A brutal year

If the sniping at the UN Security Council Friday was any sign of what’s to come in a second year of Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine, then the prospects for peace arguably seem dim. On the anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s botched attempt to take his neighbor by blitzkrieg, Russia’s representative in New York even objected to a few moments of silence for the tens of thousands of Ukrainians Putin’s forces have killed over the past year.

It was a meeting meant to push for peace, but it quickly devolved into anything but. “You are turning the council into your own instrument,” Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said of the US and its allies moments into the session. Nebenzya objected to a decision to let Ukraine’s foreign minister deliver a speech before the 15 members of the Security Council could do so. Nebenzya proceeded to scroll through his smartphone during a speech by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, then objected when Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asked for the aforementioned minute of silence. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, also in attendance, told the council that the international community shouldn’t fall prey to cynical calls for peace that would force Ukraine to concede territory to Russia. Any plan must ensure the Kremlin can’t “simply rest, rearm and relaunch the war,” he said.

As for the Ukraine delegation’s position, Kuleba pledged to the council that Russia would eventually face a humiliating defeat, and called for a tribunal to investigate war crimes committed by its forces. —David E. Rovella

The push to funnel increasingly advanced weapons to Ukraine hasn’t interfered with the US’s long-standing policy of arming Taiwan against threats from China, a top State Department official said on Friday. “We are singularly focused on Taiwan,” said Jessica Lewis, the assistant secretary of state for political and military affairs.

Xi Jinping is set to bring decision-making within China’s financial system further under his control with the likely revival of a powerful committee to coordinate financial policy, and the possible appointment of a key ally in a top position at the central bank. Authorities are considering reviving the long-disbanded Central Financial Work Commission to allow the ruling Communist Party to assert more control over financial policy.

Wagering on last month’s market bounce was always seen by some on Wall Street as a long shot. Now that shot is starting to look even longer. Beyond potentially sticky inflation, another force behind falling stocks of late may be high valuations. One lens that takes into account increasingly anemic growth expected in S&P 500 earnings shows equities as richly priced as they’ve been in almost three decades. That’s bad news for investors.

Millions of American workers are still missing from the US labor force three years after Covid-19 surfaced, and economists are scratching their heads as to how big the gap actually is—and where all those people went. Now, some clues are emerging.

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauges unexpectedly accelerated in January while consumer spending surged after a year-end slump. That all adds up to yet another reason to believe the fight to rein in inflation will continue for the foreseeable future.

Payments on $1.8 trillion in federal student loans are set to resume in the next six months, and the economic consequences will be far-reaching: More than 4 million Americans are expected to fall behind and millions more will struggle to pay. Experts predict more delinquencies on credit cards and auto loans as the impact cascades through the economy. Next week, the US Supreme Court—dominated by a 6-3 Republican-appointed supermajority—will hear arguments in cases where GOP-controlled states are leading an effort to block President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt per federal borrower.

Oil and gas explorer Pioneer Natural Resources is said to be considering an acquisition of smaller US rival Range Resources amid consolidation in the US shale industry. Range rose as much as 18% on the news, giving it a market value of $6.8 billion. Before today, shares in Pioneer have fallen 11% over the last year, valuing it at about $47 billion.

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In the early hours of Feb. 24, 2022, Putin precipitated Europe’s worst crisis since World War II. In response, the US and its allies imposed waves of sanctions aimed at cutting Russia off from the global financial system, crippling its industry and depriving Putin of the revenue needed to sustain his campaign of naked aggression. One year later, the West’s strategy has succeeded only up to a point. Putin’s grip on power appears unshaken, his military continues to devastate Ukraine and he seems to believe time is on his side. Bloomberg’s Editorial Board writes how we got to this point, and how the West can use sanctions, and other means, to better effect.

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