No. of Recommendations: 3
Now the ball is in Putin's court.
Not only did the Ukrainians agree to the notion of a cease-fire, they signed the mineral deal. US aid and intel sharing is back on.
In other words, the west is now on the same page.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-ceasefire-rus..."Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation," the U.S. and Ukraine said in a joint statement released by the State Department. "The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace."
The agreement came after more than eight hours of negotiations between Ukrainian officials and a U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Saudi city of Jeddah.*All* the onus is on Putin now. If he wants to keep fighting in the face of a peace proposal, all his claims of the Ukraine somehow initiating things are off the table. The US is free to explore UN resolutions that the Russians can veto but will take PR hits.
And sanctions that will have a real bite are now on the table.
Like these:
https://x.com/zriboua/status/1898016746730098964/p...Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely "pounding" Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strong considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED. To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!In response to this, Putin launched several airstrikes on infrastructure and first responders. All right, Ivan. Nice banking system you have there.
With the Ukrainians willing to come to the table, now the West can put real pressure on the Russians to back down. What's been done so far hasn't done anything:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden...WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced more than 500 sanctions on Russia on Friday over its war in Ukraine and the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny last week in prison — the largest tranche since the conflict began, the administration said.Time to tell Europe they can get a sweetheart deal on liquid natural gas from us in exchange for zeroing out what they buy from Russia. Also time to start hampering their ability to move their money around. We did this back in 2022:
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy06...United States Acts in Tandem with Partners and Allies to Maximize Consequences for Russia, and in Show of Unity Against Invasion of a Sovereign State
Top Ten Russian Financial Institutions Now Under U.S Restrictions; U.S. Ready to Impose Additional Major Costs...because it clearly didn't go far enough.
