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• Global Leaders Convene in Switzerland to Forge a Path for Peace in Ukraine

  This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

  The upcoming summit is important because it is really the first attempt of multilateral negotiations dealing with the problems of Ukraine and this war. So no one has really been willing to take the step forward to, to organize negotiations. So this is, on the surface, is important in and of itself. 

  Zelensky put forward several objectives, including food aid, the return of hostages and several other things as well. But again, this is a moving target going forward. And despite Zelensky's objectives, there have been changes that are not favorable for Zelensky or Ukraine. To begin with, there is now a strong probability that the United States and the EU will use the assets that are in Western banks to help with the reconstruction of Ukraine. And this will cause tremendous problems going forward with any future negotiations, because essentially, Russia would have ask that that type of change get rolled back before any large scale negotiation takes place. 

  Second major development leading up to the summit is the new sanctions that have been imposed both by the US and by the EU, and these sanctions have had an immediate effect. Most notably, the Moscow Stock Exchange has decreased by about 15%, and the exchange will no longer be using dollars or euros in any transactions. So the Russian economy has also taken a big hit in the run up to this summit.