The First Lady is hosting a ceasefire meeting. At the White House. On Thursday. At 11 a.m. Eastern.
Three-way talks begin in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11. The Kremlin confirmed it. Vladimir Medinsky leads Moscow's side. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner lead America's.
The Kremlin also hopes to lock in a Trump-Putin-Xi summit within days. Ukraine's name is missing from that guest list. Zelenskyy says "Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine." Bold of him to assume the group chat includes him.
Putin's only apparent concession so far is agreeing to resume talks. That is like a landlord conceding he will pick up the phone. He still wants all of Donetsk before any ceasefire.
The Oleshky truce ran six days. It got roughly 800 civilians out. Ukraine says Russia used it to reinforce positions. So the template is set. Pause the war, move the furniture, call it diplomacy.
The last US-mediated round happened in February. Then a war with Iran interrupted it. Peace talks now have a worse attendance record than your gym membership.
Somewhere a retail trader is buying defense stocks on the word "summit." He will sell them on the word "postponed." He will tell his wife it was a hedge.
Three superpowers will decide Ukraine's future while Ukraine waits outside, holding a coat.
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