Today’s edition of quick hits:
* No end in sight: “Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces pummeled Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine on Monday as representatives from both countries met for a fourth round of talks since the invasion started nearly three weeks ago.”
* On a related note: “There are three separate back-channel efforts underway to start negotiations — by the leaders of France; Israel and Turkey; and, in a recent entree, the new chancellor of Germany. But so far, all have hit the stone wall of President Vladimir V. Putin’s refusal to engage in any serious negotiation.”
* So many heartbreaking tragedies: “A pregnant woman pictured being carried from a Ukrainian maternity hospital after it was badly shelled by Russian forces has died along with her unborn baby, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday.”
* Moves like these are likely to affect foreign investment in Russia for a long time: “Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing Russian airlines to keep foreign aircraft for use on domestic flights, according to state news agency TASS.”
* Beijing pushed back against this, but U.S. intelligence has been quite reliable of late on Russia’s moves: “A U.S. official said Russia asked China for military equipment to use in its invasion of Ukraine, a request that heightened tensions about the ongoing war ahead of a Monday meeting in Rome between top aides for the U.S. and Chinese governments.”
* Quite a reversal: “Deutsche Bank said Friday that it was winding down its operations in Russia, one day after its chief financial officer said it wasn’t ‘practical’ to shutter the unit.” * The latest in a series of missteps from Florida Republicans: “In the nine months since 98 people died in the collapse of a Surfside, Florida, condominium, state lawmakers have pledged to pass measures that could help avoid a similar disaster. On Friday, they failed.” * An examination along these lines seems warranted: “A group of House Democrats called Monday for an investigation into a decision by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to purchase up to 165,000 gasoline-powered mail trucks over the Biden administration’s objections that the multibillion-dollar contract would undermine the nation’s climate goals.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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