memeorandum: POLITICO Playbook: A presidency transformed (Politico)

10:00 AM ET, February 28, 2022

Top Items:

The war in Ukraine isn't working out the way Russia intended … The war in Ukraine isn't going Russia's way. — Videos posted on social media show whole columns of tanks and armored vehicles have been wiped out. Others have been stopped in their tracks by ordinary Ukrainians standing on the street to block their advance.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Examiner, WAVY-TV, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Associated Press, Euractiv, Axios, Forbes, BBC, Daily Kos, The Signal, Bloomberg and Financial Times, more at Techmeme »

Alan Blinder / New York Times:

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.

Wall Street Journal:

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 …

Discussion: CBS News, Foreign Policy and Washington Post

Illia Ponomarenko / The Kyiv Independent:

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.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Balloon Juice, Townhall, Washington Post, BizPac Review, Raw Story, UPI, Washington Post and Vanity Fair

Washington Post:

Historic sanctions on Russia had roots in emotional appeal from Zelensky … As the leaders of the European Union gathered for an emergency summit on Thursday night, momentum was already moving toward imposing tough new sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Politico:

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 …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Associated Press:
Live updates: US official: Belarus may join Ukraine invasion

CNN:
CNN poll: Most Americans want US to do more to stop Russia, but most also oppose direct military action

Discussion: Washington Post

Wall Street Journal:
Ukraine Leads the World

Discussion: UnHerd, Making Sense …, WFLA-TV, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Current, Power Line, Comment is Freed and WAVY-TV

Max Boot / Washington Post:
Putin's war of aggression has mobilized the strongest international outrage since 9/11

Discussion: USA Today, Bloomberg, Fox News, Against the Grain and CBS News

David Meyer / New York Post:
New York to lift statewide mask mandate for schools this week

Discussion: HotAir, THE CITY, Associated Press, Fox News, Bloomberg, NBC New York, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, Townhall and Washington Examiner

U.S. Department of the Treasury:

Treasury Prohibits Transactions with Central Bank of Russia and Imposes Sanctions on Key Sources of Russia's Wealth — In Coordination with Allies and Partners, Treasury Actions Restrict Access to Billions in Central Bank Assets and Sovereign Wealth Fund — Treasury Sanctions Russian …

Discussion: OFAC, CBS News, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos, Forbes, Politico, TASS, REFORM.by, Associated Press and The White House

Bloomberg:

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 …

Discussion: The Moscow Times, Washington Post, CNBC, HotAir, Associated Press, CNBC, Voice of America, UPI, Metro.co.uk, New York Times and Instapundit

Caitlin Ostroff / Wall Street Journal:

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.

Discussion: CNN, HotAir, Washington Post, Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Talking Points Memo, Nsbb, UPI, Raw Story, Forbes, New Statesman, Edward Slavsquat, Just The News and BBC

New York Times:
The West's Plan to Isolate Putin: Undermine the Ruble

Discussion: CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, The Times of Israel, CNN, BBC, The Guardian, The Times of Israel, Pandemic Capitalism, One America News Network, Behind the Iron Curtain, The Guardian, t zero, Nsbb, Euro Weekly News Spain, lewrockwell.com, The Kyiv Independent and Japan Times

Der Bundesrat admin.ch:

Switzerland adopts EU sanctions against Russia — In view of Russia's continuing military intervention in Ukraine, the Federal Council took the decision on 28 February to adopt the packages of sanctions imposed by the EU on 23 and 25 February. The assets of the individuals and companies listed …

Discussion: Reuters, Insider, Associated Press, The Local, Live and Let's Fly and Euractiv

Stephanie Nebehay / Reuters:
Neutral Swiss poised to freeze Russian assets - president

Discussion: Euro Weekly News Spain, Associated Press, Yahoo News and Daily Kos

Elizabeth Piper / Reuters: Britain widens Russian ‘dirty money’ crackdown with new law

