For today, links to 10 reports: from Agence France-Presse, the Kyiv Independent, Kyiv Post, National Public Radio, Reuters, and the Kyiv Independent, and to commentary from Indian Punchline; other published material is accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (WEST BANK, LEBANON, IRAN and GAZA entries for this date are HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE, or scroll up. UKRAINE 2-16-25 entry is HERE, or scroll down.) — MCM
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Ukrainian drones hit major pipeline in southern Russia, disrupting oil supplies. From AFP. Ukrainian drones struck a key pumping station on a major international pipeline in southern Russia, disrupting oil supplies from Kazakhstan, the pipeline operator said today. In the overnight attack . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russia’s Lavrov rules out territorial concessions as part of Ukraine peace talks. From the Kyiv Independent. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today there could be “no thought of” . . . READ MORE . . .
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Zelensky vows not to recognize any Russia-U.S. agreements in Saudi talks. From Kyiv Post. As Russian and American delegations prepare to meet in Saudi Arabia’s capital to discuss a settlement to the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made it clear that Ukraine was neither informed nor invited to the negotiating table. And . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russia’s Lavrov says no point in inviting European leaders to Ukraine talks. From AFP. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today he saw no reason for European leaders to take part in negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine and accused Brussels of wanting to prolong the conflict. READ MORE . . .
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European leaders to meet about emerging transatlantic rift over security, Ukraine. Report by Eleanor Beardsley | NPR PARIS — European leaders have called an emergency meeting in Paris Monday after the Trump administration has cut Europe out of negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine. The growing chasm . . . Click HERE to listen and read.
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Zelensky to visit Saudi Arabia after U.S.-Russia talks. From AFP. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, one day after a meeting there between top Russian and U.S. officials, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian leader said. READ MORE . . .
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UK offers peacekeeping troops to Ukraine ahead of Paris talks. From Reuters. LONDON / PARIS — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has become the first European leader to say he is ready to put peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, making the commitment ahead of an emergency leaders’ meeting in Paris to discuss . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from the Kyiv Independent.
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Russians hopeful but skeptical on Ukraine peace talks, by Anastasia Tenisheva | The Moscow Times When Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed to enter peace talks aimed at ending Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian officials and state propaganda trumpeted what it called a victory for Moscow. But . . . READ MORE . . .–
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FROM FEB. 16 Ukraine’s former foreign minister on the looming peace talks. Reported by Joanna Kakissis | NPR Dmytro Kuleba, who spent two and a half years as Ukraine’s wartime foreign minister, talks about Ukraine’s prospects for a fair peace agreement on a war started by Russia and how the Trump administration presents both risks and opportunities. Click HERE to listen and read.
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FROM FEB. 16 Spring is in the air in U.S.-Russia ties as Trump’s revolution gains momentum, by M.K. Bhadrakumar | Indian Punchline | What emerges from the dramatic happenings of the past week is that the 3-year chronicle of U.S.-Russia rivalry and the NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine was . . . READ MORE . . .