The War Room: Playing the victim even while speaking for a country invading its neighbor, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused NATO of waging a proxy war on Russia with its support for Ukraine.

  Lavrov told Russian state media, “NATO, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy. War means war.”

  He also warned that the risk of nuclear conflict is now “considerable.” Asked about the importance of avoiding a third world war, Lavrov said, “I would not want to elevate those risks artificially. Many would like that. The danger is serious, real. And we must not underestimate it.”

  This came as representatives of 40 western allies met at the US air base in Ramstein, Germany to discuss giving Ukraine military support. Significantly, the formerly reluctant Germany announced that it will send Ukraine heavy weapons including armor and artillery for the first time.

  Speaking to the Ukrainian defense chief, Austin said, “We’re all here because of Ukraine’s courage, because of the innocent civilians who have been killed, and because of the suffering that your people still endure.”

  After the meeting, Austin told reporters that allied military leaders planned to gather every month to respond to the situation in Ukraine.

   Meeting with UN Secretary General António Guterres, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed “in principle” to involve the UN and Red Cross in the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Several evacuation plans and agreements have already failed for roughly 1,000 civilians, many of them children, taking refuge in tunnels beneath the sprawling steel complex.  Before the meeting, Putin said that that Guterres was “misled” about the situation and that Russia had been operating humanitarian corridors out of the city.

  Putin told Guterres, that peace talks with Ukraine were continuing via video link and that he hoped they would bring “some positive result.” In a meeting at the Kremlin, Putin said Russia would not sign a security guarantee agreement with Ukraine without the territorial questions of Crimea and Donbas getting resolved. That means he wants Ukraine to give them up.

  On the battlefields, Russian forces are reported to have seized the City Council building in the southern port city of Kherson. There’s some talk that the Russians will hold a staged referendum to claim legitimate control of the city.

 The Russians say their cruise missiles hit an aluminum plant in Zaporizhzhia, a major industrial hub in southeastern Ukraine. And officials in three Russian districts bordering Ukraine reported explosions, occurring overnight, one of them hitting an ammunition depot. 

Economic War: Unhappy about Polish support for Ukraine opposing the invasion, Russian energy giant Gazprom has announced it is cutting gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria because the two countries refuse to pay in Russian rubles. The state-run gas firm said that it will “entirely suspend” gas supplies through the vital Yamal pipeline starting today. The Polish gas company says it can get supplies from other sources.

Ivy League: Harvard University has issued a 134-page report on its ties to slavery and the legacy of that involvement. Along with the report Harvard promised to create a $100 million endowed fund to “redress” past wrongs. 

  The report bluntly says that slaves lived and worked on the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus, including in the president’s residence. It says that from 1636 until slavery was outlawed in the state in 1783, “Harvard presidents and other leaders, as well as its faculty and staff, enslaved more than 70 individuals, some of whom labored on campus.” It says, “Enslaved men and women served Harvard presidents and professors and fed and cared for Harvard students.”

  The report also says Harvard was given money by slave traders and was ultimately slow to integrate black students. It also says some faculty members contributed to bogus science about the racial inferiority of black people.

Viral News: Nearly 60 percent of the American population has now been infected with the coronavirus at least once, the Centers for Disease Control reports. Count among them Vice President Kamala Harris, who has tested positive for Covid-19. The White House says she’s showing no symptoms. She meets frequently with President Biden.

Aspirin a Day: In one of those reversals of standard medical advice, researchers now say that people over 60 with no evident risk of heart disease should not take a daily low-dose aspirin. Researchers concluded that the daily aspirin in healthy adults has “no net benefit,” and increases a risk of internal bleeding.

The Spin Rack: The Biden administration has adopted new energy efficiency standards for light bulbs that will result in phasing out the  traditional incandescent bulb that’s been in use for 100 years. — The value of Tesla shares dropped by $125 billion following founder Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter. — For the second time in a year, North Carolina’s wheelchair-bound, Trump-supporting Rep. Madison Cawthorn was stopped from trying to bring a loaded gun on an airplane. While we’re mentioning Cawthorn, a picture recently surfaced of him partying in a lacy black bra and other women’s underwear. 

On the Case: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that creates a new election police force to investigate election crimes. That’s convenient because Donald Trump lives in Florida. 

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