Russia : Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine concluded on Monday without a breakthrough as explosions were reported in Ukraine’s second-largest city and near Kyiv.
The punitive response to Russia’s attacks has been unrelenting. The United States announced Monday morning it would ban all American businesses from dealing with Russia’s central banks, as well as freezing the assets of a Putin associate. In a historic break from its neutral status, Switzerland announced it would also sanction Russia.
Those sanctions were felt across Russia on Monday, as the value of the ruble went into freefall and Moscow’s central bank raised interest rates from 9.5 percent to 20 percent to protect people’s savings.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told he supports the Biden administration’s decision not to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
“It would invariably require our aircraft to come into contact with Russian aircraft. The possibility of miscalculation or deliberate confrontation would be very serious,” Reed said on Monday.
“The other steps the administration is taking — and the incredible fighting skills of the Ukrainians — have made it something where [Russians] don’t have as dominant air superiority as one would thing,” he said. “And just yesterday, the Germans announced that they were sending several hundred Stinger missiles. And Ukrainians do have an air defense system.”
Earlier on Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended Biden’s opposition to a no-fly zone.
“What that’d require is implementation by the U.S. military. It would essentially mean the U.S. military would be shooting down planes, Russian planes. That is definitely escalatory. That would potentially put us into a place where we’re in a military conflict with Russia,” Psaki said in an interview on MSNBC. “That is not something the president wants to do.”
