Markets Need to Lose the ‘Peace in Our Time’ Reflex
We don’t have a Russia-Ukraine deal yet, and getting to one has pitfalls every step of the way. Then there’s what comes afterward.
No leader wants to invite comparisons to Neville Chamberlain with a phony peace deal.
Photographer: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty
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Could this mean peace in our time? Positive sounds about a possible ceasefire in Ukraine sparked a Tuesday surge in global stock markets, particularly in Europe. Oil prices took a dive, and ructions in the bond markets intensified. A Russian announcement that its military was cutting back activity around Kyiv and Chernihiv in the north of Ukraine to concentrate on the Donbas in the east sounded like a sign of progress.