There isn’t going to be a deal made between Israel and Hamas any time soon, but at least we can hope for a peace settlement in Ukraine, right? For a brief moment this week, it began to look as if that might be a possibility. A group of world leaders are preparing to convene in Switzerland to discuss the terms of a possible ceasefire. When Vladimir Putin was asked about the meeting, he gave a rather surprising answer, saying that he was prepared to “immediately” order a ceasefire in Ukraine if certain conditions could be met. That hopeful state of play didn’t last very long, however. As soon as he was informed of Putin’s comments, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Foreign Minister immediately shot the proposal down, labeling it as “absurd” and “manipulative.” So it appears that we are back to the drawing board and there may not be any point to holding a peace conference…