[BostonCard]

Agree with the above.  On top of the fact that we had some leverage over Israel, the gulf states, and particularly Qatar (and to a degree, Egypt), had some leverage over Hamas, so each side was able to push far enough that the gap between the sides was bridgeable.  Maybe there is a way to do this with Russia and Ukraine, but my view of the Venn diagram of acceptable solutions at this time is that it is an empty set.

Apparently, China’s leader Xi called Trump to talk about Taiwan, and Trump managed to steer the conversation to Ukraine.  I doubt that even China has enough leverage over Russia to push a cease fire, but Russia is mighty economically dependent on China these days as one of the few major trading partners left.

Of course, you wonder what would happen with Taiwan if China were to be enticed to intervene to help end the Russia/Ukraine war.

BC

[BostonCard]

Agree with the above.  On top of the fact that we had some leverage over Israel, the gulf states, and particularly Qatar (and to a degree, Egypt), had some leverage over Hamas, so each side was able to push far enough that the gap between the sides was bridgeable.  Maybe there is a way to do this with Russia and Ukraine, but my view of the Venn diagram of acceptable solutions at this time is that it is an empty set.

Apparently, China’s leader Xi called Trump to talk about Taiwan, and Trump managed to steer the conversation to Ukraine.  I doubt that even China has enough leverage over Russia to push a cease fire, but Russia is mighty economically dependent on China these days as one of the few major trading partners left.

Of course, you wonder what would happen with Taiwan if China were to be enticed to intervene to help end the Russia/Ukraine war.

BC