Important Takeaways:
- “Today I will have contact with President Trump,” Zelensky said at a news conference in Helsinki with Finnish President Alexander Stubb. “We will discuss the details of the next steps with him.”
- As Breitbart News reported, Trump and Putin spoke Tuesday and addressed a host of global issues including the current war in Ukraine.
- Trump took to Truth Social to relay that his and Putin’s conversation, which lasted more than two hours, “was a very good and productive one.”
- AP reports Zelensky countered that optimism by declaring Putin’s agreement to stop striking energy infrastructure was “very much at odds with reality” following a series of drone attacks across the country.
- “After Putin’s conversation with the U.S. President Donald Trump, where Putin said he was supposedly giving an order stopping strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, there were 150 drones overnight, targeting energy infrastructure among other things,” Zelensky said at the news conference.
- “There were strikes against transport. Two hospitals were unfortunately hit. In other words, Putin’s words are very much at odds with reality.”
- The Ukraine leader said one of the most difficult issues in future negotiations would be the issue of territorial concessions.
- “For us, the red line is the recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories as Russian. We will not go for it,” he said.
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Important Takeaways:
- President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for at least 90 minutes Tuesday about ending the war in Ukraine, the White House said, noting that the two leaders agreed that “negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.”
- The two leaders also agreed to a ceasefire against energy infrastructure, both sides said. Trump described the call as “very good and productive” on Truth Social.
- “Many elements of a Contract for Peace were discussed, including the fact that thousands of soldiers are being killed, and both President Putin and President Zelenskyy would like to see it end,” Trump wrote on social media. “That process is now in full force and effect, and we will, hopefully, for the sake of Humanity, get the job done!”
- “Today, President Trump and President Putin spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace,” the White House said in a statement after the call. “They also stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia. The blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people.
- “This conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good faith peace efforts. The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace,” it continued. “These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.”
- “The leaders spoke broadly about the Middle East as a region of potential cooperation to prevent future conflicts. They further discussed the need to stop proliferation of strategic weapons and will engage with others to ensure the broadest possible application. The two leaders shared the view that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel,” the White House also said. “The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside. This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved.”
- “We each talked about the strengths of our respective Nations, and the great benefit that we will someday have in working together. But first, as we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine,” he also said.
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Important Takeaways:
- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko reportedly said that the Kremlin wants an “ironclad” guarantee that Ukraine will be prohibited from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as the Trump administration works to broker a deal to end the fighting.
- “We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” Grushko was quoted by the Russian newspaper Izvestia as saying, according to Reuters. “Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of NATO countries to accept it into the alliance.”
- Grushko reportedly made no mention of the 30-day cease-fire proposal, which was accepted by Ukraine with U.S. negotiators in Saudi Arabia last week. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that any agreement must first meet crucial conditions.
- U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff told CNN on Sunday that Trump and Putin are expected to speak on the phone this week. Witkoff himself described having a “positive” and “solution-based” meeting with Putin in Moscow last week.
- Grushko reportedly reiterated in the interview with Izvestia that Russia remains strictly opposed to the deployment of European troops to Ukraine, as Britain, France and Australia have signaled being open to sending a NATO “peacekeeping” force to the country.
- “It does not matter under what label NATO contingents were to be deployed on Ukrainian territory: be it the European Union, NATO, or in a national capacity,” Grushko said, according to Reuters. “If they appear there, it means that they are deployed in the conflict zone with all the consequences for these contingents as parties to the conflict.”
- French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, was quoted as telling several French media outlets on Saturday that the intention is to “deploy a few thousand men per nation, at key points, to carry out training programs” and “show our support over the long term.”
- “If Ukraine asks allied forces to be on its territory, it is not up to Russia to accept or not,” Macron reportedly said.
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Important Takeaways:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said…
- Following their talks in Jeddah on Tuesday, Washington and Kiev published a joint statement in which Ukraine agreed to a proposed 30-day ceasefire with Russia, while the US announced the resumption of military aid and intelligence sharing with Kiev.
