The window for a diplomatic solution to Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine may be closing

WAMU 88.5 | By Rupert Allman

Published February 14, 2022 at 8:22 AM EST

ladimir Putin, President of Russia looks on during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, China.

The working week starts with a renewed push to persuade Russia not to attack Ukraine. Russians are being toldnotto believe what Moscow calls the “hype and hysteria” coming from the West.

Over the weekend, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan drew attention to he sees as grievance politics from the Kremlin:

There is a kind of bizarre quality bizarre quality to all of this where the Russians are claiming they are the ones who are under threat despite the fact that they have amassed more than 100,000 forces on the border of their neighbor. And they’ve done so not just on their own territory but on the territory of Belarus which is the country. Of course, that borders Ukraine to the north.

Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, arrived in Kyiv as part of an urgent diplomatic effort to avert a full-scale invasion. But his visit comes as Western officials fear the window for a diplomatic solution may be closing.

President Biden and President Putin spoke for an hour over the weekend. A call that resulted in what officials called “no fundamental change.”

The window for a diplomatic solution to Russia&#8217;s aggression toward Ukraine may be closing

The window for a diplomatic solution to Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine may be closing