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Morning Headlines
BBC News: French President Emmanuel Macron has said it is key for Europe's security to defeat Russia in Ukraine, amid urgent pleas for more weapons from Kyiv. He was speaking in Paris where he said that European leaders had agreed to set up a coalition to give Ukraine medium- and long-range missiles and bombs.
AP News: Macron said Monday that sending Western troops on the ground in Ukraine is not “ruled out” in the future after the issue was debated at a gathering of European leaders in Paris.
Bloomberg: France and the Netherlands backed a plan to buy ammunition outside Europe to get much-needed military equipment to Ukraine faster, with a proposal expected in early March.
Reuters: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that without new U.S. military aid his country would be unable to defend a Black Sea shipping corridor that has allowed Kyiv to export millions of tons of grain to global markets.
ISW: Putin signed two decrees on February 26 that officially re-establish the Moscow and Leningrad Military Districts (MMD, LMD), codifying major Russian military restructuring and reform efforts. The re-creation of the MMD and LMD supports the parallel objectives of consolidating control over Russian operations in Ukraine in the short-to-medium term and preparing for a potential future large-scale conventional war against NATO in the long term.
More News
Reuters: Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on Monday urged U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to allow a vote on new U.S. aid for Ukraine, saying Johnson would be to blame if the bill failed and Russia advances on the battlefield.
POLITICO: Talks were underway for a prisoner swap for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny when he died on Feb. 16, according to two Western officials informed on the discussions, but no deal had been offered to the Kremlin.
France 24: The European Union is expected to move toward seizing Russian profits generated in the bloc, a key step to backing Ukraine that stops short of calls to confiscate assets outright, a Greek envoy told AFP on Monday.
Reuters: Washington's threat to hit foreign financial institutions with sanctions has made a significant difference in financial flows between Russia and countries such as Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan, said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo.
CNN: Hungary’s parliament overwhelmingly approved Sweden’s bid to join NATO on Monday, clearing the way for the Nordic nation’s accession to the alliance after nearly two years of intense negotiations and dealing a geopolitical blow to Putin.
NY Times: A senior Capitol Hill staff member who is a longtime voice on Russia policy is under congressional investigation over his frequent trips to Ukraine’s war zones and providing what he said was $30,000 in sniper gear to its military (archive).
The Kyiv Independent: South Korea plans to tighten export controls on Russia and Belarus for goods that could be used for military purposes, the South Korean Trade Ministry announced on Feb. 26.
AFP: The fallout from Valieva's doping ban continued Monday as the Court of Arbitration for Sport said Canada and Russia had separately appealed the reallocation of 2022 Olympic team figure skating medals.
The Kyiv Independent: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated his refusal to send Ukraine long-range Taurus missiles at a press conference on Feb. 26, days after the German parliament rejected a measure explicitly calling for Taurus to be provided.
AFP: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Monday that "no compromise" was possible with his Hungarian and Slovak counterparts if they decline to openly support Ukraine facing Russia's invasion.
Bloomberg: Tens of millions of euros of trade in banned sensitive goods to Russia continue to originate from the EU itself, despite multiple rounds of sanctions, an official says (archive).
AP News: The prime ministers of Canada and Poland on Monday discussed boosting exports of Ukrainian grain and other crops to the world’s poorest countries to ease protests by farmers in Europe who see the Ukrainian goods as a market threat
Reuters: Bulgaria has banned two Russian citizens from entering the European Union over their alleged role in a security agency operation in the Balkan country, its state security agency said on Monday.
Reuters: Ukraine and its international partners must continue fighting to restore Ukrainian control over Crimea, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday as Kyiv marked a decade of Russian occupation of the Black Sea peninsula.
Reuters: The Ukrainian military confirmed on Monday its retreat from the village of Lastochkyne in eastern Ukraine, saying the move would help it halt the westward advance of Russian forces.
The Kyiv Independent: Germany is conducting "discreet negotiations" to procure artillery ammunition from India, which is estimated to have "several hundred thousand rounds" stored in stockpiles, Der Spiegel reported on Feb. 26.
Reuters: Denmark has dropped its investigation into the explosions in 2022 on the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Germany, police said on Monday, becoming the second nation to do so after Sweden closed its own inquiry.
LRT: After the Latvian parliament last week temporarily banned imports of Russian and Belarusian agricultural products, Lithuania is not planning to follow suit.
Reuters: China firmly opposes the decisions of Britain, the European Union and the United States to impose sanctions on its companies for Russia-related reasons, its commerce ministry said on Monday.
BBC News: At least a dozen Indians have been duped by agents into fighting for Russian forces in the country's war with Ukraine with reports saying one of them was killed in a missile strike.
worth mentioning
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy said to visit Armenia
War in Ukraine: Not all European countries view Russia as top threat
Moscow ally Serbia cracks down on anti-war Russians living in the Balkan country
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