- Speaking to journalists on Friday, Peskov confirmed Witkoff’s visit, stating that the US representative had met with Putin to deliver “additional details” to the Russian leader. Putin also gave the envoy “information and additional signals for President Trump,” Peskov said.
- During a press conference on Thursday, Putin stated that Russia “absolutely supports” the idea of resolving the Ukraine conflict through peaceful means and is ready to discuss Trump’s ceasefire proposal. The Russian president suggested that dialogue could include a personal conversation with the US leader.
- However, he stressed that all the details of a ceasefire must first be clarified, noting that Moscow is not interested in a short-term solution and instead wants to reach a lasting resolution of the conflict.
- Putin cited a system of “control and verification” to monitor any truce as well as Kiev’s potential attempts to use the pause in hostilities to rearm and reinforce its troops on the front line. He also noted the importance of clarifying the status and fate of Ukrainian troops currently encircled in Russia’s Kursk Region, where Kiev launched an incursion last year.
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Important Takeaways:
- A delegation of United States diplomats arrived in Moscow on Thursday morning for talks on agreeing a ceasefire in the Ukraine War, with a possible call between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin to follow.
- America’s Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff flew into Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on Thursday morning, having travelled from Doha, Qatar by way of European airspace…
- To this point Russia has been relatively circumspect on the ceasefire, saying only after it was agreed in principle by the U.S. and Ukraine that they would wait for further details from Washington to study before commenting further. The two nations had agreed to work towards peace at talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, a decision that saw the Trump administration resume military and intelligence support to the Kyiv government.
- Who will be representing the Russian side in negotiations today has not been stated by the Kremlin but it has been briefed Witkoff and the American delegation may speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is also suggested, but not confirmed, that a telephone call between President Trump and President Putin may take place later today.
- Meanwhile, Russia states it continues to retake its own territory in the Kursk Oblast from Ukraine’s counter invasion, a bid to grasp a bargaining chip which appears to be falling apart at the very moment it is most needed. Western intelligence community-adjacent media has stated Ukrainian troops have withdrawn in large numbers to escape being totally encircled and massacred, and Russian state media asserts most of what Ukraine once held has now been recaptured.
- On Wednesday, the U.S. said on peace the ball is now in Russia’s court, and the White House urged Moscow to sign.
- Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “This is the closest we have been to peace in this war”. President Trump has warned there would be consequences for Russia if they refuse to go along with his plan, having stated: “That would be very bad for Russia… I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace”.
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Important Takeaways:
- NATO was forced to scramble its warplanes in Poland today as Vladimir Putin used strategic bombers and missiles to attack neighboring Ukraine – even as Vladimir Putin insists he wants peace ‘as soon as possible’.
- Putin’s air force deployed Tu-95MS nuclear-capable strategic bombers to pound targets across Ukraine, causing panic in Kyiv as residents rushed for the metro underground shelters.
- Explosions were heard in Kyiv, Zhytomyr, and Sumy, as well as in several towns across the regions of Zaporizhzhia and Chernihiv. Drones were also used by Russia, with several people reportedly suffering injuries.
- Warsaw’s armed forces operation command headquarters ordered NATO jets to patrol Polish airspace as Russian bombers and missiles soared over Ukraine amid fears they could approach the Polish border.
- ‘Attention, due to the activity of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation, striking targets located, in particular, in the west of Ukraine, military aviation has begun to operate in the airspace of Poland,’ the command headquarters said.
- Ground-based air defenses and radar reconnaissance systems were also ‘put on alert’.
- It comes just one day after a US B-52 bomber flew a sortie less than 50 miles from the Russian border in a show of strength on the third anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.
- The B-52 jet, which is described as providing the US with ‘immediate nuclear and conventional global strike capability’, flew from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire to the frontline NATO state and was flanked by F35s and F-A18 fighters.
- The planes jetted in formation over soldiers and tanks as a military parade of over 1,000 troops from NATO and the Estonia’s Defense Forces took place in the Estonian capital of Tallinn.
