Russia and Ukraine Plan Next Prisoner Swap in March: Kyiv

Bank of America ‘Already Seeing Evidence’ of Coronavirus Economic Impact

A senior Bank of America economist said early signs of an impact of coronavirus on the U.S. economy were already visible in some leading indicators. Michelle Meyer, Bank of America’s head of U.S. economics, said in a note on Feb. 28 that “it will take time for the ‘hard’ economic data to show the impact but we are already seeing evidence in early economic indicators.” Major stock market indexes suffered their worst week since the financial crisis last week amid a virus-driven equities selloff and associated lurch towards safe-haven assets like bonds. U.S. Treasuries absorbed major capital flows last week, with the yield on the 10-year note hitting a new record low. Bond yields move in the opposite direction to prices, with falling yields a sign of growing interest by investors,…

KYIV—Ukraine said on Sunday it had held talks with the Kremlin on swapping all remaining prisoners from the conflict in east Ukraine, and the next exchange might take place later this month.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed in December 2019 to send prisoners home, and scores were handed over just before the end of the year.

But many others are still being held, casting a shadow over efforts to roll out a peace deal and, eventually, settle the status of the disputed region where the fighting raged between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists.

Servicemen of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic speak during the exchange of prisoners of war (POWs) with Ukraine near the Mayorsk crossing point in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Dec. 29, 2019. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters, File)

The head of the Ukraine president’s office, Andriy Yermak, met senior Kremlin official Dmitry Kozak in Minsk, Belarus, the presidency said.

“The parties discussed the issues of the mutual release of the detainees,” and the plan was to hold the next exchange in March, it added, without giving details on the size of that swap.

The conflict that broke out in 2014 killed more than 13,000 people, left a large swathe of Ukraine de facto controlled by the separatists, and aggravated the deepest east-west rift since the Cold War.

The full release of prisoners could help thaw relations that have been frozen since Russian forces annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014.

By Natalia Zinets

This article is from the Internet:Russia and Ukraine Plan Next Prisoner Swap in March: Kyiv

Enemy Is China, Experts Warn at the Annual Gathering of Conservatives

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—The increasingly rising threat that China poses to the United States was a hot topic at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the largest annual gathering of conservatives in the country. At a panel discussion titled “The Present Danger: China” on Feb. 27, a Republican lawmaker framed the communist regime as “insidious.” And China experts criticized Beijing over its efforts to deflect blame for coronavirus outbreak onto the United States. Speaking at the event, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) said after four decades, Americans have started to realize the threat posed by China’s military and economic rise. He likened the Communist Party’s strategy to the famous “Trojan horse” in Greek mythology, a massive hollow wooden horse constructed by the Greeks to gain entrance into the city of Troy…