Considering how successful diplomatic "solutions" to the Ukraine crisis have been in the past, it is no wonder almost nobody was paying attention to Geneva where today the four parties were holding talks to resolve the Ukraine situation, and moments ago they released, via Russia's Lavrov, a joint statement on "de-escalating the situation." From Bloomberg:
- LAVROV SAYS DOCUMENT APPROVED ON UKRAINE
- LAVROV SAYS DOCUMENT ON INITIAL STEPS TO DE-ESCALATE SITUATION
- 4 PARTIES CALL FOR ILLEGAL ARMED GROUPS TO BE DISARMED: LAVROV
- UKRAINIANS MUST RESOLVE CRISIS THEMSELVES, LAVROV SAYS
- PARTIES URGE WIDE-RANGING NATIONAL DIALOG IN UKRAINE: LAVROV
- PARTIES URGE AMNESTY FOR PROTESTERS IN UKRAINE'S EAST: LAVROV
- UKRAINE NEEDS TO BOLSTER STATUS OF RUSSIAN LANGUAGE: LAVROV
And, approrpiately enough, the Easter Egg:
- UKRAINE NEEDS DECENTRALIZATION, MORE REGIONAL POWERS: LAVROV
In other words, more referendums? For now stocks aren't reacting exactly bullishly (perhaps because as UBS recently suggested, with a straight face, "war may be bullish for US stocks"), however, oil is lower on the news.
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We wonder how long until this too "diplomatic" solution is promptly ignored and forgotten: days or hours?
The Lavrov conference is here: