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Morning Headlines
Reuters: Britain will ban entry to individuals who provide significant support to the Russian state or owe their wealth to the Russian state, under new sanctions set to be announced on Monday.
The Guardian: The EU is spending more money on Russian fossil fuels than on financial aid to Ukraine, a report marking the third anniversary of the invasion has found.
The Kyiv Independent: Sweden has announced a transfer of air defense systems worth 1.2 billion Swedish krona (approx. $113 million) to Ukraine, Svenska Dagbladet reported on Feb. 23.
Reuters: Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, an ally of Putin, has started a working visit to Indonesia and Malaysia on Monday to discuss security and defence issues, Russian news agencies reported.
ISW: US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff referred to the early 2022 Istanbul protocols as offering "guideposts" for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on February 23. An agreement based on those protocols would be a capitulation document.
23.02.2025
AP News: The leaders of the 27 European Union countries will have an emergency summit on March 6 about next steps for Ukraine and Europe’s security.
New Zealand has announced additional sanctions on Russian entities and support for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction.
NBC News: Two Trump administration officials publicly declined to characterize Russia as the provocateur in its war against Ukraine, despite the war having begun when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Reuters: Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that there would be an expectation that U.S. firms may do business in Russia in the event of a peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Politico: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that he is ready to resign from his post in exchange for peace or for NATO membership for Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine has alternatives for the Starlink internet system widely used by front-line units and is making decisions about the use of the technology, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Feb. 23.
Reuters: Switzerland could contribute troops to a future peacekeeping mission in Ukraine if it were requested and the government agreed, Swiss armed forces chief Thomas Suessli said in an interview published on Sunday.
AFP: Around $350 billion of worth of Ukraine's critical resources are in areas captured by Russia, Ukrainian authorities said Sunday, as Washington pushes for a deal to secure preferential access to the country's resource base.
Reuters: North Korea is providing 50% of Russia's ammunition needs at the front in its war against Ukraine, Kyiv's military spy chief Kyrylo Budanov told a press conference on Sunday.
AP News: A contentious Trump administration proposal to give the U.S. $500 billion worth of profits from Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as compensation for its wartime assistance to Kyiv has been taken off the table, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday, indicating a more equitable deal is in the works.
Reuters: Estonia has launched a new push to get fellow EU members to agree to seize frozen Russian assets and use them to help Ukraine, dismissing a Russian idea on how the money could be used as part of a peace deal.
22.02.2025
AFP: Trump said Saturday he wanted to get money back for the billions of dollars sent to support Ukraine's war against Russia, as Washington and Kyiv negotiate a mineral resources deal.
Reuters: Poland said on Saturday it has been paying for Ukraine's Starlink subscription and will continue to do so despite sources saying the United States could consider cutting Ukraine's access to the satellite internet system.
Bloomberg: The European Union is exploring more aggressively ways to seize Russia’s frozen central bank assets as the bloc scrambles to ensure financial and military support for Ukraine amid indications the US may pare back its own assistance (archive).
Reuters: The United States wants the U.N. Security Council to vote on a brief draft resolution marking the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Monday before the 193-member General Assembly is due to meet on the war, diplomats said on Saturday.
CNN: The Russian military is sending wounded troops on crutches back to the frontlines to fight, and redeploying soldiers with significant injuries to combat roles, as it struggles with growing manpower issues, according to videos and testimony obtained by CNN.
Reuters: NATO is planning to build a pipeline system from Germany to Poland and the Czech Republic to ensure a rapid supply of jet fuel for fighter aircraft in the event of a war with Russia, weekly German magazine Der Spiegel reported.
The Kyiv Independent: Drones operated by Ukraine’s Security Service struck a substation powering the Novovelychkovskaya oil pumping station in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai on Feb. 20, effectively disrupting its operations.
Reuters: U.S. negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to Ukraine's critical minerals have raised the possibility of cutting the country's access to Elon Musk's vital Starlink satellite internet system.
21.02.2025
Bloomberg: The European Union is preparing a package of about €20 billion in additional military support for Ukraine, as the bloc races to secure assistance for Kyiv in the face of Trump’s push to reach a quick peace settlement with Russia (archive).
The Telegraph: The US has signalled that it could leave an international effort to prosecute Russia for invading Ukraine, The Telegraph can reveal (archive).
The Moscow Times: Trump’s pursuit of a thaw in U.S.-Russia relations has caught many in Moscow by surprise, bewildering Russia’s elites and disrupting some of Russian propaganda’s key narratives.
Bloomberg: France and Estonia will host a meeting of European defense ministers on Monday to discuss how to bolster support for Ukraine (archive).
Reuters: Swedish and Finnish police are investigating a suspected case of sabotage of an undersea telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea, and Sweden's coast guard has deployed a vessel to the area where multiple seabed cables have been damaged in recent months.
BBC: South Africa is set to host Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on a state visit, President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed without giving a specific date.
Reuters: Russia could agree to using $300 billion of sovereign assets frozen in Europe for reconstruction in Ukraine but will insist that part of the money is spent on the one-fifth of the country that Moscow's forces control.
Opora: Over 130 Ukrainian civil society organizations said that Russia's war of aggression makes it impossible for Ukraine to hold presidential and parliamentary elections while martial law is in effect in a joint statement published on Feb. 20.
Reuters: The European Union will seek more gas from countries including the U.S. to replace Russian supplies, and expand renewable energy faster to cut its overall reliance on the fuel, the EU's energy commissioner has said.
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