(3 more in this linked piece)
….
The prospect of any peace deal is predicated on Putin understanding that he has bit off more than he can chew, and that’s a really big if right now. Some have argued that he would even turn to low-grade nuclear weapons before risking defeat in Ukraine.
John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, told me he’s skeptical, noting that while Lavrov has suggested an opening, Putin has not. But he doesn’t rule out a deal, especially if the Russians are pushed to their limits on the battlefield, and if the West maintains resolve on sanctions and ups the ante on military equipment for Ukraine.
“It boils down to this, Putin still thinks that this is an invasion he can somehow win on the battlefield,” Herbst said. “If he is ever able to reach the point where he understands that’s not possible, then maybe they begin to negotiate seriously.”….
Covering up how bad your Army is doing….
Bloomberg
@business
Russia expands laws against “fake” news about the military’s operations to cover all state agencies, a major escalation of the crackdown on media coverage of the war in Ukraine
China ain’t worried about Russia and the Ukraine…
They have their own problems…
Bloomberg
@business
China imposed its fifth lockdown over about the past two weeks to stamp out a rise in Covid cases. Here’s the latest news on the pandemic