POLITICO Playbook: A presidency transformed  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  DAY FIVE — The latest on the ground in Ukraine, via the NYT's blog-style running updates: “With a three-mile-long convoy of Russian military vehicles pressing down on Kyiv, a Ukrainian delegation arrived at the border …

Putin Finds Himself Isolated, Out of Touch as Invasion of Ukraine Sputters  —  Russia's leader is peddling an alternative narrative to suit his needs, and his behavior is making his inner circle appear uncomfortable  —  With much of the world moving against him, economic sanctions piling …

Ukraine and Russia Meet as Kyiv Remains in Cross Hairs  —  The Treasury Department announced a freeze on Russian Central Bank assets.  Delegations from Kyiv and Moscow were meeting for talks in Belarus, even as Ukraine said dozens were killed in a Russian rocket attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city.

Russia's Economy Staggers Under Pressure  —  A Ukrainian delegation arrived at the Belarus border for talks with Russia, but President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed little optimism that they would end the fighting.  Russia showed little sign of de-escalating even as its economy staggered under sanctions, sending the ruble plummeting.

Sources: Belarus to join Russia's war on Ukraine within hours  —  As Russia fails to inflict quick defeat upon Ukraine after four days of fierce hostilities, Vladimir Putin is about to pull his Belarusian ally, dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko into his war of occupation.

Putin Declares a Nuclear Alert, and Biden Seeks De-escalation  —  When the Russian leader ordered his nuclear forces into “special combat readiness,” the U.S. could have gone on high alert.  Instead, the administration tried not to inflame him.  —  WASHINGTON — When Vladimir V. Putin declared Sunday …

Russia's Ruble, Financial Markets Are Hammered by Sanctions  —  Central bank doubles interest rates to protect the banking system as the ruble plunges  —  Powerful Western sanctions rocked Russia's financial system and triggered a spiral in the ruble, drawing the central bank into an emergency doubling of interest rates.

U.S. Bans Transactions With Russian Central Bank, Wealth Fund  —  President Joe Biden's administration on Monday banned U.S. people and companies from doing business with the Bank of Russia, the Russian National Wealth Fund and the Ministry of Finance.  —  The moves by the U.S. Treasury's Office …

UN climate report: ‘Atlas of human suffering’ worse, bigger  —  Deadly with extreme weather now, climate change is about to get so much worse.  It is likely going to make the world sicker, hungrier, poorer, gloomier and way more dangerous in the next 18 years with an “unavoidable” …