- February 24 marked three years since Russian troops invaded Ukraine, and is also Estonian Independence Day.
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Important Takeaways:
- A Trump administration team led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat down for four hours with senior representatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the first such meeting since Russia deepened an invasion of Ukraine that launched the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
- Neither Ukraine nor any European actor was invited to the talks
- “This is the start of a long process,” Rubio told reporters after the meeting.
- The two sides agreed on a “consultation mechanism to address irritants to our bilateral relationship,” the State Department said.
- They also agreed to appoint “high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides.”
- President Trump, for whom foreign policy is largely transactional, has said he “just wants the killing to stop” at any cost.
- Tuesday’s meeting was a follow-up to Trump’s telephone conversation with Putin last week. Trump essentially ceded to Putin’s main demands: Ukraine will have to give up territory seized illegally by Russia, and must give up its goal of joining NATO.
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Important Takeaways:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will only agree to meet in person with Russian leader Vladimir Putin after a common plan is negotiated with U.S. President Trump.
- Zelenskyy also said he believes Trump is the key to ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and said the U.S president gave him his telephone number before Friday’s opening of the Munich Security Conference.
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Important Takeaways:
- Vladimir Putin appeared on Russian television to appeal to Donald Trump not to start World War III and congratulated him on his win, hours before Donald Trump’s Inaugural address as the 47th President of the United States.
- “We hear [Trump’s] statements on the need to prevent World War III. We undoubtedly welcome such a disposition and congratulate the elected US president,” Putin said in a televised session of Russia’s Security Council.
- He emphasized the potential of rebuilding relations with the US following Trump and his team talking about re-establishing communication as Moscow continues to wage a war in Ukraine.
- Putin said that he has heard Trump and his team’s “statements on their wish to restore direct contacts with Russia, which the outgoing [Biden] administration had cut off through no fault of our own.”
- He said that Moscow “never turned down this dialogue” and highlighted that US-Russia relations should be based on “equality and mutual respect.”
- Putin’s comments show a sharp change in the Kremlin’s stance back in November when they refused to congratulate Trump on his victory, stating the US being “unfriendly” to Russia as the reason.
- On his presidential campaign trail, Trump vowed to end the war in Ukraine.
- Recently, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, too, emphasized Russia’s interest in conversing with the US about the war in Ukraine.
- “No special conditions are needed for this. What is required is the mutual intent and political will to have a dialogue,” Peskov said.
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Important Takeaways:
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held his annual press conference in Moscow, and although he had criticism toward the UDS on a range of subjects, he did bring warm words of praise towards new President Trump.
- He especially commended Trump’s analysis pointing at NATO’s plan to include Ukraine as one of the root causes of the conflict.
- Lavrov reiterated that peace talks have to include ‘broader arrangements for security in Europe’.
- Associated Press reported:
- “Trump said Russia had it ‘written in stone’ that Ukraine’s membership in NATO should never be allowed, but the Biden administration had sought to expand the military alliance to Russia’s doorstep. Trump added that, ‘I could understand their feelings about that’.”
- Trump’s comments lift the seriousness of discussion, moving away from the tired old trope of denouncing Russia’s action as ‘an unprovoked act of aggression’.
- “’NATO did exactly what it had promised not to do, and Trump said that’, Lavrov said. ‘It marked the first such candid acknowledgement not only from a U.S. but any Western leader that NATO had lied when they signed numerous documents. They were used as a cover while NATO has expanded to our borders in violation of the agreements’.”
- “Lavrov also praised comments by Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, who said Sunday it’s unrealistic to expect that Ukraine could drive Russian forces ‘from every inch of Ukrainian soil’.
- ‘The very fact that people have increasingly started to mention the realities on the ground deserves welcome’, Lavrov said during his annual news conference in Moscow.”
- “’Threats on the western flank, on our western borders, must be eliminated as one of the main reasons (of the conflict)’, he said. ‘They can probably be eliminated only in the context of some broader agreements’.”
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