An Update on Russia & Ukraine

🇺🇦 The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv yesterday, where the mayor instituted a 36-hour curfew as Russian shelling continues to hit the city.

• Delegations from Ukraine and Russia resumed peace negotiations that had been cut off prematurely the night before, but both sides failed to make any tangible progress.
• Fox News photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova were killed in Ukraine yesterday in the same attack that hospitalized Fox correspondent Benjamin Hall, according to the network.
• Over 3 million refugees have now fled Ukraine, according to the UN (☝️). That’s nearly 7% of the country’s entire population.
• President Biden signed into law a $1.5 trillion government spending bill yesterday that provides $13.6 billion in military, humanitarian and economic aid for Ukraine.

How the invasion is impacting…

🌎 International Relations: Russia sanctioned senior officials from the US and Canada yesterday, banning President Biden, former Sec. of State Hilary Clinton, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and others from entering the country.

• The White House announced that President Biden will meet with the European Council and other NATO leaders in Belgium next week to address the Ukraine situation.

📈📉 Markets: Oil declined more than 6% yesterday to close below $100 per barrel, while US stocks jumped across the board. (Dow: +1.8%| S&P: +2.1% | Nasdaq: +2.9%)