Diplomacy
Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and the UN signed a deal to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports. An advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the contours in a tweet thread.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Zelenskyy remained resolute against ceding any territory to Russia as part of a ceasefire.
Sanctions
Treasury Department official Wally Adeyemo said he sees a price cap on Russian oil in place by December.
Consequences
The Russian Central Bank cut its key rate by 150 basis points to 8%.
Ukraine Sitrep
The U.S. announced $270 million in additional security assistance for Ukraine, including four more HIMARS rocket systems. However, it is continuing to hold off on sending Ukraine long-range armed drones for fear that they’ll be captured by Russia. The Pentagon also said it has had “preliminary explorations” about sending fighter jets, but there are still a lot of complexities to work out.
The Pentagon believes that Ukraine has taken out 100 “high-value” Russian targets and that Russia has deployed nearly 85% of its total military to the war in Ukraine.
The UK assesses that Russia is using air defense missiles for ground attacks because missiles are running short.
The Senate will receive a classified briefing on Ukraine next Wednesday at 3:45 pm.