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Morning Headlines
The Kyiv Independent: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on March 3 that he had urged Trump to increase pressure on Putin regarding the war in Ukraine, following talks between the two leaders.
ISW: The United States and Israel are striking Iran’s drone and missile facilities to reduce the pressure on missile and drone interceptors – a capability the United States is denying Ukraine by refusing to provide Tomahawk cruise missiles.
More News
Reuters: The Russian-flagged liquefied natural gas tanker Arctic Metagaz is on fire in the Mediterranean, maritime security sources said on Tuesday, while Malta's armed forces said the vessel's crew had been located safe in a lifeboat within Libya's search-and-rescue region.
The Kyiv Independent: President Volodymyr Zelensky on March 3 floated swapping U.S.-made Patriot interceptor missiles for Ukrainian interceptor drones, amid Iran's recent strikes in the Middles East using Shahed attack drones.
Reuters: Belgium has imposed a 10 million euro bail on Russian oil tanker Ethera, which it seized on Sunday, the government said on Tuesday.
The Moscow Times: Schools and universities across Russia have begun taking students on organized visits to civil registry offices, with some staging mock wedding ceremonies, as authorities intensify efforts to promote what they call traditional family values amid a deepening demographic slump.
United24 Media: Russian forces have systematically deployed prohibited chemical substances against the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with more than 13,000 documented cases recorded since the outset of the full-scale invasion.
The Kyiv Independent: Russia has "deliberately and brutally" executed at least 337 Ukrainian prisoners of war as of the end of 2025, Ukraine's Human Rights Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said on March 3 during a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Reuters: Russia's state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, has halted construction work at new units of Iran's nuclear power plant in the port city of Bushehr because of the U.S.-Israeli air assault on Iran, its chief Alexei Likhachev said on Tuesday.
Reuters: Ukraine’s push for a fast track into the European Union as part of any peace deal has hit stiff resistance from EU governments, who do not want to open the Pandora’s box of problems that they fear a quick accession would unleash.
Euronews: The Russian Central Bank has challenged the indefinite immobilisation of its sovereign assets, which the European Union has agreed to release only when the war in Ukraine ends and reparations are paid.
Reuters: The Ukrainian branch of the Druzhba oil pipeline, which supplies Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, was severely damaged by fire after a Russian attack in late January, Ukraine's Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal told Interfax Ukraine on Tuesday.
Reuters: Russia has been unable to capitalize on this week's surge in global crude prices, as days of Ukrainian drone attacks and harsh winter storms have sharply curtailed its capacity to export oil.
RFE/RL: “War is war, but don’t forget about the cash. Get yours,” a Russian officer texted to a subordinate who was about to succeed him as commander of a division fighting in Ukraine, apparently advising him to take advantage of the moneymaking opportunities presented by the position. “Delete this message later,” the officer added.
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