Putin-Trump summit brings Ukraine ceasefire closer

Negotiations about achieving peace in Ukraine have been upended. Unless there is a last-minute problem, Russian President Vladimir Putin will next week meet his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to discuss a plan to freeze the conflict. With Putin likely to demand guarantees that NATO will not expand, any deal is unlikely to please Ukraine or Europe. But the planned meeting has changed the dynamics of peace talks that have dragged on for months. On Friday evening, even skeptics had begun to believe in the possibility of a “fragile peace.”

As a result of this week's extraordinary events we decided to focus this newsletter on political developments. Our Monday newsletter will address economics, covering the U.S. sanctions that are due to be announced on Friday night.