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Ukraine And Russia Draw Up 15-Point Neutrality Plan To End War, Stocks Go Parabolic

Ukraine And Russia Draw Up 15-Point Neutrality Plan To End War, Stocks Go Parabolic

neutrality plan

Photo: Members of Congress give Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky a standing ovation in a virtual address at the U.S. Capitol, March 16, 2022. (Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Stocks rallied for a second day on a report that Ukraine and Russia are making “significant progress” toward a neutrality plan, even as Russia bombarded the Ukrainian capital and launched new attacks on the port city of Mariupol.

A tentative 15-point plan includes a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal if Ukraine declares neutrality and accepts limits on its armed forces, according to three people involved in the talks, Financial Times reported.

The proposed deal, discussed on Monday by negotiators, would require Ukraine to renounce western guarantees of security, give up its ambitions to join NATO and agree to not host foreign military bases or weapons in exchange for protection from allies such as the U.S., U.K. and Turkey, the people said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday in an address to the country that a peace agreement was starting to “sound more realistic,” CNBC reported. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the BBC there was “some hope of reaching a compromise,” and that “absolutely specific wordings” were “close to being agreed” in the negotiations.

Ukraine would be allowed to maintain its armed forces. Neutrality for Ukraine, based on the status of Austria or Sweden, is a possibility, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday. “This option is really being discussed now,” Peskov said.

The S&P 500 rallied for a second day Tuesday, hitting session highs. The broad market index rose 1.8 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 494 points or 1.4 percent and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.1 percent.

Soaring stock prices are being credited in part to China, which intervened this week with promises to keep its stock markets stable and introduce measures to boost its economy, according to a state-run media report. Chinese stocks have been under pressure over surging covid cases and investors spooked by U.S. reports that the Russian government has asked China for military aid, which could lead to sanctions.

“China has abruptly changed its tune and it has sparked some huge gains, particularly among tech stocks,” Barrons reported. Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares rose almost 30 percent while its U.S.-listed stock was up 20 percent in premarket trading.

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European stocks also rallied on Wednesday to near two-week highs on hopes of peace progress between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials are skeptical that Russian President Vladimir Putin is committed to peace and worry that Moscow could be buying time to regroup its forces and resume its offensive, Financial Times reported.

Russia has broken agreements before, including with the annexation of Crimea, a sovereign state, in 2014. Russia claims the West broke its promise from the 1990s not to expand NATO and is now using this claim to justify invading Ukraine.

Photo: Members of Congress give Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky a standing ovation before he speaks in a virtual address to Congress in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center Congressional Auditorium in Washington, March 16, 2022. (Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times via AP, Pool)