Now Is the Moment to Pressure Putin, Not Appease Him

Bloomberg

3 days ago

From Istanbul to the Vatican to the Oval Office, everyone seems to want peace in Ukraine — except Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin says it prefers to end the brutal war it launched in 2022 through 'political and diplomatic means,' but that's like a pickpocket claiming to prefer charity: The bluff only works if others fall for it. Ukraine's Western allies shouldn't.
Putin's actions hardly suggest he is looking to end the fighting. A two-hour call with the White House last week yielded only vague promises from the Russian president — followed by several days of some of the fiercest drone and missile strikes against Ukraine since the war began. Meanwhile, Russia's summer offensive seems to have begun. Satellite images suggest it is also improving its positions along the border of Finland, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and tightening its military integration with ally Belarus.