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Morning Headlines
AP News: President Joe Biden will convene the top four congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday to press lawmakers on passing an emergency aid package for Ukraine and Israel.
Reuters: Hungary is expected to ratify Sweden's NATO accession on Monday, clearing the last hurdle before the historic step by the Nordic country whose neutrality lasted through two world wars and the simmering conflict of the Cold War.
ISW: Russian officials and state media largely refrained from publicly discussing the two-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, likely in an effort to avoid addressing Russia’s failure to achieve its stated war aims at significant human costs.
Reuters: Bosnia's Serb Republic plans to increase its gas imports from Russia as the industry needs more supplies, the leader of the Bosnian separatist region told Russia's Izvestia newspaper.
25.02.2024
NY Times: For more than a decade, the United States has nurtured a secret intelligence partnership with Ukraine that is now critical for both countries in countering Russia (archive).
Reuters: Russia is preparing a new offensive against Ukraine starting in late May or summer, but Kyiv has a clear battlefield plan of its own, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday.
The Kyiv Independent: Russian troops killed at least seven Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered as prisoners of war near Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast on Feb. 24, Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported.
AP News: Serbia on Sunday sent a protest note after Croatia’s foreign minister described President Aleksandar Vučić as a Russian “satellite” in the Balkans.
Meduza: Russian soldiers stormed a cafe in annexed Crimea, beating civilians inside with batons, and firing into the air. The soldiers belong to a volunteer brigade that is reportedly part of the Redut mercenary group.
AFP: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested on Sunday that plans for Kyiv's long-awaited counteroffensive last year had been leaked to Russia ahead of time.
Reuters: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since Russia's full-scale invasion two years ago, giving the first official figure for more than a year.
Business Insider: South Korea experienced a five-fold surge in Russian asylum seekers in 2023. The majority of Russian applicants cite conscription avoidance of the war with Ukraine.
AP News: Half of promised Western military support to Ukraine fails to arrive on time, complicating the task of military planners and ultimately costing the lives of soldiers, the country’s defense minister said Sunday.
Reuters: Ukrainian authorities uncovered 47 Russian spy networks operating inside the country last year, a senior security official said on Sunday.
Business Insider: Russian soldiers are subjected to brutal extrajudicial punishments on the front line in Ukraine, including being tied to trees for days, being forced to rape each other, and being thrown in pits naked - Verstka.
24.02.2024
AFP: The G7 nations denounced the support of China and Iran for Russia's war in Ukraine in a statement issued Saturday on the second anniversary of Moscow's invasion.
Reuters: The leaders of Canada and Italy signed security agreements with Ukraine on Saturday after talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as Kyiv marked the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Bloomberg: Canada will provide Ukraine C$3 billion ($2.2 billion) in aid this year to prop up the war-ravaged economy and boost its military as Kyiv looks for ways to hedge against a potential shortfall in US assistance.
The Kyiv Independent: Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders said on Feb. 24 that he is against the Netherlands signing a 10-year agreement on security cooperation with Ukraine, the day after Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said the Netherlands plans to sign the agreement.
BBC News: King Charles has issued a strongly-worded message of support for Ukraine, in a statement marking the second anniversary of Russia's invasion. He has spoken of the "indescribable aggression" that has faced Ukrainians since what he calls the "unprovoked attack on their land".
Reuters: Russia is unlikely to take part at the outset of a high-level Ukraine peace conference which neutral Switzerland plans to host in the coming months, Swiss President Viola Amherd was quoted as saying by a newspaper on Saturday.
Reuters: Ukrainian drones hit a major Russian steel factory overnight, causing a large fire, a Kyiv source said on Saturday, the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
AFP: Russian police on Saturday detained at least four people, including reporters, at a weekly protest outside the Kremlin by the wives of mobilised soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
Bloomberg: International banks have warned the UK government that it must establish legal principles before it presses the button on the seizure of billions of pounds of Russian assets, otherwise it risks potential shocks to the global financial system and exposing institutions to legal action (archive).
Reuters: Britain will spend 245 million pounds ($311 million) over the next year to boost Ukraine’s artillery ammunition reserves, the defence ministry said on Saturday - the two year anniversary of Russia's invasion.
23.02.2024
Reuters: Ukraine's military on Friday destroyed a Russian A-50 surveillance aircraft, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said, the second time in a little more than a month that Ukraine has reported downing the sophisticated plane.
Reuters: U.S. House of Representatives Democrats have begun laying the groundwork for a potential bid to sidestep Republican Speaker Mike Johnson and force a vote on a $95 billion security assistance package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, House aides said on Friday.
Reuters: Switzerland told the United Nations on Friday that it intends to organize a high-level Ukraine peace conference "by the summer" as the 193-member world body met to mark the second anniversary of Moscow's invasion of its neighbor.
Reuters: The White House escalated its criticism of Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday, accusing him of benefitting Iran and Russia by not putting a national security bill that gives aid to Ukraine up for a vote.
POLITICO: A statement pledging “unwavering” support for Ukraine from the entire EU was blocked by Hungary, according to two diplomats.
Reuters: Denmark said Europe needs to rearm more quickly as it became the latest NATO member to sign a 10-year agreement on security cooperation with Ukraine on Friday, the eve of the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Nikkei Asia: A Russian arms maker is importing components for precision instruments made in Japan and Taiwan essential to tank production as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, Nikkei has learned.
AP News: The United States and European Union on Friday heaped hundreds of new sanctions on Russia in connection with the second anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine and in retaliation for the death of noted Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny last week in an Arctic penal colony.
The Kyiv Independent: Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa confirmed to CNN Espanol that he rejected the previous decision of his government to send the U.S. old military equipment for use in Ukraine following a backlash from Russia.
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