UKRAINE LATEST – OVERNIGHT:  Nothing much has changed.  The world waits for a Russian invasion of Ukraine, which President Biden appears to believe is imminent.  Many reports say that Russian troops are moving into an attack mode.  And yet, this crisis reminds me of screenwriter William Goldman's observation about Hollywood:  "Nobody knows anything."  We still don't know what is in Russian President Putin's mind.  What we're getting is a truckload of informed speculation.  From the Jerusalem Post: 

Multiple explosions were heard on Sunday in the center of the separatist-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, a Reuters witness said.

A loudspeaker in the area asked citizens to exercise caution. The origin of the explosions was not clear. 

According to an official statement by the Donetsk People's Republic Militia, Ukraine has opened fire 82 times on the territory of rebel-controlled areas with the use of mortars and artillery cannons.

This comes just days after artillery shelling was heard near Donetsk airport and Elenovka, a village in the Donetsk province.

Fueling Russia-West tensions over Ukraine, the rebels and Ukrainian government forces accused each other of violating ceasefire agreements on Thursday and using heavy weaponry including mortars and artillery.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet him for talks to deescalate tensions as rumors of an impending invasion continue to grow, the Associated Press reported.

COMMENT:   American Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday. 

One effect of the Ukrainian crisis has been to divert attention from the rapidly concluding Iran nuclear talks, being held in Vienna.  The White House is expressing guarded optimism that an agreement with Iran is close, but is also saying that the talks must end within a matter of days, that Iran must make some decisions.  Again, nobody knows anything.  However, cautionary voices are now being heard from Congress, saying that the proposed agreement is awful, even worse than the original 2015 Iran nuclear deal.  Three members of the American negotiating team have already resigned, apparently in protest over Washington's concessions.

Nothing would shock me about the outcome of the Iran talks.  The U.S. negotiators are led by super-appeaser Robert Malley, who performed the same function for Barack Obama.  The result was that awful 2015 deal, which President Obama couldn't submit to the Senate as a treaty because it had so little support.  He made it an executive agreement.  We may see the same movie again, if anyone knows anything.

February 19,  2022