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Morning Headlines
Reuters: U.S. and Russian participants have quietly met in Switzerland for unofficial discussions about the Ukraine war in recent months, including as recently as last week.
Reuters: U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson said on Thursday there is "no appetite" for another funding bill for Ukraine.
BBC: The UK and Europe may need to offer security guarantees to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia, regardless of US support, the former head of the British armed forces has said.
Euractiv: The leader of the Spanish People's Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, urged on Thursday the country’s Prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, to explain before parliament what steps Madrid intends to take together with its EU and NATO allies in the upcoming negotiations for Ukraine.
Reuters: A possible meeting between Trump and Putin "will largely depend on whether we can make any progress on ending the war in Ukraine," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
ISW: Senior Ukrainian intelligence officials reported that North Korean forces are conducting joint operations with Russian forces in Kursk Oblast and are gaining new combat capabilities.
More News
Axios: The Trump administration has given Ukraine an "improved" draft for a minerals agreement between the countries, after President Volodmyr Zelensky infuriated Trump by rejecting his initial offer.
Politico: As Trump's administration turns on Ukraine, EU and world leaders will head to Kyiv on Monday to rally around President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and talk security guarantees.
Reuters: The U.S. is refusing to co-sponsor a draft U.N. resolution marking three years since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine that backs Ukraine's territorial integrity and again demands Russia withdraw its troops. Washington has also objected to a phrase in a statement the Group of Seven nations was planning to issue next week that would condemn Russian aggression.
The Moscow Times: Ukraine's criticism of the United States is "unacceptable," Trump's top security advisor said Thursday, urging Kyiv to cool its rhetoric and quickly sign a minerals deal pushed by the White House.
Politico: Trump’s verbal assault on Ukraine is a “complete failure” for the transatlantic alliance, according to a senior German lawmaker.
Euronews: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called on the European Union to confiscate the assets of the Russian Central Bank, which are frozen due to sanctions, to finance future financial support for Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent: An explosion in Russian-occupied Berdiansk on Feb. 20 killed Yevgeny Bogdanov, deputy head of the local occupation administration, Ukraine's military intelligence agency claimed.
The Insider: Hyundai Wia machining centers, originally imported into Kazakhstan under the pretense of domestic use, were in fact illegally rerouted to Russia in violation of international sanctions.
The Guardian: British firms are among more than 100 western companies, including the aerospace giant Boeing, which have exported aircraft parts to India that reached Russia, according to customs data.
Politico: The U.K. and Norway began negotiations Thursday on a defense deal aimed at countering the threat from Russia in the Arctic.
FT: Russia used the first round of talks with the US over ending the war in Ukraine to demand the withdrawal of Nato forces from the alliance’s eastern flank, triggering concern in European capitals that the Trump administration could acquiesce to seal a peace deal (archive).
Bloomberg: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled that sanctions relief for Russia could be on the table in talks over the Ukraine war, saying the US is prepared to either ramp up or take down penalties based on Russia’s willingness to negotiate (archive).
AP News: A news conference that was planned to follow talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump’s Ukraine envoy was canceled Thursday as political tensions deepened between the two countries over how to end the almost three-year war with Russia.
AFP: "We have a fairly straightforward and clear position on this: President Zelensky was legitimately elected in free, fair and democratic elections," EU spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker told journalists. "Ukraine is a democracy, Putin's Russia is not."
The Kyiv Independent: A Ukrainian military intelligence operation was behind the detonations of goggles for first-person-view drones used by Russian soldiers, a HUR source told the Kyiv Independent on Feb. 20.
Reuters: Ukrainian officials began talks on Thursday with an International Monetary Fund team working on the country's latest loan programme review, which could unlock about $917 million in new funds.
worth mentioning
Donald Trump’s Putinization of America
'Our President': Ukrainians blast back at Trump with memes
Officials in St. Petersburg are about to equip surveillance cameras with ‘ethnic recognition’ technology
Russian activists detained in Tbilisi claim police planted drugs on them
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