Futures Jump As Putin Signals Readiness To Deescalate Airstrikes On Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday gave a key speech from Astana, Kazakhstan, where he participated in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). This followed meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan, the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

While he said he sees direct talks with his American counterpart Joe Biden, saying there’s “no need” for discussions at this time after conjecture the two could meet on the sidelines of the mid-November G20 summit in Indonesia (which Putin is unlikely to attend in person, though this remains an open question), markets are responding to a rare ‘positive’ after he indicated no plans for further massive airstrikes on Ukraine at this time. This potential hint at possible de-escalation comes after days of heightened Russian airstrikes on dozens of Ukrainian cities and towns which began Monday.

“We should ask him if he’s ready to hold such talks with me or not. I don’t see the need, to be honest,” Putin said when asked about the possibility of meeting with Putin.

S&P 500 futures jumped to session highs upon the wires citing the Russian leader as saying there’s no need for significant strikes on Ukraine now.

He further said that while Russia is not seeking to “destroy” Ukraine, he still has “no regrets” about ordering the invasion which kicked off over seven months ago. “Our actions are right and timely,” he emphasized in the speech.

Asked if Ukraine and Russia will continue to exist as states after the war, Putin says: “We never set ourselves the goal of destroying Ukraine.”

He adds a there is “no need for massive airstrikes” on Ukraine after Monday’s. “For now. Then we’ll see.” pic.twitter.com/ZlSzNzkxUI

— max seddon (@maxseddon) October 14, 2022

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