Melissa Eddy / New York Times:
In Foreign Policy U-turn, Germany Ups Military Spending, Arms Ukraine

Discussion: Bloomberg, Financial Times, Politico, Reuters, Berlin Takes, UPI, Website of the Federal …, Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Wall Street Journal and Euractiv

Barak Ravid / Axios:
U.S. protests Israel's refusal to back UN resolution condemning Russia

Discussion: CBS News, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, The Times of Israel and Fox News

New York Times:
War in Ukraine Forces Israel Into a Delicate Balancing Act

Discussion: Reuters, Breitbart, The Times of Israel and The Media Line

Gabriel Stargardter / Reuters:
Bolsonaro won't condemn Putin, says Brazil will remain neutral over invasion

Discussion: Bloomberg and Instapundit

John F. Harris / Politico:

Relax, Democrats, Biden's presidency isn't screwed — After Democrats got routed in the 2010 elections, a reporter asked President Barack Obama if the results were a sign that voters considered him “out of touch” with their concerns and whether he was willing to change his leadership style in response.

Discussion: New York Times

New York Times:

Climate Change's Effects Outpacing Ability to Adapt, I.P.C.C. Warns — Countries aren't doing nearly enough to protect against the disasters to come as the planet keeps heating up, a major new scientific report concludes. — The dangers of climate change are mounting so rapidly …

Discussion: Politico, Grist, CBS News, Mother Jones, UPI, Los Angeles Times, CNBC, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams, Japan Times and Financial Times

Seth Borenstein / Associated Press:
UN climate report: ‘Atlas of human suffering’ worse, bigger

Discussion: Al Jazeera and Washington Post

Manveen Rana / The Times:

Volodymyr Zelensky: Russian mercenaries ordered to kill Ukraine's president … More than 400 Russian mercenaries are operating in Kyiv with orders from the Kremlin to assassinate President Zelensky and his government and prepare the ground for Moscow to take control, The Times has learnt.

Discussion: The Times of Israel, The Kyiv Independent and emptywheel

Gal Beckerman / The Atlantic:
How Zelensky Gave the World a Jewish Hero

Discussion: Associated Press and New York Times

BBC:

BP to offload stake in Rosneft amid Ukraine conflict — BP is to offload its 19.75% stake in Russian state-owned oil firm Rosneft after Russia's “act of aggression in Ukraine”. — The oil giant had come under pressure from the UK government to make the move since Thursday's invasion.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, One America News Network, UPI, Euro Weekly News Spain, Bloomberg, Nsbb, Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, Politico, Forbes, WAVY-TV and bp global

Shannon Osaka / Grist:
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has left a hole in the global energy market

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and The Guardian

Wall Street Journal:
Car Parts, Chips, Sunflower Oil: War in Ukraine Threatens New Shortages

Discussion: Emerging World, Euromaidan Press and BBC

NBC News:

Facebook, Twitter remove disinformation accounts targeting Ukrainians — Facebook and Twitter removed two anti-Ukrainian “covert influence operations” over the weekend, one tied to Russia and another with connections to Belarus, the companies said. — One of the operations …

Discussion: CBS News, TechCrunch, The Verge, The Guardian, UPI, NPR, Lukasz Olejnik on Cyber … and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

Two members of Congress spoke at a white nationalist convention. These corporations are supporting their reelection. — Over the weekend, two members of Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), addressed a white nationalist convention.

Discussion: CBS News, Newsweek and The Racket News

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:
Romney: Marjorie Taylor Greene a ‘moron’ for speaking at white nationalist event

Discussion: Washington Post, BizPac Review, Democracy Diary, CNN, HuffPost, Deseret News, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Insider, Rolling Stone, Washington Times, Breitbart and The Hill

Washington Post:

Barr calls prospect of Trump running for president again ‘dismaying,’ says GOP should ‘look forward’ to others — Former attorney general William P. Barr says in a new book that the prospect of Donald Trump running for president again is “dismaying” and urges the Republican Party to …