Wednesday, February 26
Russia’s war against Ukraine
People gather in downtown Kyiv to commemorate those killed in Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine on the war’s third anniversary on Feb. 24, 2025. (Danylo Antoniuk/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ukraine, US reach agreement on minerals deal. According to the Financial Times, Ukraine secured more favorable terms and framed the deal as a way to strengthen ties with the U.S.
‘Military equipment and the right to fight on’ — Trump on what US minerals deal gives Ukraine. Trump said Zelensky would visit the White House on Feb. 28 to sign the deal, which gives Ukraine “military equipment and the right to fight on.” He also said the U.S. was open to signing a minerals deal with Russia.
European Commission denies EU has offered Ukraine its own proposal on minerals. The day prior, AFP reported that the EU has offered Ukraine its own deal on the country’s natural resources, describing it as “mutually beneficial” and a “win-win partnership.”
US opposed Ukraine’s UN resolution to avoid ‘antagonizing’ Russia, Rubio says. “We didn’t feel it was conducive, frankly, to have something out there at the UN that’s antagonistic to either side,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
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Second round of Saudi Arabia talks with US not happening today, Russia says. The first round of talks on Feb. 18 in Saudi Arabia marked the first direct negotiations between the U.S. and Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion began.
Russia’s war objectives ‘not yet achieved,’ Kremlin’s ambassador says. “The constitutional territories of Russia have not been liberated,” Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik said on Feb. 25.
Ukraine approves Vidmak drone system to target Russian vehicles. “These high-speed FPV drones are capable of chasing down any wheeled vehicles of the invaders,” the Defense Ministry said.
Ukraine needs $524 billion for recovery, reconstruction after 3 years of Russia’s full-scale war. The required reconstruction costs are 2.8 times higher than Ukraine’s nominal GDP for 2024, according to a new report.
Ukraine passes resolution on elections when there is ‘sustainable peace’ at 2nd attempt. The decision was supported by 268 members of parliament, while 12 others abstained.
Read our exclusives
In negotiations with Russia, Trump is repeating his ‘complete disaster’ peace deal with Taliban
In February 2020, Trump’s team signed an agreement with the Taliban, ending two decades of U.S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan. The Afghan government at the time — a partner of the U.S. — was excluded from negotiations. The subsequent withdrawal of U.S. troops, despite the Taliban’s failure to adhere to its agreement, was a key factor in the shocking takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in 2021.
Photo: Getty Images
Explainer: Did Trump lie about $350 billion aid to Ukraine, and does Kyiv have to repay it?
U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed that the U.S. spent $350 billion on assistance for Ukraine. He also said he wants it back. Trump has used the sum to pressure Ukraine into signing a deal that would give the U.S. at least a 50% interest in Ukrainian natural resources through a joint investment fund as payback for its support for Kyiv. The caveat is that the $350 billion figure is not factual.
Photo: Mandel Ngan/ AFP/Getty Images
Russia targets Ukraine’s supply lines in Kursk as both cling to gains ahead of peace talks
Russian forces have ramped up attacks on Ukraine’s logistic networks in Kursk Oblast, further hampering Kyiv’s effort to hold on to the Russian territory it controls ahead of peace talks, analysts and soldiers on the ground told the Kyiv Independent.
Photo: Ed Ram/Washington Post/Getty Images
Taurus missiles, stronger Europe — what can Ukraine hope for after German elections?
The victory of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Friedrich Merz was met with relief in Ukraine. The conservative leader has long criticized the supposedly cautious Ukraine strategy of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Photo: Marcus Brandt/picture alliance/Getty Images
Human cost of Russia’s war
One killed, 16 injured in Russian attack on Kramatorsk. Four children are among the injured, according to Ukraine’s National Police.
Russian attacks across Ukraine kill 2, injure 36 over past day. The Russian military regularly attacks Ukrainian cities and villages with drones, missiles, glide bombs, and artillery.
General Staff: Russia has lost 869,530 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,300 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
Opinions and insights
Peace in Ukraine must look like Korea, not Vichy
“The quest for peace could yield two fundamentally different outcomes: a Vichy-style capitulation, perhaps with an interim ceasefire that buys Russia more time to rearm, or a robust defense of a frozen front line,” writes Nicu Popescu, former Moldovan foreign minister.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Trump’s Ukraine rare earths deal: ‘The art of the steal’
“If conceding to demands on critical minerals is a condition for security support, then America is no different from Russia’s Wagner Group of mercenaries,“ writes Edward C. Chow, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International studies.
Photo: Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
In calling Zelensky a ‘dictator without elections,’ Trump misunderstands democracy
“His claims reflect a dangerous political mindset: electoralism, the notion that holding elections is the sole measure of democracy, regardless of whether institutions, public accountability, and the rule of law remain intact,” writes Khusanboy Kotibjonov, a student at New York University.
Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
How North Korea’s role in Russia’s war undermines the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
“Since 2023, Russia has increasingly relied on North Korea, a state that violated the NPT in order to build its own atomic arsenal, in its assault on Ukraine. … North Korea’s involvement is expanding the war’s scope,“ William Alberque and Andreas Umland write in their joint-op ed.
Photo: Kremlin Press Office/Anadolu/Getty Imagess
International response
G7 still discussing joint statement on Russia’s full-scale invasion due to disagreement with US. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly’s statement comes after the U.S. voted against the U.N. resolution, which condemns Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24.
Russia will not be readmitted to G7, German finance minister says, rebuffing Trump. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 13 that he would “love” to see Russia readmitted into the G7, calling Russia’s 2014 expulsion from the group a “mistake.”
‘I was tired’ — Serbia’s president apologizes for accidentally backing Ukraine’s UN resolution. “I apologize to the citizens of Serbia for that, and I take the blame for that because I was probably tired and overwhelmed,” Aleksandar Vucic said.
Poland pledges $210 million in new military aid for Ukraine. “This is the forty-sixth contribution, and we will continue to help,” Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Feb. 25, according to the Polish media outlet Interia.
Hungary seeks removal of eight names from EU Russia sanctions list, Reuters reports. Hungary is demanding the removal of eight individuals from the EU’s Russia sanctions list and guarantees on Ukraine’s gas transit talks before agreeing to renew restrictions, Reuters reported on Feb. 25, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Macron wins no security guarantees from Trump on peacekeepers plan, FT reports. There is “no definitive agreement” as to how the U.S. will provide security assurances for peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, a French official said.
State Department officials want to unfreeze US aid to Ukraine, Politico reports. These exemptions would extend beyond the U.S. waiver for “life-saving” programs and would allow Ukraine to receive funding for demining, narcotics control, and civil society projects.
In other news
France could send nuclear-armed jets to Germany, Telegraph reports. The proposal comes as the U.S. shifts away from Europe and Ukraine, sending clear signals that the continent won’t be able to rely on Washington for its security in the future.
UK plans to increase defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, Starmer says. It is the largest sustained increase in British defense spending since the end of the Cold War.
Trump says Russian oligarchs could be eligible for $5 million US ‘gold card.’ “I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people,” Trump told reporters on Feb. 25.
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