Putin makes clear Russia will only play ball with Ukraine by his rules

For once, the US president and European leaders were on the same page. Grasping for a familiar metaphor, a chorus of western heads of state declared this week that “the ball was in Russia’s court” after Ukraine agreed in talks with the US on Tuesday to an immediate 30-day ceasefire. Rather than making a play, Vladimir Putin on Thursday picked up the ball, scrawled a fresh set of conditions across it, and lobbed it back – insisting the game couldn’t move forward until the other side played by his rules. “The idea itself is the right one, and we definitely

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