Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The latest on the ground in Ukraine: “Ukraine on Monday dismissed Russia’s promise to allow its citizens to travel safely on designated routes to Russia or its close ally Belarus, with one Ukrainian official calling it propaganda and not driven by humanitarian concerns.”
* Longshot diplomacy: “A third round of negotiations between the Russian and the Ukrainian delegations began at 9 a.m. ET Monday. In a tweeted video, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said his delegation will ‘start talking to representatives of a country that seriously believes that massive violence against civilians is an argument.’”
* The prospect of war-crimes charges: “The U.S. is ‘collecting evidence of possible war crimes, human rights abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law’ committed by Russia, a National Security Council spokesperson said Monday. ‘We will support accountability using every tool available, including criminal prosecutions where appropriate.’”
* A policy debate that’s moved quickly: “The leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee announced Monday that they had struck a bipartisan deal to pass legislation that would ban the import of energy products from Russia. Whether President Joe Biden, who has not committed to a ban on Russian oil, would sign the legislation remains unknown.”
* A fascinating Reuters report: “A growing number of Russians and Ukrainians are traveling to Mexico, buying throwaway cars and driving across the border into the United States to seek asylum, a trend that could accelerate as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced more than a million people to flee their homes.”
* Today’s school shooting: “Des Moines Police say multiple people have been shot outside of East High School on Monday afternoon. The Des Moines Register is working to confirm further details. The shooting appears to have occurred outside of the building, but on school grounds.”
* A major break with Tokyo’s usual approach: “Japan this week announced it would accept refugees from Ukraine and send bulletproof vests to Kyiv — extraordinary measures taken by a country that has historically been unwelcoming to refugees and also has a self-imposed arms exports ban because of its militaristic past.” * This probably won’t generate a lot of attention, but it’s important: “The recent narrative is that there is a tight labor market that gives workers leverage. But a new report from the Biden administration argues that the deck is still stacked against workers, reducing their ability to move from one employer to another and hurting their pay. The report, released Monday by the Treasury Department, contends that employers often face little competition for their workers, allowing them to pay substantially less than they would otherwise.” * Florida’s Marco Rubio and Montana’s Steve Daines really should’ve known better: “Two Republican senators are facing criticism after tweeting photos of a video call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy even though participating lawmakers were told to not share pictures on social media while it was in progress.” 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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