For today, links to seven reports: from the Associated Press, Kyiv Post, the Kyiv Independent, Agence France-Presse, Reuters, and MintPress News, and to commentary from ScheerPost and Consortium News; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (LEBANON, SYRIA, WEST BANK and GAZA entries for this date are HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE, or scroll up. UKRAINE 2-19-25 entry is HERE.) — MCM
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NEWER A news conference between Zelenskyy and Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy is canceled at U.S. request. From AP. KYIV — A planned news conference after talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, was canceled today as political tensions deepened between the two countries over . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE and HERE for reports from Kyiv Post and the Kyiv Independent.
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Trump official tells Ukraine to ‘tone down’ criticism. From AFP. Ukraine’s criticism of the United States is “unacceptable,” Donald Trump’s top security advisor said Thursday, urging Kyiv to cool its rhetoric and quickly sign a minerals deal pushed by the White House.”We’re getting all this pushback,” said U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz they need to tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal,” told Fox News shortly before . . . READ MORE . . .
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U.S. envoy meets Zelenskiy after Trump slams Ukraine, by Olena Harmash and Tom Balmforth | Reuters KYIV — U.S President Donald Trump’s envoy met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv today but there was no immediate word on whether their talks had helped smooth over an unprecedented wartime rift between the once firm allies. READ MORE . . .
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Ceasefire likely in 2025, Ukraine’s spy chief says, by Kateryna Denisova | The Kyiv Independent Ukrainian military intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov believes that Ukraine and Russia will reach a ceasefire this year, he said in an interview published on Tuesday. He described the situation as “paradoxical” since . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM FEB. 18 USAID’s giant network of ‘independent’ media, by Alan MacLeod | MintPress News / Consortium News The Trump administration’s decision to pause U.S. Agency for International Development funding has plunged hundreds of so-called “independent media” outlets into crisis — critically in Ukraine, where Oksana Romanyuk, the director of Ukraine’s Institute for Mass Information, revealed . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM FEB. 19 Trump 2.0 crosses the Atlantic, by Patrick Lawrence | Original to ScheerPost Trump began his second term not quite a month ago, having promised throughout his political campaign to end Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine within a day of assuming office. And it is already . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM FEB. 19 End in sight for Ukraine war after Riyadh meeting, by Joe Lauria | Special to Consortium News The Ukrainian war, which began in 2014 as a civil conflict and led to Russia’s intervention in February 2022, appeared headed to a resolution after top U.S. and Russian officials met in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday, incensing . . . READ MORE . . .