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Morning Headlines
Reuters: The EU will find ways to pay out the promised 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine despite Hungary's ongoing resistance, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said early on Friday.
AP News: With U.S.-brokered Ukraine 'peace talks' on hold due to the war in the Middle East, Putin is expected to try to expand his military gains via new offensives against his southern neighbor that could put even more pressure on Kyiv.
Reuters: A Russian drone attack damaged two foreign-flagged commercial vessels in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, the regional governor, said on Friday.
ISW has long assessed that Russia has de facto annexed Belarus and that the states have a combined defense industrial base. Lifting US sanctions on Belarus therefore directly benefits Russia’s war effort.
More News
The Guardian: Hungarian rights groups have raised concerns over the appointment of Putin’s former interpreter to a key role in an international election monitoring mission, amid fears of Russian interference ahead of Hungary’s crucial vote next month.
Reuters: The United States issued a new general license on Thursday to replace an earlier waiver for the sale of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products loaded on tankers as of March 12.
The Kyiv Independent: President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 19 that a Ukrainian negotiating team is heading to the U.S. for a meeting scheduled this Saturday with American representatives.
Politico: EU leaders have failed to convince Hungarian PM Orbán to drop his opposition to a €90 billion loan to fund Ukraine’s war effort, according to four diplomats and officials.
The Moscow Times: A tanker has likely delivered diesel to crisis-hit Cuba after using deceptive maneuvers to reach the island, which is under a U.S. fuel blockade, according to a maritime tracker.
The Kyiv Independent: Russian losses have surged over the past several days, according to Ukraine's General Staff, as fighting intensifies across key front-line sectors in eastern and southern Ukraine amid expectations of a broader Russian spring offensive.
Ukrinform: Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck ammunition and fuel depots, as well as clusters of Russian personnel, in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories during the night of March 19.
The Moscow Times: The Red Cross said Thursday that it is facilitating the exchange of around 1,000 bodies each month between Russia and Ukraine, while "thousands and thousands" of dead remain unidentified.
Reuters: A pro-Kremlin figure who unexpectedly denounced Putin and the war in Ukraine in a social media post this week that went viral has been placed in a psychiatric facility, the hospital said on Thursday.
ERR: A Russian fighter jet breached Estonia's airspace on Wednesday and a diplomatic protest note has been handed to the highest-ranking diplomat at Russia's embassy in Tallinn, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Reuters: Ukraine, forced to boost gas imports after Russia damaged its gas production infrastructure, has begun storing gas in its underground facilities in preparation for the next heating season, European AGSI data showed on Thursday.
United24 Media: Russia plans to recruit another 409,000 troops in 2026 and is increasing its activity along the frontline, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
Reuters: India, a leading importer of fertilisers, is in talks to increase purchases from Russia, Belarus and Morocco as Middle East tensions and China's export curbs risk tightening supplies ahead of the summer planting season.
Reuters: Ukraine could boost rapeseed plantings by a third to 1.5 million hectares if the conflict in Iran drags on, its deputy economy minister told Reuters on Thursday, as soaring global fuel prices lift demand for biodiesel feedstocks.
Reuters: European Union experts have arrived in Ukraine to assess the condition of the Druzhba oil pipeline, state energy firm Naftogaz said, after its closure in January caused a row with Hungary that is blocking an EU loan to Kyiv.
worth mentioning
'Great crackdown': Russia tightens the screws on the internet
Belarus releases 250 prisoners, US agrees sanctions relief, Vilnius embassy says
Russia faces acute yuan shortage as trade lifeline tightens
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