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Morning Headlines
Reuters: U.S. Vice President JD Vance said the U.S. could hit Moscow with sanctions and potential military action if Putin does not agree to a peace deal with Ukraine that guarantees Kyiv's long-term independence, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Bloomberg: China, Russia and North Korea have formed a “triangle of troublemakers” that threatens to transform the Pacific region, a senior US commander has warned, even as Trump seeks warmer ties with two of those adversaries (archive).
Reuters: A senior U.S. official on Thursday said the United States had not ruled out potential NATO membership for Ukraine or a negotiated return to its pre-2014 borders, contradicting comments made this week by the U.S. defense secretary ahead of possible peace talks to end the Ukraine war.
The Kyiv Independent: Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, said in an interview with Fox News on Feb. 13 that "formalizing Ukraine’s territorial losses" in a potential peace deal "will not equate to recognizing them."
Reuters: French President Emmanuel Macron said only Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy could negotiate on behalf of his country with Russia to end the war, warning a "peace that is a capitulation" would be "bad news for everyone", including the U.S., the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
ISW: Russia may struggle to adequately equip its units with materiel in the long-term if the Russian military continues to burn through Soviet-era vehicle stocks without significantly increasing Russia's ability to produce new tanks and armored vehicles.
More News
The Kyiv Independent: A Ukrainian official on Feb. 13 denied Ukraine will participate in a joint meeting between U.S. and Russian representatives in Munich after U.S. President Donald Trump said that talks will be held on Feb. 14.
Reuters: Trump on Thursday said he would love to have Russia return to the Group of Seven nations, saying it was a mistake for Moscow to be expelled.
AP News: Trump said Thursday that he wants to restart nuclear arms control talks with Russia and China and that eventually he hopes all three countries could agree to cut their massive defense budgets in half.
Politico: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday pulled back some of the peace deal concessions he demanded of Ukraine a day earlier, including no NATO membership for the embattled country or a return to its pre-war borders.
Reuters: Estonia's navy is prepared to act against vessels that pose a danger to Baltic Sea infrastructure even if they are in international waters, a senior official patrolling the busy Gulf of Finland shipping lane said on Thursday.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian drones hit the Andreapol oil pumping station in Russia's Tver Oblast for the second time in two weeks overnight on Feb. 13. The oil pumping station that came under attack is part of the Baltic Pipeline System-2 operated by Russian state-owned oil pipeline company Transneft.
Reuters: The United Arab Emirates has told the United States it wants to host talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine that could eventually include a peace summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Politico: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stood by Ukraine joining NATO just a day after Donald Trump’s defense secretary rejected the idea.
Reuters: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday that any peace deal in Ukraine must be enduring and that any discussions must include Kyiv.
Politico: Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat, denounced Trump’s call with Putin on Thursday, saying any deal on Ukraine's future that is arranged without European involvement will be a non-starter.
Ukrainska Pravda: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reports the destruction of two Russian Valdai radar systems in Moscow Oblast.
The Moscow Times: Russia’s top search engine Yandex displayed more than 1 billion military recruitment ads in 2024, the investigative news outlet Vyorstka reported Thursday.
Reuters: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday Ukraine would not accept any bilateral agreement on its fate reached by Moscow and Washington without Kyiv's involvement, and called for Europe to have a seat at the table in negotiations to end the war.
The Moscow Times: Russian state media, officials and prominent bloggers are celebrating the news that Trump would negotiate with Putin to end the war in Ukraine without pushing for Kyiv’s key peace demands to be met.
Bloomberg: The latest US sanctions on Russia’s oil trade have brought a swath of tankers that deliver Moscow’s crude to a halt — reinforcing the significance of the measures in any negotiations over ending the war in Ukraine (archive).
The Moscow Times: Moldova summoned Russia's ambassador on Thursday after Russian drones crashed and exploded on its territory, while neighboring Romania reported a brief violation of its airspace.
Helsing, the leading European defence technology company, has announced that it is producing 6,000 HX-2 strike drones for delivery to Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent: Russia's Lipetsk Oblast came under a "massive raid" by drones on the night of Feb. 13, regional governor Igor Artamonov said. The drones allegedly targeted the Novolipetsk Steel, Russia's largest steel mill, which produces about 20% of the country's steel output.
BBC: Sudan has said a final deal has been agreed with Russia to establish a naval base on the war-torn country's Red Sea coast, saying there were "no obstacles" to it.
State Dept: U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, will visit Ukraine as part of a European tour, the U.S. State Department announced on Feb. 12.
worth mentioning
Norway may need to let $1.8 trillion sovereign fund take stakes in arms makers, says central bank chief
European Parliament: Georgia’s self-proclaimed authorities have no legitimacy
Tensions erupt in Ukraine as Zelenskyy sanctions former leader Poroshenko
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