Ukrainian and Russian delegations are meeting in Belarus on Monday. But the war rages on. Ukraine sent a high-level delegation to the talks in neighboring Belarus. Expectations are low. President Volodymyr Zelensky also spoke on Monday demanding that Ukraine be immediately admitted to the European Union.
Zelensky’s office called for an “immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine” as several high-ranking Ukrainian officials headed to the talks, but he expressed little optimism that the negotiations would result in an end to the attack.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration announced more bold sanctions. The Treasury Department announced a freeze on Russian Central Bank assets, a move aimed at crippling the country’s economy.
Russia’s economy was already showing signs of severe distress before the new measures were implemented, with crowds of Russians rushing to withdraw cash from ATMs and the value of the nation’s currency plunging dramatically.
Overnight, European leaders imposed new measures that effectively cut Russia off from its financial reserves. The U.S. Treasury Department followed suit with similar steps on Monday morning. Under the new regime, all people in the United States and European Union are banned from trading with Russia’s central bank. The sanctions also apply to Russia’s finance ministry and its sovereign wealth fund, to prevent the Kremlin from using loopholes to continue to access the reserves.
Here’s the latest from the BBC on the Russian currency crashing:
Here’s coverage from Landon’s Telegraph in Moscow:
